Category: FAQ

The governance and regulation of horse racing in Britain is the responsibility of the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), which was formed by the amalgamation of two existing bodies, the British Horseracing Board (BHB) and the Horseracing Regulatory Board (HRA), in 2007. Historically, the Jockey Club governed and regulated the sport, but handed over the governance function to the BHB, which was formed in 1993. Likewise, it handed over responsibility for devising and enforcing the Rules of Racing to the HRA, formed in 2006, and the BHB and HRA merged just over a year later to create the BHA as we know it today.

Like its predecessor, the Jockey Club, the BHA is tasked with devising and enforcing the Rules of Racing and dealing effectively with rule breaches, while at the same time delivering an attractive, compelling horse racing programme. To succeed, such as programme must appeal to owners, trainers and jockeys, racecourse authorities and the wider racing public.

As far as the day-to-day running of horse racing is concerned, the BHA is assisted by Weatherbys, which effectively adminsters the sport on its behalf. Weatherbys provides various racing services, including the registration of horse names and owners’ racing colours, publication of the weekly Racing Calendar, issuing race weights to the media and customising data files for clients such as Timeform and the Racing Post.

In horse racing, the term ‘penalty’ refers to additional weight carried by a horse as a result of winning one or more races in a specified period. In a handicap race, horses are allotted weight according to their official handicap ratings, as determined by a team of handicappers at the British Horseracing Authority (BHA). However, if a horse is entered for one handicap race and wins another after the weights for that race have been published, it will incur a penalty of, say, 5lb or 7lb, which is added to the weight originally allotted.

The ethos of handicap races is that all participants have an equal chance of winning, so a horse that wins a handicap must, by definition, have improved on its official handicap rating. Penalties account for the fact that a winning horse may be turned out again quickly, before the official handicappers have had chance to revise its rating.

Similarly, if a horse has won a so-called ‘Pattern’ race – that is, a Group One, Group Two or Group Three race – on the Flat, it will incur a penalty, according to the race conditions, if it contests a lower-level Pattern race, or a ‘Listed’ race, within a certain period of time. Again, this reflects the fact that the horse in question has already proved itself at a higher level.

SP stands for ‘Starting Price’ and refers to the odds offered on winning, or placed, horses in the event that a punter does not take fixed odds – in the form of an ‘early’ or ‘board’ price – at the time of placing the bet. Historically, the integrity of the starting price system has been overseen by the independent Starting Price Regulatory Commission (SPRC), which employs a team of Starting Price Validators to collate betting information from on-course bookmakers. Starting price is determined by sampling bookmakers offering standard each-way terms and is defined as the market price generally available to ‘good’ money – that is, to lose at least £500 – at the ‘off’.

However, when horse racing went behind closed doors, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, starting prices could not be returned in the traditional way. A system of ‘industry’ starting prices, using betting information from major off-course bookmakers, was adopted instead. This move was controversial, insofar that it was believed, by some, to increase bookmakers’ margins at the expense of punters. However, following further examination by the SPRC, the new system was found to decrease, rather than increase, the factored-in profit margin, or ‘overround’, per race, such that it will be retained in future.

During a race, if a horse, with its jockey intact, takes the wrong course or bypasses an obstacle by running around it, rather than jumping over it, that horse is said to have ‘run out’ and is immediately disqualified. Thus, the in-running comments for the horse in question may include something along the lines of ‘…ridden 3 out, weakened next, ran out approaching last’ and its form figures will include a letter ‘O’ to indicate what happened. Note that ‘ran out’ is slightly different from ‘carried out’ – indicated by a letter ‘C’ in the form figures – where a horse is sufficiently impeded by a rival that it is carried off the course through no fault of its own.

A horse taking the wrong course is often the result of jockey error. While inexcusable, such errors used to be a regular occurrence on the Cross Country Course at Cheltenham, for example, which twists and turns and doubles back on itself at various points. However, it is not uncommon for a horse to hang violently one way or the other, sometimes to the point that it becomes difficult, or impossible, for its jockey to control. In such cases, it may be impossible for a jockey to prevent a horse running out and, in fact, this may be the safest option for all concerned.