Reading a Program

Written by Administrator

Wednesday, 16 April 2008 06:43

Not A Lesson In Confusion

Reading a program for the first time can be intimidating but it need not be a lesson in confusion. The race day program provides you with all you need to pick a winner: past performance record, the track where they raced, their performance times, the jockey or driver and how they finished. Once you become familiar with the numbers and symbols of a program, you will be able to handicap with the best.

How To Read A Thoroughbred Program

Click Here for a flash tutorial on how to read the Daily Racing Form
Click Here for a flash tutorial on placing a bet (Bet the Net, NTRA)

How To Read The Program - Standardbred Racing

A	Claiming Price (if applicable), Horse number in race	I	Trainer name
B	Morning line odds	J	Trainer (global) U.R.S. statistics
C	Horse name	K	Fastest winning time in current year, track recorded on and track condition(next, same for prior year)
D	Horse colour, sex age and pedigree	L	Money earned in last 6 starts (displayed for Alberta Venues only)
E	Owner(s) and address	M	Current year number of starts, wins, 2nds, 3rds and money earned
F	Breeder(s) and address	N	Prior year number of starts, etc.
G	Driver name, weight and colour	O	Current lifetime record to date: fastest winning time, track size, age when recorded, total lifetime wins and money earned
H	Driver (global) statistics (starts, wins, 2nds, 3rds, U.R.S.)

Program Line

1 Date race contested
2 Race number
3 Track ID and size of racing oval
(if other than 1/2 mile outside Alberta)
4 Track condition and variant
5 Class of race and distance raced
(if not one mile standard)
6 Purse raced for
7 Leader's time at 1/4 mile
8 Leader's time at 1/2 mile
9 Leader's time at 3/4 mile
10 Winning time of race
11 Post position
12 Horse's position at 1/4 mile
13 Horse's position at 1/2 mile

14 Horse's position at 3/4 mile
15 Horse's position at end of mile stretch
16 Horse's finishing position
17 Horse's final 1/4 time
18 Horse's time to finish race
19 Final betting odds
20 Driver
21 Tempurature in Celsius
22 Number of Starters
23 Name of winning horse
24 Name of 2nd place finisher
25 Name of 3rd place finisher

Symbols and Abreviations

Track Conditions		Horses's Sex		Horses's Colour
f	fast	f	filly	B	bay
gd	good	c	colt	Blk	black
sl	slow	g	gelding	Br	brown
sy	sloppy	h	horse	Ch	chestnut
hy	heavy	m	mare	Gr	grey
my	muddy	rig	ridgling	Ro	roa

Race Class Examples

Cnd	Conditions unavailable at printing time
3000clm	$3000 claiming
Nw2000L6	non-winners of @2000 in last 6 starts
NW12000L	NON-WINNERS OF $12000 lifetime
Nw2pm	non-winners of 2 pair-mutua races
W5001	winners over $5000
Hc	handicap race
Op4000clm	optional claiming $4000
Qualifier	qualifying race
Qualifier-t&p	qualifying race for trotters and pacers
Qualifier-h&d	qualifying race for horse and driver
ec	early closing
lc	late closing
Ffa	Free for All

Racing Information Symbols

	raced on outside for at least 1/4 mile
	double parked out
X	horse broke stride at this point
iX	break caused by interference
	races without hopples
X	races with trotting hopples
i	suffered interference
be	finished with broken equipment
	horse was claimed
acc	accident
*NR	record taken at non-extended meet
T	time trial
Tdis	time disallowed
(C)	after driver's name denotes Conditional Licence for limited experience, subject to approval of judges
(P)	after driver's name denotes Probational status under regulation

Finish Information Symbols		Wagering Information Symbols
ns	nose	*	favourite
hd	head	f	field
nk	neck	e	entry
dis	distanced over 35 lengths behind winner	NB	no betting
dq	disqualified after race was declared official	NR	not reported
dh	dead heat	bar	barred
(dnf)	did not finish
p	placed

Last Updated on Wednesday, 16 April 2008 07:23

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