Horse Racecards Explanation - Abbreviations, Numbers,Jockeys,Trainers,Statistics.Horseracing Cards Explained.
Horse racecards can be baffling for the newcomer to racing.
This article will explain step by step what all the abbreviations and numbers on a racecard represent.
Originally,I was going to reproduce a racecard and explain it that way,which was most other articles use - however that way is too complicated and messy.
Instead I will use the three main
components to the racecard.
HORSE........TRAINER ........JOCKEY.........and where the numbers or abbreviations are located on a horse racing card in relation to those three topics.
By the way,many racecards use a different format - this article will use the Racing Post example,which should still be easily applied to any other racecard,whether on the track,or any other race page publication.
Your Horse Racecard Explanation......
HORSE........TRAINER ........JOCKEY.........and where the numbers or abbreviations are located on a horse racing card in relation to those three topics.
By the way,many racecards use a different format - this article will use the Racing Post example,which should still be easily applied to any other racecard,whether on the track,or any other race page publication.
Your Horse Racecard Explanation......
2.HORSE..........................This is your racecard number,in this case number 2 - and this is what you need to use when betting with the Tote on track,or betting in jackpot bets like Placepot,Scoop6,and Quadpot etc.
2.(6)HORSE.....................The (6) after racecard number is the draw for this horse.This will only appear on flat horse racing cards as stalls are not used in National Hunt racing fixtures.
56329.HORSE..................These are the form figures for previous runs.Read right to left,by that I mean for the most recent run,this horse finished 9th,and so on right to left.If there are no numbers for form between racecard number and horse - this is racecourse debut.
F24U3R.HORSE................These are recent form figures for National Hunt runners .....F stands for faller,U stands for unseated rider,and the R stands for refused to race when under orders.
12-34/21/.HORSE.............The form figures here represent more than one seasons races if the horse does not run frequently ..........- means last season or previous season........./ means the horse did not run at all for a full season.
2436714/.HORSE..........Here you will notice that some form numbers are in bold lettering,and some are not.........this is to tell you that all runs are on the flat,but the bold numbers stand for all weather form and those not bold stand for the horses runs on turf.
HORSE.24........................The number right after horses name is the number of days since this horse last ran.
HORSE.(F16)....................The F16 (ran 16 days ago on flat) here indicates that a horse has run more recently than the form figures suggest.This is because some horses run under both codes of racing and has had a recent race on the flat(and now running over the jumps),which can indicate the horse is fitter than the big gap in racing the racecard would show without this information.It of course works both ways,so (J26),for example,would tell you that this horse,running on the flat this time, has had a race under National Hunt rules more recently than its previous flat race would indicate.
HORSE.bg Bula - Old Vic....This is the breeding history of racehorse - experts in breeding can tell at a glance if this horse is bred for sprinting or staying races.
HORSE.4 11-12.................This tells you the age of the horse and the weight they have to carry - in this case the horse is 4 years old and set to carry 11 stone 12 pounds.
HORSE.b 4 11-12..............A b means this horse is wearing blinkers - b1 shows horse is wearing blinkers for the first time.Blinkers are the most severe attempt to make a horse concentrate - followed by lesser effect devices like visors,eye shields and cheek pieces,and those abbreviations on your racecard are below.
HORSE.v 4 11-12..............A v means this horse is wearing a visor - v1 shows horse is wearing visor for first time.
HORSE.e/s 4 11-12...........A e/s on racecard denotes that horse is fitted with an eye shield.Similar device,the eyecover is also used by trainers and will appear as e/c.
HORSE.p 4 11-12..............The p here means the horse is wearing sheepskin cheekpieces.
HORSE.t 4 11-12...............A t shows you that horse is fitted with a tongue strap that can aid breathing and also prevent the horse swallowing its tongue.
HORSE.w 4 11-12................w with a small 1 will tell you that the horse has had a wind operation to help breathing since last run,and can improve a horses performance quite dramatically.
HORSE.BF.........................BF means that last time out this horse was favourite,and got beat.
HORSE.D..........................D means that this horse has already won over this distance before.Some cards will show D2 and D3 etc.for number of times this horse is distance winner.
HORSE.C..........................C indicates that this horse has been a winner on this track before - but not over the distance of this particular race.
HORSE.CD........................CD means this horse has not only won at this distance,but also that win was at this track.Again you might see CD2 which means the horse has won on course and over this distance twice,and so on for higher numbers.
HORSE.gs.........................The gs here tells you that this horse has won on good to soft going.This feature is often missing from modern day racecards,although it is perhaps one of the most important bits of information a punter needs.Some other major going conditions that a horse has previously won on include,hd = hard,fm = firm,g =good,sft = soft,hy = heavy.
HORSE.(FRA)....................This lets you know which country horse was bred in.In this case France,and you will also see (IRE) for Ireland and (GER) for Germany,and so on - no country published means horse is U.K. bred.
HORSE.6Ex.......................This is a penalty(amount varies) a horse must carry if recent winner and before it is officially handicapped on that improved run.
JOCKEY.(7)......................The (7) after jockeys name tells you this rider is an apprentice.To enable young jockeys to have any chance they are given less weight,and in this case the apprentice jockey has 7 pounds less than allocated weight for this race - as jockeys get winners the weight allowance drops and (5) means 5 pound allowance and (3) means 3 pound allowance.
JOCKEY.108......................Many racecards and racing publications have their own handicap ratings for each horse,and the figure just represents their idea of the winner - the higher the number the better the chances,in their opinion.
Trainer.A Smith.................This is the owner of the horse.
Other things on racecard.
LONG HANDICAP...............This will only appear when a horse or more than one horse has to carry more weight than it was allocated.Usually means your horse has no chance - maybe the trainer wants to get a run into the horse after bad weather,or the owner wants to see horse run on that particular day.
BETTING FORECAST..........This is just a guide for the prices you can expect for each horse - but just a guess really,and if a horse is much lower than forecast price it is an indication that that horse is being backed heavily which indicates confidence in its winning chances.
By Pendil at SAFE BOOKMAKERS SITES.ŠThis article can be reproduced by anyone,so long as article is reproduced full and intact with all links unchanged.End of article.
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