Detailed Guide to Handicapping

A handicap is a race for which horses are allotted weight, based on their ability on the racecourse, to try to equalize their chances of winning. There are many other factors that influence the outcome of any contest race distance and going, the trac , the tactics employed, the wellbeing of the horse and so on. !t is the s ill of the trainer to put the horse in the right race to ma"imise its chance once the Handicappers ha#e produced their ratings from which the weights are calculated. The Handicapper hopes to ma e the race e"citing and competiti#e for the owners and racegoers, as well as set an interesting challenge for the punters to sol#e. This document is a more detailed e"planation of how the handicapping system wor s.

Contents

Contents..........................................................................................................................1 The team of Handicappers..............................................................................................2 How handicapping works...............................................................................................2 Why have handicap races?.............................................................................................3 How a horse qua ifies for a handicap rating...................................................................3 What is a handicap rating?.............................................................................................3 How the system operates................................................................................................! "ena ties..........................................................................................................................# Weight for age $W%&'...................................................................................................# &pprentice and Conditiona (ockey a owances.............................................................) How do Handicappers ca cu ate the merit of the performances?...................................) How those performances affect handicap ratings...........................................................* +nternationa ...................................................................................................................,

The team of Handicappers There are twel#e Handicappers employed by the $ritish Horseracing Authority. %ome specialise in &ump racing, some specialise in 'lat racing and some split their year between the codes according to which one is busier. (sually each Handicapper is gi#en a specific group of horses to loo after. 'or e"ample, one person loo s after hurdle races of less than two and a half miles whilst another does all the longer distance hurdle races. The ad#antage is that they get to see the same horses again and again. That way they build up an understanding of each horse)s form and characteristics which is a big help in rating them appropriately. The same principle co#ers %teeplechasing and 'lat racing. The team is led by *hil %mith who is Head of Handicapping and Dominic Gardiner+Hill who is Deputy Head.

How handicapping works ,ou can #ary the time it ta es any athlete to run his race by gi#ing him a weight to carry. 'or e"ample, it would ta e (sain $olt longer to run -.. metres if we strapped lead weights round his an les. !n fact we could produce an e"citing race between $olt and /ust about anyone else if we could wor out the right amount of weight to ma e things equal. 0"actly the same approach wor s with horse races. 1e can gi#e different weights to each horse to ma e things equal. That way e#ery horse, owner, trainer and /oc ey has a chance of winning the race. The weight that you see in the race card is the total burden that the horse will ha#e to carry. This is the /oc ey plus his saddle. !f that still does not add up to the weight that the Handicapper has specified then strips of lead are put into the saddle until the total burden weighs the right amount. 0ach handicap race has a ma"imum and a minimum weight that we can allocate and this will be stated in the race conditions.

Why have handicap races? 'or most owners, handicaps offer their best chance of winning a race. 1ithout them, the top horses would almost always win and there would be no point in owning anything other than a top horse . 'or any athlete other than the #ery elite, there would be no point entering any sprint race that included (sain $olt.

How a horse qualifies for a handicap rating !n most cases, a horse runs three times in non+handicap races before it is allowed to run in handicap races. 2n the 'lat those non+handicaps would typically be maiden races 3for horses that ha#e ne#er won4. There are other races for which they would be eligible including 5onditions races, 6o#ices, 5laiming and %elling races. 2#er obstacles they would typically run in 6o#ice races but there are other races for which they are eligible including all the race types abo#e as well as $eginners races. 2nce they ha#e run three times, the Handicapper can gi#e the horse a handicap rating as long as he feels that there is enough e#idence on which to base it. (nderstandably, if you fell on all three starts then there will not be enough e#idence. !f you win one of your early races then we may be able to gi#e you a handicap rating sooner. 2#er /umps you might also be able to get a handicap rating by finishing in the first four on both of your first two starts.

What is a handicap rating? A handicap rating is a way of e"pressing the merit of a horse)s performances on the racecourse. The higher the number, the better we thin the horse)s performances are under that code. The #ery best horses on the 'lat ha#e ratings in the -7.s. The #ery best &ump horses ha#e ratings in the -8.s. The scales differ because horses carry more weight in &ump races.

The a#erage rating of all horses on the 'lat is about 9. and the a#erage for /umping is about :;. The handicap ratings will translate into the weight that the horse will actually carry in a race. !f horse A is rated -.. and horse $ is rated :. then horse A will ha#e to carry ten pounds more weight than horse $. That is the difference that we thin would ma e for an equal race between them.

How the system operates 2nce a horse has qualified to run in handicaps, we will usually publish a handicap rating for it. A full list appears e#ery Tuesday morning on the $HA)s <acing Administration website. =ost handicaps are limited to horses with handicap ratings in a specific range. !f a 'lat race is for horses rated ;9+>., for e"ample, then nothing rated higher than >. is eligible for entry. Horses rated lower than ;9 are allowed to run but they would normally be gi#en weights as if they were rated ;9 irrespecti#e of how much lower than this they are actually rated. !t would not normally ma e sense for the trainer of a horse rated ?9 to enter. He would ha#e to carry ten pounds more than the weight that we thin would gi#e it an equal chance. Any horse running under those circumstances is said to be @out of the handicapA. !t would be better to run in a race where he would ha#e his proper weight and a proper chance. !n most races, the deadline for entering a horse is noon si" days before the race. 2nce that deadline has passed, the $HA publishes the list of horses entered together with the weights they ha#e been set to carry. The trainers then loo s at the opposition, consider all the #ariables and decides whether they want the horse to run in the race. 2n the 'lat that decision has to be ta en by ten o)cloc on the morning two days before the race. 2#er /umps the deadline is usually ten o)cloc on the morning before the race.

Penalties The Handicappers only get the chance to change their ratings once a wee , in time for the publication on Tuesday morning. The latest form that they are allowed to ta e into account is up to the end of %aturday. !f a horse wins a handicap then its rating will almost certainly go up. %ince we thought that e#ery horse had an equal chance, the winner will normally ha#e run to a higher le#el than his current rating. The a#erage amount that the rating of a handicap winner goes up is eight pounds for /ump racing and si" pounds for 'lat races. !t would not be fair to let the winner run again off the handicap rating from which it has /ust won since this would not gi#e its opponents an equal chance. !f connections want to run again before we ha#e had the chance to reassess the rating then they can do so but must carry a penalty. This is typically the same as those a#erage risesB and it is added to the weight calculated from the old rating. !t is the fairest way of ma ing things equal before the new ratings come into effect.

Weight for age (WF ! &ust as there are athletics races for schoolboys, horses can start racing before they are fully mature. !n school athletics there would be no point in getting the best -7yo to run against the best -8yo because the older boy would beat him e#ery time. ,ou would need to gi#e the youngster a head start if you wanted an e"citing and interesting race. The same is true for horses. !f you want a 7yo to run against older horses then you ha#e to ma e allowances for his immaturity. ,ou do this by reducing the weight that the 7yo has to carry to e#en things up. The $HA publishes charts showing how much the weight has to be reduced to ta e account of the immaturity. These are called @1eight 'or AgeA allowances. There are separate charts for &umps and 'lat. 2b#iously, the allowance gets smaller as the months pass and the young horse becomes more mature. The allowance also #aries according to the distance of the race generally the longer the race the more allowance is needed to ma e things equal. The 1'A scales apply to non+handicaps too and are always in the race conditions. 2therwise it would be impossible to ma e a fair and e"citing race between horses of different ages. The Handicappers ta e account of this allowance when calculating their figures.

pprentice and Conditional "ockey allowances This is a similar concept to that of the 1'A allowance for horses. !t is unreasonable to e"pect a /oc ey in his first few rides to be able to compete with the #ery top /oc eys. They need some help in order to e#en things up. 1ithout it, owners and trainers will ne#er gi#e them a chance and it would be impossible for new /oc eys to get started. The allowance is based on the number of winners that each has ridden. Against e"perienced professionals the allowances areC 'lat races >lbs until they ha#e won D. racesB thereafter ;lbs until they ha#e won ;. racesB thereafter 7lbs until they ha#e won :; races &umping >lbs until they ha#e won D. racesB thereafter ;lbs until they ha#e won ?. racesB thereafter 7lbs until they ha#e won >; races %pecial rules and allowances apply when they are ta ing on only other ine"perienced /oc eys. <esearch has shown that these allowances do an e"cellent /ob of gi#ing apprentices the same chance as full /oc eys. They are the allowances which, on a#erage, they need to offset their ine"perience. $ecause of this, the Handicappers add the allowance bac in when they are ma ing their calculations.

How do Handicappers calculate the merit of the performances? 0#ery time that a horse runs we try to wor out the merit of that performance. 1e do it by loo ing at our pre#ious assessments of the opposition. 1e then ma e calculations based on the weights that the horses carried and their relati#e finishing positions in this race. !n 'lat races one length is typically rec oned to be worth three pounds in sprint races, two pounds in mile races and one pound in staying races.

2#er &umps one pound per length is typical but it might be less in long distance races or on #ery tiring ground. As an e"ample, suppose that the winner of a mile race is considered to ha#e run to :.. A horse that finished fi#e lengths behind it at le#el weights might be considered to ha#e run to 8.. 0#en the simplest calculations of each performance will ta e into account the distance of the race, the going, the weight carried, the immaturity of the horses, any apprentice allowances, the distance the horse won by or was beaten by and the quality of the opposition. !n reality, calculations are ne#er e#en that simple for two reasons. 'irstly, in e#ery race there is a wide #ariation in the possible le#el for the ratings. The form of one opponent might suggest that your horse has run to -.., the form of another horse might suggest 8.. !t all depends on which of the opponents 3if any4 we belie#e has reproduced their pre#ious form, which ha#e impro#ed and which ha#e disappointed. 0#ery race throws up a range of possible interpretations. %econdly, the data from each race is ne#er @cleanA. There are so many factors to be ta en into account. Horses are slowly away, unsuited by the draw, raced too eenly, hampered or get unbalanced in the race. Things might not ha#e been to the horse)s li ing the going, the trac , the distance, the pace of the race and so on. The /ob of the Handicapper is to consider all these #ariables. The s ill of the Handicapper is the interpretation of form. To help him he will go through the recordings of e#ery one of his races again and again. The Handicappers maintain a database with e#ery run of e#ery horse, the le#el of performance decided by the Handicapper together with notes on e#ery race and e#ery performance.

How those performances affect handicap ratings 'or e#ery race that a horse runs the Handicapper has a figure for the merit of that performance together with notes on the race and on that performance. 1hen a horse is eligible to run in handicaps, the Handicapper must now consider what handicap rating to gi#e a horse. !n its simplest terms, a horse than runs to 8. on each of his first three starts 3with no unusual notes4 will always be gi#en a handicap rating of 8..

$ut what about a horse that ran to 8. then ;. and 7.E 1as the debut run a flu eE 1ere the conditions of the other two runs #ery differentE 2r is there something unusual and untrustworthy about that first runE The Handicapper must ta e a #ery close loo at all three runs before deciding on a handicap rating. 2nce a horse has a handicap rating, it may be raised if the horse performs abo#e that le#elB and it will be dropped if the horse eeps performing below that le#el. 0#ery rating is an interpretation based on the e#idence a#ailable at the time. 0ach time there is new e#idence, the Handicapper will consider whether he is still happy with the handicap ratings. The new e#idence might be when the horse has run againB but it might be when other horses ha#e run again. As an e"ample, imagine that a horse finished second in a handicap. !n the following wee s the first, third, fourth and fifth each comes out, wins a race and go up in the ratings. The Handicapper must consider whether he under+#alued the form in the first place. !f so then he will want to re#alue it and the rating of the second might go up e#en if he has not raced again. 'ar more often, the other horses will ha#e been disappointed and he will want to bring down the rating of the second horse e#en though it has not run again. 1hen we mo#e a horse because of the form of other animals we call it a @collateralA change. !n an a#erage wee , two thirds of those collateral changes are downwards.

#nternational 1e allow horses from abroad to run in handicaps as long as they ha#e qualified in the usual way and we ha#e enough e#idence on which to base a handicap rating. This is true of all races e"cept for handicaps restricted to Dyos. !n order to do this we maintain close lin s with Handicappers from all the ma/or racing nations. Together we ma e sure that we are wor ing to similar standards and that we understand the le#els and meanings of each other)s ratings. The rating off which a foreign horse runs here, though, is always ultimately the decision of the $HA Handicapper. Throughout the year, the 'lat Handicappers e"changes with their foreign counterparts ratings for e#ery top race run /ust about anywhere in the world. The &ump Handicappers rate all performances from !reland and

many from 'rance. And they wor closely with counterparts from e#ery other country that sends horses to race here. There are conferences e#ery year when the Handicappers meet with those international colleagues. The main 'lat conference is in December and results in the 1orld Thoroughbred <an ings. These are assessments of e#ery horse in the world that was worth a rating of --; or higher in the year. They are the official ratings that confer the status of world champions on the top each in each category. 1e also agree a supplement of horses in 0urope rated --.+--?. The Anglo+!rish &ump 5lassifications fulfils the same function for /umping horses and result from a meeting held at the end of the season.