The Van Der Wheil Method
6 steps Van Der Wheil – VDW Method in a nutshell
Che Van Der Wheil devised this method to reduce the number of horses in a horse race. The Van Der Wheil – VDW method uses key metrics such as class, consistency (last 3 finishing positions of the horse in question), skill and speed figures to assess a horse’s chances of winning. He said that the horse must be in the top 6 of the betting forecast and that the horse’s weight is a key factor in the horse’s chance, as weight is a leveller.
The key to the Van Der Wheil Method was the race class (Penalty Value) in which the horse had competed. He used the analogy of a top-flight soccer team that wins all its games in the conference league. The form of the team is good but what form if it is achieved in football matches of lower categories.
Below are 6 simple steps on how to read a horse racing form using Van Der Wheil ratings – the 6 step VDW method.
The key to the VDW method is to choose the class/form horses in the race based on the following criteria and place these horses in groups B+ G+ C+ S+ and A+.
Step 1. Find the top 3 O – Officially Ranked Horses in Group B+
Step 2. Add up the prize money from the last 3 races a horse has competed in to produce Group G+
Step 3. Choose consistent horses by adding the last 3 race positions a horse has achieved produces Group C+
Step 4. Identify the top 3 horses with Top Speed (TS) figures produced by Group S+ using the Racing Post.
Step 5. Identify the horses that can win in terms of skill equal to the prize money divided by the number of races won. Group A+
Then we look for a horse(s) that appears in all groups B+ G+ C+ S+ and A+.
In step 6, we do a final check of the selections, i.e. we check that the horse selections are in the top 6 of the betting forecast, as 80% of the horses win races that are in the top 6.
After completing each step, a list of horses from that step will be highlighted. The final step is to find a horse or horses that have been marked in all steps from 1 to 6.
For a horse to qualify, it must have been highlighted in the previous 6 steps.
A computer program can easily be written that automates the Van Der Wheil – VDW method and highlights the horse selections for a given race in the UK.