Walter the Hit Man ready to help patrons
April 11, 2001: Walter
Bruechert can take a hit. As a matter of fact he likes taking a hit,
the more the better.
No, he is not a punch-drunk boxer --
or even a platinum-seeking recording star.
Walter is a horse racing handicapper
with a twist, a techno wizard on-line, who puts up big, and
increasing, numbers for Fraser Downs. He has a company -- Simuhelp --
and a web site -- www.simubet.com -- where he handicaps Fraser Downs
and many other harness racing tracks (a total of 37 as of last week).
Downs patrons may also recognize his
name as one of several handicappers who make their choice as to who
will win each race on the televisions on location throughout the
Downs.
What started as a hobby a few years ago, “I was doing some
handicapping of a couple of tracks just for myself. People began to
ask to see them and I started doing more tracks. It led to a business,”
says Walter who is retired from years of hotel management.
Bruechert, who was born in Germany but
who has lived in Canada for 50 years and B.C. for 20 years, also
handicaps at other tracks but the Downs ranks high on the list for
hits. Leading the way is The Meadowlands followed by Mohawk and
Balmoral. Fraser Downs is a strong fifth with 1,000 hits a month.
“I’m gaining about 12 per cent in hits a month.” Walter said
recently like a proud papa of his website which still is a free
service although he is considering “adding a fee later.”
Bruechert feels, that with the growth
and popularity of multi-track simulcasting, it has become increasingly
difficult for experienced handicappers and track newcomers alike to
keep pace with contenders in each race. Therefore, he and Simuhelp
want to provide racing fans with a new important tool that is easy to
use to achieve success at playing the horses. While their service will
benefit fans it also carries the potential to increase revenues at the
tracks that simulcast.
Simuhelp handicaps and rates every major harness track daily and
publishes a Simusheet for each track. Horses are listed according to
their computerized Top Potential Rating: bias and rating factors are
compiled into one easy-to-understand figure for the patron’s
convenience. All ratings apply to a fast track The Top Rated Horse in
every race is always listed at "100" as an indicator and
other horses rated less according to their form.
Walter provided TrackMarks with some
stats showing how well he has been handicapping.
In 2,649 races (at 34 tracks) he (Simuhelp)
has a top picks winning percentage of 37.8, a top picks place
percentage of 54.1 and a top picks show percentage of 66.0. His top
two winning percentage is 54.5, place 75.5 and show 86.2. The average
odds of a winner when a first pick is $2.93.
Bruechert is also considering adding
thoroughbred handicapping in late 2001.
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