Horse Racing remains as popular as ever in South Africa and with local racing coming your way seven days a week, it pays to know what you're doing! Who knows, perhaps you'll claim a sizable win on your selections come race day! Below, we'll take a quick look at how to read our
Winning Form online racecards!
The first thing you'll see once you select your race will be this header. The header will differ slightly depending on where the meet is taking place.
1
The first section here indicates the general information regarding the race. It's being hosted at Kenilworth - it's the ninth race of the meet and is due to start at 16:55. The horses will be racing over a total distance of 1600 metres - around eight furlongs. "Thank You For Your Patronage" is the name of the race - these are often sponsored by local businesses or personalities in the racing industry.
2
These indicate or resident tipster, eMeM's picks for this particular race. These will differ from race to race. Here we see the picks can be used for a swinger, exacta, trifecta, quartet, leg 7 of the place accumulator and leg 6 of the pick six.
3
This gives us a general overview of the field. The horses in this particular race have run a combined 334 times, winning 28 of those races and placing in a further 114. To date, R2,154,228 in stakes have been won by all of these horses.
4
This is very similar to the third field of the above image. This basically gives us average statistical information per runner.
This is probably the most important bit of data to consider when you're first looking at getting into racing. Let's break it down below!
1
The first field highlighted in the above image will show what colours the jockey will be wearing. In a heaving mass of chestnut horses, it's much easier to spot your pick by the colours of the silks your jockey is wearing.
2
The number 76 in this section of the card indicates the horse's merit rating. The 7/1 above indicates the horse's price at the time of publishing.
3
This section just gives us a basic overview of the horse. According to this, Respectable Rebel is a three-year-old gelding (castrated) male - he was born on 29 August 2012.
4
This field indicates the horse's total runs; 9: 1-1-1. Respectable Rebel has run nine times, winning once, coming second once as well as coming third once.
5
This indicates how much money the horse has won in all of its runs - our favourite Rebel has managed to bag R75 100 to date.
6
While 75 100 in winnings looks pretty good, it pales in comparison to how much Respectable Rebel cost. He set his owner/s back a whopping R350 000 his owner/s paid for him.
7
This one's nice and simple - it indicates the horse's from. In his last four runs Respectable Rebel has come eighth, sixth, fourth and first.
8
This indicates how many times Respectable Rebel has run on sand - clearly not been running at Flamingo Park!
9
He's run twice in the wet - having never even placed in a race where it's been wet underfoot.
10
He's run seven times on this course (Fairview), having won on one occasion and never placing.
11
This indicates how many time Respectable Rebel has run in this particular distance. He's run one race at 1600 metres and came second on that occasion.
12
C & D is something you'll hear a lot of in the racing fraternity - it simply refers to course and distance. 0: 0-0-0 indicates that he's never run the 1600 metres at Fairview.
Now this is where things can get tricky for the novice punter - you're presented with a bucketload of information and simply have no what to make of it all. All of the above information pertains to one horse and its last nine races, with its most recent run at the bottom. We'll break it down for you below:
2
This column indicates how many weeks passed by between between Respectable Rebel's runs.
3
This indicates the date that the horse ran. Seeing an 'n' next to the date indicates that the race took place at night.
4
The fourth column indicates the race code, race reference number, as well as the condition or 'going' of the track on that day. For instance K 575 G indicates that the race was run at Kenilworth (K), the race code was 575, and that the going was Good (G). The going can also be Soft (S), Firm (F), Heavy (H) and Yielding (Y).
5
Indicates what type of race the horse ran in. MR72 indicates that the horse ran in a Merit Rating 72 handicap.
6
Indicates the course bend and distance of the race. For example the s in s1200m, means the race was straight. While the b in b1400, means that the track bends. This is an important one to look out for as some horses prefer running certain distances at certain tracks, and will prefer the straight to a bend, and vice versa.
7
Indicates which jockey rode the horse the horse on the day. This is another important thing to look out for as certain jockeys and horses work together as a combination.
8
Indicates exactly how much mass the horse carried in the race - this can differ from race to race depending on merit rating etc.
9
Let's you know what sort of equipment the horse is wearing. This may differ from race to race. Respectable Rebel - as we can see - always uses Alumite shoes. Other equipment can include tongue ties and blinkers etc.
10
Indicates where the horse has been drawn, as well as how many horses ran in the race. Therefore 5/16, means the horse had the 5th draw out of 16 runners. Depending on the race, a draw can give a horse a significant advantage at the start. The lower the number, the closer your horse is drawn to the rail.
11
Comment from our resident tipster eMeM, this time explaining how the horse might in perform in this race.
12
Indicates where your horse finished in this particular race.
13
Indicates how many lengths your horse finished behind the winner - if Respectable Rebel won the race, it indicates how far behind the second-placed runner finished behind the him.
14
Indicates the name of the winning horse in the race. If Respectable Rebel wins the race, it will show the horse that finished second.
15
Indicates the total mass carried by the winning horse. Again, if Respectable Rebel wins the race, it will show how much mass the horse that came second was carrying.
16 / 17
Actual time that the horse ran in this particular race / while the adjusted time shows what time the horse would have run should it be adjusted to the current race distance.
18 / 19
Indicates the opening price of the horse to win the race / Indicates the price of the horse to win at the start of the race - also known as starting price.
20
Indicates the merit rating of the horse before the start of the race.
21
Post-race comment from our resident tipster, eMeM - useful tidbits if you can't find a replay of the race anywhere.