I've been known to win money at the J&B Met. Maybe twice. The combination of indulging a little too readily in the event's sponsor and excruciatingly high heels has a tendency to impair clear thinking.

Up until now, my carefully thought-out gambling strategy has pretty much involved picking cool-sounding names. One year, for obvious reasons, I bet on a horse called Old Kendal (for the less observant: see the by line). The emphasis, in this case, was clearly not on Kendal. I don't think my champion even made it into the top five.

So, this year I have a two-step plan ? (1) get some advice from an expert and (2) place bets before becoming too familiar with the sponsor.

Having chatted to horse racing pundit, Geoff Thompson (step one complete), I decided to share my new-found expertise?

Stats (not names) matter!

When you arrive at the Met, get your hands on a race card. They cost about R10 but can be seen as a good investment because they are full of useful information about the horses in all ten races.

When trying to decipher the rather cryptic tables, these are the things you should be looking out for:

  • Where the horse has run in its last few races ? look for wins or a top five placing as this shows consistency.

  • Top jockey and trainer combinations. Top jockeys to look out for include Felix Coetzee, Anthony Delpech, Bernard Fayd'herbe, Anton Marcus and Karl Neisius. Trainers at the top of their game are Mike Bass, Dean Kannemeyer, Glen Kotzen, Basil Marcus and Justin Snaith.

    • Check out the horse

    You may be clueless, but Thompson has a few tips for making sense of the parade ring. This is where all the horses gather before the race and it gives you a good opportunity to check out how your selections are faring on the day.

    Avoid horses that are:

    • sweating a lot

    • very uptight and fractious as they exert too much energy before the race

    • that have bandages or boots as this often indicates past injuries

    Positive signs are:

    • beautiful shiny coats

    • big bold eyes and muscular hindquarters (back legs)

    • horses that are on their toes and looking like they are ready for the race

    Click to page 2 for Geoff Thompson's tips on backing the winner as well as his own picks for winners.