UK Horse Racing Tips

A handicap is a race in which each horse carries a weight according to its official rating, allocated by a team of handicappers at the British Horseracing Authority (BHA). The official rating expresses, in Imperial pounds, the ability of each horse, so it can be compared with others and handicap races can be framed to give each horse, at least in theory, an equal chance of winning.

To qualify for an official rating, a horse must typically run in at least three so-called ‘weight for age’ races. A weight-for-age race is one in which each horse carries a fixed weight, according to its age and sex, the race distance and the time of year. Of course, a horse may run better or worse from one weight-for-age race to the next, but the handicappers will typically focus on its best performance, unless there is reason to believe that the form of the race is unreliable.

Once a horse is qualified for handicaps, each subsequent performance is analysed by the handicappers and its rating may be raised, lowered or stay the same, depending on their findings. By definition, if a horse wins a handicap, it must have improved on its official rating to do so, so its rating may be raised by 6lb, 7lb or more, depending on the level of the race in question. In a large, competitive field, it may also be necessary to raise the official ratings of the placed horses, on the grounds that, by beating most of their rivals, they, too, have improved. Conversely, if a horse is deteriorating and runs to a level below its official rating on more than one occasion, its rating may be lowered; by how much depends on the profile of the horse but, as any trainer will tell you, horses typically go up the weights much faster than they come down.

In assessing the level of any race, the handicappers may make reference to a horse, known as a ‘yardstick’ horse, which has run to the same standard as its official rating in the race under scrutiny, or to the same standard in a series of recent races. Having identified such a horse, they use a sliding scale, ranging from 3lb per length for Flat races over the minimum 5 furlongs to 1lb per length for Flat races over 1 mile 7 furlongs and beyond, or National Hunt races, to determine how the margins between the yardstick horse and its competitors should be interpreted in terms of official ratings.

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