How to Read a Horse Racing Program

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Find a horse’s results, history, and odds at a glance

Co-authored by Jessica Rude and Luke Smith, MFA

Last Updated: November 26, 2025 Fact Checked

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Reading Race Information

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Individual Horse Information

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Past Races

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Winning Strategies

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Video

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Q&A

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Tips

Horse racing is an exciting and historical pastime that’s fun for anyone, whether you’re betting on a race or not. However, learning to read a horse racing form is crucial for those seeking a closer look at each horse’s identity, skills, personality, and odds of winning. We’ll tour you through each part of a horse racing form, from general race info to a horse’s profile and historical performance. We’ll also give you key tips on how to use all this info to make better bets.

How do you read a horse racing form?

Find the general race information in the header of the form, including the race number, track name, and turf conditions. Beneath, find the horse’s profile, including the horse’s name, number, odds, uniform, and pedigree. Finally, beneath that is the horse’s past history, which can help inform you of its odds

Section 1 of 4:

Reading Race Information

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1
Scan the header to find the race number and the track name. All of the general information about the race will be available in the header of the Racing Form, which is usually at the top. It’s located above other information, in larger fonts, separated from the body of the text by a line. Here you find the race number (typically 1-10) and the track name. Make sure this matches the information of the race you’re watching to be sure that you have the right event.^{[1]
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- Note that not every racing form has a header. Some forms might skip right to the horse’s individual information. If the name of the horse is next to the largest number, that number is the horse’s position in the race, not the number of the race itself.
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Check which type of race it is to find out the event variety. There are several different kinds of horse races, each with their own rules and parameters. In the header of the racing form, you’ll see the type of race specified, usually somewhere near the race number and track name. It’s often abbreviated to just 3 letters. Common event types include:^{[2]
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- MSW (maiden special weight): Limited to horses that have never won a race.
- MCL (maiden claiming): Maiden races where the horse is eligible to be bought by another owner.
- CLM (claiming): Horses are eligible to be bought by another owner.
- ALW (allowance): Races involving lightly raced horses that aren’t for sale, often with higher purses.
- HCP (handicap): Races with higher-quality horses with equalized weights, or chances of winning.
- STR (starter allowance): Similar to allowance races, but horses are weighted according to their record.
- SHP (starter handicap): Similar to a handicap, but with somewhat inferior horses.
- STK (stakes): A standard race type where money has been added to the purse by the horse owners.
- Check out this list of race types for a complete rundown.
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Read the race conditions to get a feel for the event. Underneath the track name, there are some lines of text that describe this race. This begins with the length of the race, the track record, and the purse—or winnings—that goes to the winner. It also lists conditions that were necessary for the horses to qualify for the race. You’ll also see a diagram of the track that shows the route, terrain type, and race distance.^{[3]
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- Race participants will often be limited by specifying the horses’ gender, age, and record. These class specifications will be listed in the race conditions.
- Also note the “grade” of the race, which goes from 1-3 and tells you which class of horse is participating. Grade 1 is the highest class

Section 2 of 4:

Reading Individual Horse Information

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1
Find Horse Information under the header, with ID info on the left. Directly under the track information, you’ll find 3 columns of data about the horse. This includes identifying information for the race, pedigree, and average performance history. Find the horse’s race number in large print to the left of the body of the text. The first row of text will tell you the horse's name and the second will tell you the owner’s name. The third row indicates the color of the “silks” (uniform) the horse will wear during the race. The final line is the name of the horse’s jockey.^{[4]
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- Underneath the horse’s race number are the morning line odds, the standing odds prior to the race. For example, if the line odds are read 3 – 1, a successful bet of $1 will earn you $3.
- There may also be a larger number near the horse’s number if the race is a claiming race. This number is the price to claim the horse.
- Note that each racing form may have a slightly different layout. The information will all be the same, but you may have to poke around a bit for the info you’re looking for.
These parentheses contain his race statistics. The first number is the Jockey’s total number of starts for the meet, followed by first, second, and third-place finishes. The final number in parentheses is the jockey’s win percentage. Next to this, you will find in a separate pair of parentheses the jockey’s races, first-place finishes, and win percentage during the past year.^{[5]
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Look to the middle column for physical and pedigree information. The first row is composed of an initial indicating the horse’s color, a second initial indicating gender, and a third indicating age. The second row lists the horse's sire, his sire’s sire, and how much the owner charges to stud the sire. The third line lists the mother of the horse and the horse’s maternal grandfather. The fourth line provides the name of the breeder. The final line includes the trainer’s name, with his win percentage formatted in the same fashion as the jockey.^{[6]
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- The initials used to indicate color in the first line of the column are B for bay, Blk for black, Ch for chestnut, Dkb for dark bay, Br for brown, Gry for gray, and RA for roan.
- The color initial will be followed with a second indicating the gender of the horse. These are as follows: C for colt, F for filly, G for gelding, M for mare, and R for ridgling.^{[7]
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- The final element in the first line is the horse's age. It may say something like, “4 (May),” where 4 is the age of the horse, and May is the month in which the horse is born. The age of a horse is measured not by the number of their birthdays, but rather by how many New Year’s Days they have seen. A horse born on December 31st will be considered one year old on January 1st.
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Find career averages in the far right column. To the left of the column are sometimes a large-print letter and a number, indicating any medications the horse might be on and any weight that it might be carrying. Then, there are rows formatted to display the horse’s career statistics. Each row is given a date, then the first number indicates total career starts, followed by first-place, second-place, and third-place finishes. To the right of this, you will see career earnings and the horse's best Beyer Speed.^{[8]
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- To the right of the winning stats column is another column that shows the horse’s record on a dirt fast track, wet track, synthetic track, turf record, and the horse’s record with surfaces and distances similar to those of the race in question.^{[9]
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- Next to the wet, turf, and distance symbols, you will find a number in parentheses known as the “Tomlinson Rating.” This indicates how well a horse performs on those types of tracks. A rating of 320 or more for wet turf or distance suggests that the horse will likely run particularly well on a wet track. For turf, a ranking of 280 or more indicates that the horse has an advantage in the race.
- The Beyer Speed is a measure of a horse’s average speed relative to the average speed of the tracks it has run. For a $25,000 race, average Beyer numbers would be in the low 90s, mid 80s for a $10,000 race, and 57 for a $2,500 race. Top horses might have Bayer numbers in the 120s.

Section 3 of 4:

Reviewing Past Races

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Underneath the general horse information, find a list of the horse’s performances in earlier races. Each of these rows will begin with a date, identifying the race, followed by detailed and extensive information that tells you more about each race.^{[10]
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Review identifying race information, like the date and turf type. At the beginning of the row, you will find the date of the race, an abbreviation indicating the track, and the race number for that day. This is followed by an abbreviation indicating the condition of the track. The final piece of information before fractional times the distance measured in furlongs.^{[11]
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- Track condition abbreviations include fr for frozen, fst for fast, gd for good, hy for heavy, my for muddy, sl for slow, sly for sloppy, and wf for wet-fast.
$Step 3 Check out the fractional times for pacing info.$

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Check out the fractional times for pacing info. Fractional times give you a sense of how the horse paces itself through a race.^{[12]
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- Times are formatted like “2:04 3” where “2” is a measure of minutes, “04” a measure of seconds, and “3” a measure of fifths of a second.
4
Review the horse’s position in that particular race. After the times, you’ll find a number indicating the horse’s Beyer Speed. This is followed by the horse’s position at post, first call, second call, third call, stretch call, and finish.^{[13]
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- The exponent for the number indicates how many lengths (an approximate measure of the length of a horse) the horse was behind the race leader.
- On the far right of the page is a number that represents the number of starters. This is important when considering how favorable the horse’s position is. If there are only 4 starters, a third-place position won’t count for much.
- Read comments. On the far right, just before the number of starts, you will find a comment line. Though short, this will usually give some information about the horse's performance that might be hard to ascertain just from the numbers.

Section 4 of 4:

Strategies for Winning Bets

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1
Bet according to the odds to see how much money you might make. When a horse is favored to win, the odds will be set so that any bets on that horse won’t pay out as much.^{[14]
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Research source} Thus, don’t think about yourself as betting for a horse so much as you are betting against the odds makers. Use the Racing Form to try to predict when a horse is likely to do better than the odds makers believe.
- For example, the horse might have poor overall performance, but great performance on the kind of track it’s about to race on, so its listed odds might be lower than its actual odds. Keep these details in mind!
A high Beyer Speed Figure, especially in recent races, is the standard measure for calculating a horse's odds. However, if your objective is to beat the odds, you should be especially careful to observe reasons why the Beyer Speed Figure might be flawed. Did track conditions cause the horse to perform unusually poorly in a recent race? If so, the odds makers may very well be underestimating its chances.^{[15]
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Consider the effectiveness of the horse's trainer and jockey. A good trainer might be able to take a horse with a mediocre past and encourage it to perform better. Studying the trainer’s own history is a good way to determine when a horse might outperform the odds. The trainer is one of the first bits of info to look for.^{[16]
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- This is also true of the horse’s jockey, who can make all the difference. The jockey's statistics cover the same time frame as the trainer's statistics.
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Check the horse’s history on the kind of course it’s racing on. Historically, some horses have only performed well on specific courses. Review the horse’s performance at the track to see if it might have an advantage there.^{[17]
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Research source} Also, consider whether the horse has performed well on similar types of courses and distances in the past.
- For example, horses with excellent Beyer Ratings on longer courses will likely perform well on shorter courses. That said, short-distance sprinters might not perform well over long distances.
Horses treated with Lasix for the first time often perform better than expected. This will be indicated by a large “L” next to the left of the horse’s average Beyer Speed Numbers. A horse that has just taken it for the first time (as opposed to one that has been on it) will be indicated with a white “L” in a black circle.^{[18]
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Keep in mind the position handicapping of each horse. One of the most complicated features of horse betting is cross-referencing how a horse interacts with other horses. Does it want to try to stay in front or break out toward the end? Study the horse’s position relative to other horses on the track to ascertain its type and then consider how it might interact with the other types of horses in the race that day. This process is known as “handicapping.”^{[19]
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- In theory, handicapped races are set up so that all the horses have similar odds of winning, but looking closer at a horse’ history compared to others can give you added details.
- For example, a horse that historically does well in the final moments of the race might perform a certain way against mostly horses that fall off toward the end of a race.
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Embrace expert opinions for an informed perspective. "The Closer Look" and “Comments” sections in the Racing Form are brief narratives on each horse written by a professional handicapper. Both often contain important pedigree data, clues on workout patterns, and insights on previous races. These can be handy if you’re not very familiar with a horse.^{[20]
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- Racing comments are often filled with coded abbreviations. There are tons of them, so check out this guide on comment abbreviations for a complete list.

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Where is the eighth pole?

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The eighth pole is the green pole on a racetrack that is 1⁄8 of a mile from the finish.

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What are the symbols between race distance and first fractional time?

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The symbol you see for the February 16 race at Aqueduct indicates that the race was run on their winter track which has a component that makes it less likely to freeze. More commonly you will see a T symbol to indicate races run on turf, a diamond symbol to indicate races run on a synthetic surface or an X symbol to indicate a race that was scheduled to be run on the grass but was moved to the dirt because the grass course was unusable.

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Is the online racing form different from the printed version?

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Yes, there are more features in the online version, DRF Formulator, than you find in the newspaper. Online can have access to the Formulator Closer Look, sire ratings, dam reports, moss pace figures, and so much more. Formulator costs $4.95.

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