RACECARDS tell you pretty much all you need to know about who is going to win a horse race.
Don’t get us wrong, there can be a spanner in the works when a big-price outsider romps home.
Getty Images – GettyIt’s important to know what to look for in the racecard when having a bet – all the information there is designed to help you make an informed decision[/caption]
But generally there’s enough in the facts, form and figures to enable us to make an informed decision on who we think is most likely to win.
That being said, they can seem daunting to get your head around at first.
Here, Sun Racing gives you a simple guide to how to read them.
Here’s what every part of the above example of a racecard entry means.
Silks – to identify which jockey is on which horse.
5 – the number of the horse. You can find this on their saddle cloth.
Lisloran – the horse’s name.
t1 – This part of the racecard shows what headgear a horse is wearing. t1 means the horse is wearing a tongue tie and it is their first time doing so, while p means cheekpieces and the 1 means, again, it is their first time wearing them.
Some punters will look to these to gain an edge. Especially b, which stands for blinkers.
Often a horse wearing first-time headgear can improve because they are meant to sharpen their concentration.
J – jockey. In this case Ross Chapman.
If there is a number next to the jockey’s name it means they have an allowance because they are a conditional or apprentice rider.
This is the weight they are allowed to take off compared to other more experienced jockeys and will be between 3lbs and 10lbs.
T – trainer. In this case Russell Ross.
Form – where the horse has finished on its past few runs. If there is a 0 it means the horse finished outside the first nine.
The dash between the seven and three indicates a break due to the end of the season.
If it is a slash like so / then it means the horse was out due to injury.
If a number is replaced by a letter it means the following – UR – unseated rider. F – fell. RR – refused to race. BD – brought down. RO – run out. PU – pulled up.
Age – the horse’s age.
Weight – the weight a horse will carry in the race. This is the total amount they will carry including the jockey and is vital information in a handicap race.
OR – official rating. This is a measure of how good a horse is and is dished out by the handicapper.
Forecast SP – what the horse’s starting price (SP) is estimated to be.
Odds – the current live odds are shown on the right.
Here’s how it looks in practice with more runners involved.
Other things to look out for…
C, D and CD – these are used to show if a horse has won at the racecourse before (C), over the distance (D) or both (CD).
B, G, CH etc – these are used to indicate what colour a horse is and whether they are male, female and whether or not they have been gelded.
For example, were a horse to have b and g after his name then you would know he is a bay gelding.
Were they to have br c then they would be a brown colt.
Other popular ones include ch – chestnut and gr – grey.
Days since last race – sometimes you will see a number in brackets after a horse’ name, and this just indicates how long it has been since they last ran.
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