Five Investing Tips I Learned at the Track

August is one of my favorite times of the year. I like to spend most of the month at my vacation house, which overlooks Lake George, N.Y. From there, it's easy to get to the horse races on the beautiful old thoroughbred race track in Saratoga.

I have been an avid horse racing fan since high school and have been going to the Saratoga track since 1981. I even appeared in "The Replay," an original painting by Anthony Alonso, which also appeared on the Saratoga visitor's guide a few years ago.

In that time, I have been very successful at winning money at the races, even though I'm not a big bettor. For me, going to the races is a form of entertainment, not income generation. Nevertheless, there are many lessons I've learned at the race track that are also applicable to trading and investing. Here are five.

1. Don't Bet Every Race ...