The Racing Game
If you are interested in betting on horses, it may be advantageous to learn a little bit about the horse racing industry, its roots and the way it is organised.
Horse Racing is a contest of speed between two or more horses, usually Thoroughbreds, which are ridden over a special course. One of the oldest known sports, and still popular in most countries.
It is one of the most highly organized and commercialized sports.
The UK racing industry consists basically of two components, firstly the breeding side whose function it is to continuously produce high quality foals from high quality parents and secondly the Track racing that hopefully creates income to support the breeders. Since the days of Mongolian Horsemen riding bareback and savaging everything in their path, Men have been looking to improve the species to make it stronger and faster. The thoroughbreds we see in the UK have a bloodstock line going back to Arab Stallions imported some 200 years ago. As with people hoses vary in size, weight, ability and temperament and the track racing is designed to test those abilities with races staged between five furlongs and four miles. All horses have an official birthday, between its actual birthday and the 1st January, the horse is defined as a foal, and thereafter a yearling. On its fifth birthday the colt becomes a horse (a stallion if male, a mare if female).
In general terms the year is split into two seasons – the flat which runs between the end of March and finishes in November and the National Hunt which starts at the end of September and traditionally climaxes with the running of the Grand National in April. The Scottish Grand National and the Welsh Grand National follow the Aintree event on the next two representative Saturdays. There is no flat turf racing throughout the winter, certain courses run N.H. races throughout the summer. Hard ground will cause cancellations and withdrawals.
Flat racing is designed to test the faster lighter horses with distances of five furlongs out to two and a half miles and usually run on turf. “Flat horses” provide the majority of breeding stock and are considered to be of racing age from the age of three years old (there are events during most flat meetings for two year olds to give them early experience, however their form is difficult to document and many professional bettors avoid them). A “flat horse” is usually past its best after the age of six when, if it has been particularly successful during its career it will be retired to stud.
National Hunt races usually include hurdles or fences to further test the animals ability and stamina. In recent years we have seen the introduction of “all weather” tracks that provide a fibresand surface. The three principle venues for all weather racing are Lingfield, Southwell and Wolverhampton. Between them they provide a meeting on most days of the year. The race distances are similar to the flat season and attract “Flat Horses” throughout the year. However many horses who run well on turf do not go well on fibresand and equally horses that continually win at one venue will frequently perform less well at the other two.
If a horse starts a season without a win he is known as a Novice, if he runs throughout the coming season without a win he may start the next season as a Novice. When he breaks his duck he will be handicapped for the rest of the season. Further wins will increase his saddle weights. To make racing competitive meetings and races are designed to attract runners of roughly equal capability, age and stamina and to further apply the equality the official “Handicapper” will add or take away weight throughout the season depending on the horses results. The Handicapper has a rating system for every registered horse and applies weights on a lb per point basis. i.e. a horse with a rating of 120 will carry 10lb more than a hose rated at a value of 110. Flat races are classified into eight categories from A – H. A is for superior horses, H for the poorest performers. Class A races attract the biggest prize money and during the season there are five “Classic Meetings” these being the Derby, the Oaks, the One Thousand Guineas, and Two Thousand Guineas and uniquely the St Leger where runners are restricted to three year olds only. The competition in Class A events is very stiff and most betting pros avoid them.
The set up of N.H. races is a little less structured and the horses older. There are basically four different types of race:-
Hunter Chases. These are flat course events for horses that have been riding with a registered hunt and must be ridden by an amateur jockey.
N.H. Flat Races. These events are also called ’bumpers’ and are designed to give inexperienced horses race experience. The horses are usually three year olds.
N.H. Hurdles. In these races the horses will be required to jump woven light weight wooden panels about three feet high. Horses are normally 4-5 years old.
N.H. Hurdles. In these races the horses are the biggest and strongest of the breed and usually between 6 – 11 years old. It is generally considered that the horse peaks at about 8 – 9 years old. These horses will be required to surmount high brushwood fences that in the case of the Grand National can be 6 ft high.
The National Hunt Championship week is run over four days in March at Cheltenham and the meeting is sensationally closed with the Aintree Grand National.
By observing the titles of the various race cards, the format and structure of the meetings can be understood. Here are some of the most popular:-
Auction Races. Each horse entered in these races must have been bought at public auction. The subsequent weight carried by the horse is determined by the price paid. There is a benchmark price from which the handicapper will deduct 1ib weight per £1000 of price differential to the benchmark.
Sellers or Selling Races. In these events the winners are sold immediately by auction at the end of the race in the winners enclosure. Horses in these events have usually underachieved for their stable and are being moved on.
Claiming Races. All of the horses in these events can be claimed or purchased for a specific claiming price based on the weight carried. If £20,000 was the best claim made for the top weight of say 9 stone 7lb a horse carrying 9 stone could be purchased for £13,000 as the deduction rule of £1000 per lb weight is applied.
Novice Races. Horses in this race are yet to win a N.H. race. Handicap Races In these events the horses will carry different weights applied by the handicapper to equal out the levels of ability. In a perfect handicap race all horses would dead heat .
Stakes Races. These are races designed to run horses at equal weights. There may be penalties for recent winners plus some allowance for female horses.
Maiden Races. Maidens are the flats equivalents to N.H. Novices. They have yet to win a race and are usually 2 yr olds.
Reading Newspaper Form
Your daily paper is a mine of information. The racing departments back room staff continuously monitor the progress of the many hundreds of horses and report their results in a format similar to the following line
524-2 421 Lost sock laddy 19 C&D2 D3 A Hughes 5 9-7 Eddie Jones 66
The first seven digits relate to the horses position in the last seven races, the hyphen indicates that the results to its left were last season. Figures in bold type indicate that this race was on a fibresand course. The figure 19 after the horses name indicates the number of days since it last raced. From C&D2 D3 we learn that the horse has won twice previously on todays course and at this distance and has won elsewhere at this distance. A Hughes is the trainer, 5 is the age of the horse and the weight he will carry is nine stone seven. He will be ridden by Eddie Smith and 66 is the form rating the newspaper gives the horse. At the top of the list of runners there is the prize money attached to the race, the figures in brackets indicates the amount the winner will receive. There is also a description of the type of race and its distance.
Beneath the list of runners is the betting odds forecast, this is the best estimate made by the paper’s form specialists.
Odds will move during the day and will only be finalised at “the off”.
Newspapers will often print other information regarding form which can be used to aid your selection.
Three of the big UK daily newspapers have a good reputation for horse racing information, these are The Daily Telegraph, The Daily Mail and The Sun. Betting specialists will usually use The Racing Post to provide their analysis, this paper is packed with information and generally considered to be the “racing bible”. Here you can find out about the form of the jockeys, trainers etc. and compare several tipsters recommendations.