A racecard packs a lot into one line per horse: numbers, letters, brackets and ratings. Once you know what each part means, you can size up a field in a couple of minutes. This guide goes through a typical British racecard from left to right, then covers the abbreviations that cause most confusion, including C, D, CD and BF. It sits with the rest of our horse racing guides.
What is a racecard in horse racing?
A racecard lists every race at a meeting with the declared runners. The Jockey Club describes it as the equivalent of a theatre programme for the day. For each race you get the time, name, distance, class and prize money. For each horse you get its key details and recent form.
Layouts vary a little between the racecourse programme, newspapers and websites, but the building blocks are the same. You can see the day’s cards on our UK and Irish racecards page and follow along with the sections below.
The numbers at the start of each line
Saddlecloth number. The big number is the one the horse wears on its saddlecloth, so you can pick it out in the race. In a handicap the runners are numbered in weight order, so number 1 carries top weight. An R here marks a reserve, and NR means the horse is now a non-runner.
Draw. On the Flat, a smaller number in brackets beside the saddlecloth number is the starting stall. It’s allocated at random and has nothing to do with the saddlecloth number. Jump races start from a tape, so there’s no draw over hurdles or fences. Our guide to when stall position matters covers how much the draw counts at different tracks.
Silks. The colours shown are the owner’s, worn by the jockey. They’re the quickest way to follow a horse during the race.
The horse’s name, age and weight
A suffix after the name, such as (IRE) or (USA), shows where the horse was bred. Some cards also give its colour and sex in short form: b for bay, ch for chestnut, gr for grey, and g for gelding, m for mare, f for filly or c for colt.
The number in brackets after the name, for example (23), is how many days since the horse last ran. If it has run more recently under a different code, some cards add that too, with a letter such as F for a Flat run.
Age is in years. Weight is in stones and pounds, so 11-10 means 11st 10lb. In a handicap the weight comes from the horse’s rating, while in other races the conditions decide it. The weight shown includes any penalty for a recent win.
How do you read the form figures?
The form figures are the horse’s recent finishing positions, read from left to right with the most recent run on the right. So 3-412 means the horse was third, then fourth, then won, and was second last time out.
- 1 to 9: the position it finished.
- 0: it finished outside the first nine.
- A dash (-): separates seasons. Figures to the left are from the season before.
- A slash (/): marks a longer gap, such as a missed season.
- P or PU: pulled up.
- F: fell. U or UR: unseated rider. B or BD: brought down. R: refused.
Letters such as F, U and R mostly appear in jump form. A fall or unseat doesn’t always mean the horse was running badly, so it’s worth checking what happened. Our beginner’s guide to reading form goes further into how to weigh up a form line.
What do C, D and CD mean on a racecard?
- C: the horse has won at this course before.
- D: it has won over this distance before.
- CD: it has won over this course and distance before.
These letters only tell you a horse has won here or over the trip. They don’t tell you when, on what ground or in what grade, and some cards count a win over a trip very close to today’s as a distance win. A course win from three seasons ago on fast ground means less in a soft-ground race in November.
One trap: in the betting forecast, a C after a price means co-favourite, not course winner. The Racing Post uses F for favourite, J for joint favourite (two horses) and C for co-favourite (three or more).
What does BF mean on a racecard?
BF stands for beaten favourite. It means the horse started favourite last time out and didn’t win.
It isn’t a black mark on its own. A horse can be beaten favourite after an unsuitable trip, the wrong ground or a troubled run, and still be the best horse in today’s race. Treat it as a prompt to find out why it was beaten.
What do OR, RPR and TS mean?
- OR: the official rating from the British Horseracing Authority’s handicappers. It sets the weights in handicaps.
- RPR: the Racing Post Rating, compiled by the Racing Post’s own handicappers and adjusted for today’s weights.
- TS: Topspeed, the Racing Post’s speed figure. It compares a horse’s past times with the standard time for the course, adjusted for going and weight.
RPR and TS are Racing Post figures, so you’ll see them on Racing Post cards. Other providers, such as Timeform, publish their own ratings with different names and scales.
Jockey, trainer and headgear codes
Jockey. A number in brackets after the jockey’s name, such as (3), (5) or (7), is the weight allowance an apprentice or conditional rider can claim. It comes off the weight the horse carries.
Trainer. On Racing Post cards, a small 1 or 2 by the trainer’s name shows the horse’s first or second run for that yard. The RTF% figure is the share of the trainer’s runners that have run to form over the past 16 days.
Headgear. Letters after the horse’s name or weight show any equipment worn:
- b: blinkers. v: visor. p: cheekpieces.
- h: hood. t: tongue-tie.
- e/s: eyeshield. e/c: eyecover.
A 1 after the letter, such as b1, means the horse is wearing it for the first time. Our explainer on blinkers, visors and cheekpieces covers why trainers reach for each one.
Wind operations. Racing Post cards show W1 or W2 when a horse is having its first or second run since wind surgery.
We don’t give selections in our guides. The racecard tells you what has happened; how you weigh it up is down to you.
Racecard FAQ
What is a racecard in horse racing?
It’s the list of races and declared runners at a meeting, with each horse’s draw, age, weight, jockey, trainer, form and ratings.
What do C, D and CD mean on a racecard?
C means the horse has won at the course, D means it has won over the distance, and CD means it has won over both the course and distance.
What does BF mean on a racecard?
BF means beaten favourite: the horse started favourite on its last run and didn’t win.
What is TS on a racecard?
TS is Topspeed, the Racing Post’s speed rating based on the times a horse has recorded, adjusted for going and weight.
What does the number next to a horse’s name mean?
A number in brackets after the name is usually the days since the horse last ran. The number in brackets beside the saddlecloth number on the Flat is its stall draw.
Sources: Racing Post racecard abbreviations, The Jockey Club guide to reading the form and Cartmel Racecourse’s racecard guide.
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