Category: FAQ

Traditionally, the starting price (SP) of any horse was determined by sampling the prices available, to ‘good’ money – or, in other words, to lose at least £500 in a single bet – from a selection of on-course bookmakers at the scheduled off time. Having compiled a list of prices, typically from a sample of between six and 24 bookmakers, SP reporters would order that list from longest to shortest, divide it in two and return the shortest price in the top half as the official SP. Thus, the SP, or a longer price, would have been available from at least half the bookmakers sampled.

However, having considered the decision ‘long and hard’, according to its chairman, Lord Donoghue, the Starting Price Regulatory Commission (SPRC) announced, in March, 2021, that it was moving away from the traditional SP system. With horse racing forced behind closed doors, as the result of the Covid-19 pandemic, on-course betting has dwindled away to almost negligible proportions, prompting the introduction of an SP system using mainly off-course odds. As and when bookmakers return to racecourses, on-course prices are expected to contribute between 10% and 12.5% to the overall sample.

Not to be confused with a claiming jockey, a claiming race is a race in which every horse can be bought or ‘claimed’ for a set value, regardless of its finishing position, afterwards. Claiming races may have different eligibility conditions, but essentially all work the same way. Subject to the top claiming price, the weight carried by each horse is linked to its claiming price; a trainer can reduce the weight carried, typically by £1,000 per lb, by reducing the claiming price when making the entry. However, once the claiming price is set, it is printed on the race card and the horse cannot be bought for more or less than this price.

If and when a horse is claimed, the original owner remains liable for race entry fees, jockey fees, etc. but, by the same token, retains any prize money due. Of course, the original owner may not wish to lose the horse, in which case he or she may make a so-called ‘friendly’ claim, in person or via an agent. Once claimed, the horse immediately becomes the responsibility of the new owner. If the same horse is subject to two or more claims, the successful claimant is determined by ballot.

Not to be confused with a claiming jockey, a claiming race is a race in which every horse can be bought or ‘claimed’ for a set value, regardless of its finishing position, afterwards. Claiming races may have different eligibility conditions, but essentially all work the same way. Subject to the top claiming price, the weight carried by each horse is linked to its claiming price; a trainer can reduce the weight carried, typically by £1,000 per lb, by reducing the claiming price when making the entry. However, once the claiming price is set, it is printed on the race card and the horse cannot be bought for more or less than this price.

If and when a horse is claimed, the original owner remains liable for race entry fees, jockey fees, etc. but, by the same token, retains any prize money due. Of course, the original owner may not wish to lose the horse, in which case he or she may make a so-called ‘friendly’ claim, in person or via an agent. Once claimed, the horse immediately becomes the responsibility of the new owner. If the same horse is subject to two or more claims, the successful claimant is determined by ballot.

On a racecard, the form figures or, in other words, the string of numbers and letters to the left of each horse’s name, provide a ‘snapshot’ of its performance in recent races. Read from left to right, or least to most recent, the numbers 0-9 denote the horse’s finishing positions, if any, with ‘0’ representing a finishing position of tenth or higher.

Of course, not all horses finish all the races in which they participate, so form figures may contain letters, which, for the most part, indicate why a horse failed to finish. Alphabetically, ‘B’ stands for ‘Brought down’, ‘C’ stands for ‘Carried out’, meaning that the horse strayed from the designated course, or missed an obstacle, as the result of being hampered by a rival, and ‘F’ stands for ‘Fell’. ‘L’ stands for ‘Left at start’, meaning that the horse came under starter’s orders, but took no part, while ‘O’ stands for ‘ran Out’. The remaining letters, ‘P’ for ‘Pulled up’, ‘R’ for ‘Refused’, ‘S’ for ‘Slipped up’ and ‘U’ for ‘Unseated rider’, require no further explanation.

Two other letters, with a slightly different connotation, which may appear in form figures are ‘D’ and ‘V’; ‘D’ stands for ‘Disqualified’, while ‘V’ stands for ‘Void’, which indicates that, for whatever reason, the result of the race was stricken from the record.