Handicap Races
The majority of horse races in the UK are handicaps. An official handicapper studies past results (horse racing form) and comes up with an official rating for each horse. This rating determines the weight the horse will carry in its next race, depending on the conditions of the event. Extra weights may be added to the saddle to ensure that the weight of jockey plus saddle combined equals the allotted weight.
The handicapper's aim is to allot weights which counter the racehorse's ability. Ideally and hypothetically the handicapper is looking to see all the horses cross the finishing line at the same time. Handicapping by weight plays a central role in horse racing and much form study is similarly focused around weights and ratings.
Non-Handicap Races
The very top races in the horse racing calendar (class 1 events) are usually not handicaps. The best horses compete on their own terms at level weights. Racehorses, at any level, also start their careers in non-handicap contests known as maiden races. Once a horse wins a maiden race it is no longer entitled to run in maidens and is given an official rating by the handicapper. In certain other (usually low grade) selling races or claimers the connections of a horse (trainer and owner) get to stipulate what weight their horse will carry in a race, thereby giving it a better chance of success.
Codes of Racing
There are two codes of racing in the UK: Flat racing and NH (National Hunt) racing. Flat racing is racing over a prescribed distance without obstacles. NH racing usually involves obstacles a horse must jump - either hurdles (light brush panels which are easier to knock over without a horse falling) or chases (bigger fences made of birch or spruce that a horse must jump well to clear).
The weight a horse carries in a flat race tends to range between 8 and 10 stone. In the NH code (jumping) horses carry between 10 and 12 stone on their back. Horses can and sometimes do race in both codes. Flat races are run at distances of up to two miles and racehorses are consequently bred for speed in this code. The jumping game (which originally comes from the domain of hunting and is much more particular to the UK than flat racing, which takes place around the world) rewards stamina, with horses running over a distance between 2 miles and 4.5 miles. The Grand National Steeplechase is a handicap jumps race run over the extensive 4.5 miles trip with 30 big fences to be jumped along the way.
So that's all pretty factual information pertaining to the conditions of horse racing in the UK. You don't need to know any of the above when you place a bet on a horse race but it's the way in, I think, to understanding what the game is all about. It's a bit of a dry read so for those of you who have made it this far through the article I'll add a few more piquant deductions of my own.
Owners, Trainers and the Betting Market
The prospective bettor might do well to imagine themselves in the position of an owner of a racehorse or perhaps the trainer of a racehorse who is looking to keep the owner paying stable fees. How can they make a handsome living through horse racing?
Prize fees for winning a race are, for all but the best races, relatively low. A horse that wins one race a year and places in a couple of others might earn £10,000 in prize-money. It certainly helps and it might be enough to satisfy an owner who doesn't seriously expect to make money from horse racing. But into this situation we must factor in the possibility that you can bet on horse races. Wild sums of money aren't going to go unnoticed in the betting market but still... there are potentially some lucrative opportunities here.
So the obvious idea is to run your horse in a few races perhaps just a little short of peak fitness. You make it look like the horse is a fairly run-of-the-mill sort, apparently lacking in speed. The handicapper rates the horse accordingly with a low weight rating. You enter the horse in a race slightly below the actual ability you expect them to attain. The students of form in the racing press and, more importantly, the bookmakers look at the horse's poor form and price them up accordingly, perhaps offering good odds for a win. Depending on a few factors, but crucially this is going to include the racehorse's recent form, the horse could be priced up as big as 20/1, maybe even 33/1...
If you've got this far you are probably cottoning on and getting the drift of this thread. The rules of racing officially preclude trainers and jockeys from betting on the racehorses they are involved with. The owner is most welcome to gamble funds on the basis of their horse's ability.
Framing
When I assess and analyse horse races I'm to some extent always approaching racing from this perspective. It is contextual but essentially this is my take on the economics of the horse racing industry. It doesn't always add up but to approach horse racing from this somewhat Marxian analysis makes sense as it does when analysing other industries or economic situations.
Horse racing is a sport and love of the sport is, for most people involved, tied up intimately with their hopes to win money from it. Further, and importantly, the BHA rules of racing "require that every horse must run and be seen to be run on its merits (to achieve the best possible placing)." Consequently you don't hear a trainer say "oh, we ran him a little short of a gallop in order that connections could obtain a better price next time out." In short, what I am hinting at here is against the rules of racing.
This take on horse racing is not as blatantly addressed by the racing press as it is here but it is subtly alluded to. In betting shops up and down the land and on unofficial racing forums it's widely portrayed as a full-blown conspiracy. These different approaches add up to a very coded set-up which everyone in the racing world gets in line with really. There are ways of framing discussion of horse racing. I will probably revert to a more subtle code when I next return to the subject of horse races and handicapping.
