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HANDICAP

When horses in a race are allocated different weights to carry, in order that each horse has an “equal” theoretic chance of winning, it is called a “Handicap” race.

Similar to the animals in George Orwell’s books, some horses are more “equal” than others. Horses vary slightly between races and their form on any given day is somewhat variable, meaning that thankfully, there is usually a clear cut winner in all handicap races.

Horses just like human beings are not always feeling their best.

Handicapping is based on the fact that horses are “allowed” weight against other horses on a “Weight for age” basis and according to the distance by which one horse beats another, with consideration being made for the state of the “going” amongst other factors including the pace of the race.

Weight assessments are roughly based on finishing distances as follows:

• From five furlongs to seven furlongs, 3lb per length;
• From one mile to eleven furlongs, 2lb per length;
• From one and a half miles to 2 miles, one and a half pounds per length;
• More than two miles, 1lb. per length;
• National Hunt races: 1lb. per length.

Over a sprint distance:

Horse A carrying nine stone beats horse B. carrying the same weight by a length;
Horse B is therefore considered 3lbs. inferior to horse A;
In a subsequent race, the handicap therefore should read
Horse A nine stone, Horse B eight stone 11lb.

Official British Horseracing Board (BHB) handicappers carry out handicapping for all races using a central database of information which is very regularly updated.

The computers provide a handicap rating for all horses which are qualified to run, based on a scale from zero upwards for the graded handicaps prevalent in recent times, these ratings give more equal opportunities all round for handicapped horses.

Further down the scales, handicaps may be designed only for horses rated between zero and 70 meaning horses rated above this mark would be ineligible to compete. Handicaps are often organized in this fashion in order that lesser horses can compete against each other.

The really big handicaps like the Cambridgeshire and the Ebor are open to all handicap horses between 0-115

Each week, ratings are revised with significantly changed ratings being published in the sporting literature. It is good practice to keep track of these changes.

Flat race handicap weights vary between 7 stone 7lb. to no less than 10 stone; National Hunt race weights are between 10 stone and 12 stone with the exception of handicaps over 3 miles where the top weight is 11 stone 10lb.

When a handicapper attends to the entries for a race, despite the restricted range, he will allocate weights below the allowed lower limit, as often the top weight is withdrawn, meaning weights must then be duly raised.

The first Jockey Club handicapper was Admiral Rous, generally acknowledged as the best who ever lived. Having finished an especially difficult bit of handicapping he remarked famously “there, now none of them can win!”

Handicaps are “created” instinctively, by good handicappers; they are balancing acts resulting from an array of intelligent best guesses.

Private handicap’s sometimes published in newspapers as “ratings” as well as in the literature such as the Racing Post, give an indication of how a private handicapper’s assessment differs from the official assessment of a horse’s chances and its ability with respect to the other horses in a given race.

HANDICAPPERS

There are 2 definitions:

• The official BHB team who frame handicaps.
• Horses that run in handicaps, sometimes in a “stuffy” sort of way as in “he’s only a handicapper”

HEAD LAD

Second in command of a stable, generally not a “lad” at all.

Head Lad is in fact a very responsible position with duties which include feeding the horses and running the yard.

A competent head lad can mean the difference between success and failure.
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GELDING

After being castrated a male or colt horse is said to have been “gelded”. There are a variety of reasons behind this seemingly rather harsh practice.

By taking a horses mind off sex it becomes more amenable, and calm. A horse becomes less temperamental due to the shift in hormonal balance, which occurs with all neutered animals, including humans.

After gelding, horses are generally regarded as being easier to train and concentrate more readily on their racing.

Even more practical for National Hunt, gelding can prevent the extreme discomfort experienced by “entire” horses when jumping over hard fences, historically made from birch.

Irish horses intended for chasing are gelded automatically at an early age.

Most chasers are in fact geldings.

For a long time, many big flat races were not open to geldings, but this has now changed with most of the classics now being opened up to them.

One obvious financial argument against gelding is that after winning a major, a colt is instantly worth millions to big stables or stud syndicates.

Whereas “The Arkle” who won the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1964, 65, and 66, was valued at the same price the day after the races as he was the day before.

National Hunt racing would not work without geldings, who are much admired by racegoers, regardless of stud decisions made by prejudiced breeders.

GOING

Advance forecasts in newspapers and the formbook advertise the state of the ground for a race meeting.

• Hard
• Firm
• Good to Firm
• Good to Soft
• Soft
• Heavy

“Soft with heavy patches” in the formbook indicates muddy patches.

Sometimes differences are noted on different parts of the course I.e. Going: Round course, soft. Straight course, good to soft.

The outcome of a race is significantly dependent on the state of the going. It is arguably THE most important factor in determining a race day favourite.

Comments including “likes some cut on the ground” or “likes some give underfoot” should be carefully noted.

Other horses prefer to race when the mud is flying and the formbook will note such horses as being a “confirmed mudlark”.

Still other horses don’t like soft conditions at all and need good going, the formbook will state “needs the top of the ground”, while some prefer really firm going eliciting descriptive comments such as “likes to hear his hooves rattle”.
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DEAD HEAT

When there is a photo finish and the judge still cannot determine the winner – this is said to be a “dead heat”. Frequently before the days of photo finish, there would be mayhem when a dead heat was declared by a judge but everyone else could see there was an outright winner.

Often it would be the angle of the finishing line that gave an impression of an outright winner, meaning the mayhem was not justified. However oftentimes it would be the judge who had got it wrong and the chaos was entirely justified.

Punters, trainers, owners would all be outraged by the judge’s poor decision and eyesight (or lack of it); obviously where there is a dead heat the prize money about a horse is substantially reduced.

The first record of a decision being determined by a “dead heat” was at Doncaster in October, 1947, between the horses Phantom Bridge and Resistance. More dead heats occur in Sprint Handicaps than in any other race, this is as one would expect, i.e. short unpredictable races with weights set to reduce advantage. These races often have “blanket finishes”

DISTANCE

• This is generally recognized as being a point 240yds from the winning post. Not officially marked on the racecourse, but always referred to in form summaries and the formbook i.e. went well clear after leading at the distance. Courses are all marked with furlong markers indicating how far one is from the finishing post, so it can be seen that the distance is 20yds before the final furlong marker is reached.

• Sometimes horses may be judged to have won by a distance (more often at jumps meetings rather than flat). Although this is supposed to be 240 yards it usually means that the distance is so large that the judge cannot be bothered to estimate it.

• The actual distance of a race. The shortest distance for a race is 5 furlongs. The longest flat races are around 2 miles in practice. The longest event of the racing calendar is the Queen Alexander stakes at Royal Ascot over 2.75 miles. National Hunt races are much longer with no chase or hurdle being less than 2 miles, with the longest jumps race being the Grand National at 4 miles 856 yards.

• Winning distance. This can be defined as a “short head”, the finest of margins on a photo finish, then a “full” head, then a neck , then half a length etc etc.

DOLL

This is a hurdle whose primary purpose is to signal direction during a national hunt race, for example when a section of the course is waterlogged, that part of the course would be said to be “dolled off”.

DRAW

Before a flat race there is a “draw” to decide which place in the stalls each horse will occupy. The draw is made the day before the race at the overnight declarations office by lots. National hunt races don’t draw for places.

The extreme left position is number one, with the number being indicated over the stall front, horse two takes stall two etc. Punters should consider stall position as part of their form study, as certain stalls are known to have advantage or disadvantage at certain courses, at certain times of year, especially in big fields.

Punters had to lobby hard to get access to the draw information which is now widely available in newspapers and the numbers board and on Betfair. The information has proved very valuable to trainers and jockeys in determining race strategy.
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CLASS A:

Flat race classifications are from Class A through to Class G. This determines the methodology for framing conditions races.

CLASSICS:

Reference to a horse race that has been around for a very long time. These races of longstanding tend to attract the best horses and have become regarded as the highest quality of racing. The classics are open only to 3 yo’s and above and there are 5 of them in England.

The Classics are currently:

New market, spring, 2000 guineas colts and fillies, first run in 1809
New market, spring, 1000 guineas, fillies only, first run 1814
Epsom 1.5 miles, summer, derby colts and fillies, 1780
Epsom 1.5 miles, summer, oaks, Fillies only, first run 1779
Doncaster 1 ¾ miles, autumn, st ledger, Colts and Fillies, first run 1776

Fillies rarely contest the 2000 guineas or the oaks nowadays with trainers tending to run them only in the classic equivalents for Fillies only: the oaks (fillies) and the 1000 guineas.

Originally nobody set out to establish a set of classic races, they merely evolved, and became universally acknowledged as a pattern sometime around the middle of 19th Century.

Classic winners have had a major impact on the overall development of the thoroughbred. They have achieved high prestige and have proved that they are best of their breed and age.

The classics tend to provide excellent betting opportunities, as the form advertised tends to work out quite accurately; horses which are well backed tend to do very well, and given the strong ante post markets there are opportunities for overly long prices.

CLEVERLY:

When a horse wins more easily than the winning distance suggests it is said to have won “cleverly”. Alternatively he or she may be said to have won with “Something in hand”.

Often flat jockeys will do just enough in order that their charge wins. This means that the full distance by which a horse would have won is never actually known to the public or the handicapper, who then has no real way of judging a horse’s true capability.

Professional punters and Betfair professionals can benefit from making notes regarding this sort of evidence. It will be noted in the form book and in the detailed comments in Raceform and Chaseform. Other analysis worth noting will be in the Racing Post and Superform or Timeform.
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