Question on Racing post info

[Guest ONEDUNME]

Hello again Just back off holiday today and spotted this thread was still running so Ill post a bit before hopping into bed. sh hd means beated by a short head nk by a neck dist by a distance - which is anything over x amount of lengths (I forget how many it is - but anything over it is called a distance). By the way, the winning margins aren't actually judged by distance but by the time elapsing between one horse crossing the line and the next. Distance given in form guides is usually the distance behind the winner (unless it says otherwise) but when given in a result, eg winning distances half a length and a length, it would obviously mean that the third horse finished a length behind the second but a length and a half behind the winner. As for the question on claiming, I think it depends on the number of winners that a jockey has ridden, rather than the number of races. It also depends on the type of race involved. Some or all of the above may be bollox but Im sure someone will correct it if so.:ok

[Datapunter]

Re: Hello again thanks Onedunme, haven't got my satellite dish yet but i'm video taping some races at goodwood from the BBC so i can have a good look at some of this stuff. Realy must get my arse to a track soon

[WorkingForTheEnemy]

Re: Hello again

The horses wear sheepskin nosebands or "shadow rolls" so they don't spook at shadows

According to the "experts" on BBC they also act to keep the horses head down. If they lift their head then theyll only see the noseband so it keeps their head down and focused on the track.

[Guest martinthevet]

Re: Hello again Few questions regarding OR and TS, why do some horses not have one or both for some races and how are the ratings decided? What do they mean in terms of the horse and its chances of winning? Ie what ratings should I be looking for?

[Guest whoneedsrio]

Re: Hello again To be given an official rating a horse must run three times, the handicapper then allots the the horse it's rating based on his interpretation of the ability shown so far. There is an exception to this if the horse wins in it's first two outings it will be given a rating. As the horse continues to race it's rating will rise or fall according to how well or not it runs in the opinion of the official handicapper. The theory with a handicap race is that runners of different ability can compete against each other by being allotted different weights, it is the rating that is important not the weight carried. There are various class bands in handicaps, for example the race may be a 0 to 80, this means anything rated above 80 can not run in the race. The horse with the highest rating will be given the top weight & the rest will carry a pound less for each point below the highest rated. For example if a horse rated 80 is entered in a 0 to 80 four year old & upwards handicap it will carry 10st, if it is entered in a 0 to 90 & a horse rated 90 is in the race it will carry 9st 4lb. If you look at a conditions race all the runners will be given the same weight with allowances for for sex, fillies & mares receive weight from colts & geldings. Also for age, three year olds get weight from older horses to allow for their immaturity. Finally they may be required to carry a penalty in the form of extra weight according to the class of the races they may have won. If you take this into account the horse with the highest rating in such races is the one the official handicapper thinks is the best in the race & can be a useful way of assessing a race subject to other conditions such as suitable going, track, trip etc. Topspeed ratings, at every track at each distance the the Racing Post has a standard time for each race calculated from past results. This time is what a horse should take to run the race on good ground carrying a standard weight which I believe is 9st. After each race the runners are rated against this time by comparing the actual time taken. Adjustments are made according to the state of the going, the actual weight carried & for other than the winner the distances beaten. The rating in the race to be run is what the horse should achieve on it's past performance with adjustments made for todays weight. If a horse doesn't have a rating it usually means it has not run fast enough yet to be given one. I could go on forever about the usefullness or not of speed ratings, the main thing to note is that if a horse has a good topspeed rating it has shown it can run a good fast race, just because it may not have a high rating doesn't mean it can't run a good time. I don't think speed ratings mean that much over the jumps or longer distances on the flat & they are probably most useful at up to a mile but even then there are races which are not truly run, no early pace etc. Hope this is of some use to you. Rio.

[Guest martinthevet]

Thanks Thats cleared things up, thanks :)