"All I'm looking for is a little steam." 

When I first read this line from a prospective client in Kentucky several weeks ago, I thought I was going to have to be on a lookout for a fire. 

Little did I know, I was in the midst of pointless and aimless smoke. 

Apparently, the term "steam" also refers to the "hot horse". According to the unofficial glossary of racing's lecherous society, the term "steam" is closely tied to a horse who seems to be getting a lot of action, or is on the 
lips of those supposedly "in the know". 

The fact I had never heard this term before in my life did shock me a bit, but after a moment of contemplative thought, I determined why I had never heard that term before. 

I don't (for the most part) care for other people's opinions. 

I especially don't like giving information away to people who "need" to rebound from a career of losing money at the races. 

In the course of handicapping races for the general public, there is nothing more annoying than being approached by the constant loser. 

If you've ever handicapped races for other people, or if you've ever been asked "who do you like" by someone who has never won at the races, you know this person very well. 

He's the guy who always blames someone else when he make a bad bet. He's the guy who will never admit that (perhaps) horse racing just isn't his cup o' tea. Maybe he is the kind of guy who should go into knife juggling or 
sword swallowing as a way of getting his kicks. 

We've all been approached by people at the track who are perennial losers. We do our best to avoid those people. We know they do nothing but take time away 
from us and only drag us down the "Darwinian" ladder, as you know that no matter what you tell this person, they will come away from the day with less money than which they started. 

The most common story of "The Loser" is the person who asks you (unsolicited, of course) who you like in a race. Of course, since we're always seeking to be correct in front of as many people as possible, we tell them despite our overwhelming fear of being held responsible for a bad selection. 

(I have my own way of handling this sticky situation when it inevitably arises. The way I look at it, if you are going to ask me who I like in a race, be prepared to like something yourself. I'll get back to that later. 

You know how this story goes next; naturally, the horse wins. You feel really good about telling someone about the horse, and hopefully, you feel better as you lined your own pockets after the race. 

No more than 30 minutes go by before "The Loser" approaches you again, this time though, he looks like he just lost his dog, or his best friend. Then he comes up and says something close to the following. 

"Damn it man, I wish you had given me the second horse." 

After your mouth falls to the floor, and you have considered rapping your Racing Form over "The Loser's" head, you stop and think for a moment about 
why you even bothered. 

Why waste your time helping people who cannot help themselves? 

Why waste your energy on people who cannot be grateful for the information provided to them? 

It seems a waste of time, but I relate the following story to you for your approval. 

The other day, I gave out a selection of Soaring Softly in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare turf race. It was a horse who I had been following, quite proudly for several months. 

It was a horse that I mentioned to people back in May. 

Do I claim to be a genius because of this selection? Positively not. 

I simply made an observation to something I saw, commented on it, and was rewarded with a positive effort when I wanted and needed it most, in front of a huge audience. 

I made money on the race. I selected the horse in my handicap. I did bust my arm patting myself on the back, thank you very much!! 

Instead of getting grateful words of thanks and heaps of praise laid upon my  shoulders to those who knew I loved this horse and made money betting on it, I was given jeers from a particular "wannabe" client. He lost money because I didn't mention the second place horse as an exacta contender in the race. He was upset with me because I was right, and he didn't cash. 

Pardon me, but wasn't the winner enough? 

This man wasted countless dollars on exotics wagers when if he had just taken all that money and played a straight win bet, he would have made money on the day. 

He certainly wouldn't have compounded the felony by continuing to ruin his day by making more bad exotic wagers. 

We have become helpless prey to the mystical power of the exotic wager, the idea of the "home run" swing on every occasion. Instead of simply making a sizable win wager on a horse anymore, we have left ourselves open to looking for not only the needle in a haystack, but the straw that broke the camel's back as well. 

People are no longer interested in the art of picking winners. People are only interested it seems in how you go about picking the fourth place horse in a superfecta race, and how maybe we can tie that race into a rolling pick three before also starting on that twin-trifecta in the next race. 

It's enough to drive you loony.. 

Loony, I say, loony!!! 

It's a changing game, and while I have always considered myself young enough and smart enough to follow the evolutionary process of horse racing, I am becoming more crotchety and conservative about my betting strategies and the way I approach the art of telling people "how to bet." 

Recently, I started including wagering strategies in my handicap. 

It doesn't work. 

There is a difference, for me at least, between picking winners and telling people how to make money. I don't pretend to be a genius at the windows, I simply know the basics. 

I know that if I pick a horse that is a fair price in my mind, I bet it to win. 

I make my own odds line. I consider many different variables before I go to a mutuel window, plunk down a $50 bill or whatever, and decide to make a bet. 

Sometimes, my contemplation proves profitable. 

Sometimes, it proves only frustrating. 

Either way, the fact remains. I am a good enough handicapper that if you give me the proper information, I can tell you who I think will win any race on any given day on any racetrack in America. 

As far as who runs second or third, sure I'll give it a shot and I'll try my best based on the information presented to me. 

Sometimes, I'll even be right. 

However, as long as the key to being a successful handicapper, raceplayer, bettor, provider of information, whatever you call it. So long as the key to the game continues to be picking winners, that's where my emphasis will remain. 

And as always, my obligatory answer to "The Loser" when he comes to me at the racetrack and asks me who I like in a race will be: "I like who you like."