Don't go to make money, go to sit by the track, eat a burger, and bet some small cash. Good times. I brought my then girlfriend (now wife) there once as she'd never been, and she was saying something like "Why do they need the jockeys? The horses know what to do!", and I disagreed. Anyway, 15 minutes later, there was a starting mistake and a horse lost it's rider out of the gate, and the horse went on to win! Craziest thing I ever saw there, they disqualified all bets on that race though.

I do remember hearing though that the best thing to do is bet on the bets where you pick the winner of a number of races in a row (think it was called 'Triactor' or something wierd), or choose first and second spots, etc. You'll lose most of the time, but when you're right you get a huge payoff.

You might also try searching for horseracing handicapping, horserace betting, etc. I'm sure there are some websites out there.