Step by step
Step 1
After having launched the website (https://www.attheraces.com), we choose the race of our choice, leaving aside the race types to avoid (see page 5).
Our choice is the third race at Newcastle (A.W.), a flat Handicap race (6f) with 8 runners. Let’s have a look at the race card (see next page).
Most of the data we need is on the race card. All the other information will be found by clicking on the horse name to access his full form, and on the Trainer name to access his current form, that’s all.
Step 2
Take one by one the questions concerning the flat races.
The answer is the last digit above (in the red circle), and as you can see he finished 5, so we should answer No… But, because the horse finished 5th , we must check the distance behind the winner before to validate the answer.
Click on the horse name in the webpage. A new page opens that contains the Full form of the horse. You will see that this data will be helpful in several other questions.
The horse finished 2 ½ lengths from the winner. We can consider this as minimal and so we answer Yes to the question (or we tick the box if we selected the several horses option).
The answer should be No because the last race was 38 days ago.
However we must check that the horse has never been placed after a similar or higher break. Again we will find the answer in the Full form of the horse.
We can see that the horse has already been placed 2nd in a previous race (16 Dec 17) after a break of 35 days. He also has been placed (26 Jul 17) after a break of 42 days. So, we can consider that the delay since his last race is not a problem, and that the horse is likely to be fresh enough to run well. We answer Yes.
Again we will find the answer in the Full form of the horse.
The jockey for today’s race is P Hanagan. The last good race was not achieved with the same jockey (2nd the 16 Dec 17) but with P Matchers. So, we must check that the horse has already won or been placed several times with P Hanagan. The jockey has been associated with this horse only once and finished 4th, so we answer No to the question.
Again we will find the answer in the Full form of the horse.
We answer No. The horse never repeats a minimum of 3 good races, at least in recent years. The last time it happened was in 2013, five years ago, that is to say when the horse was 3 years old, the age when a horse is at its bets.
We advise you to take into account the current and the previous year regarding the form of the horse. Of course it depends on the question. For example, when you need to know the ability of horse for a track, you can look at results older than one year because the ability for a track is not linked to the form of the horse.
The distance today is 6f (6 furlongs).
Most of the time we can easily identify if a horse has already been placed at the distance by looking at the racecard. The form icons near the parent’s names of the horse are very helpful. Look at the screenshot below, we can see that our horse won at this distance, so the answer to the question is Yes.
However this is not always so evident because the icon refers to the exact distance.
So, where the icon is not present, we have to check if the horse has already been placed over distances between a margin of +/- ½ furlong OR over distances less AND greater than the distance of the day, meaning that the horse CAN do well at this distance.
As in the previous questions, take a look at the Full form of the horse (note that this is not necessary for the horse in the example because the icon is displayed):
We see the 16 Dec 17, a race at 7f (Race Details column) where the horse has been placed.
As for the previous question, most of the time we have the answer in the racecard with the form icons. The letter of the icon that corresponds to the Racecourse is C.
Our horse has already been placed at this racecourse (grey=has been placed / blue=has won). So the answer is Yes. If you see the icon CD, the answer is also Yes because this means that the horse has been placed at the Racecourse and at the same distance.
If the horse has already run at the racecourse but without being placed, you must answer No to the question. But if the horse has never run at this racecourse, we have to check if it has already been placed at similar racecourse.
By hovering your mouse over the racecourse name in the racecard (as above), you can see that Newcastle is a galloping track.
Now, we just need to check the Full form of the horse (note as above that this is not necessary for the horse in this example because the icon is displayed):
By hovering your mouse over the racecourse name in the Full form (as above), you can see that Newcastle is a galloping track and that the horse has been placed in this kind of race.
A really useful feature of the Full form is that you can filter the results by race type:
And this feature can also be used with most of the other questions, which will save you a lot of time.
As for previous questions, most of the time we have the answer in the racecard with the form icons. The letter of the icon that corresponds to the Surface is S.
Our horse has already been placed on this surface so the answer is Yes.
Note that in UK/IRE races, the S is never displayed if the race takes place on grass track. In this case you will have to check the Full form of the horse if it has already been placed at similar surface.
The race that concerns us is a straight race. This means that the left-handed/right-handed criterion is not needed and, in this case, you must answer Yes for all the horses studied.
When the race is a left-handed or right-ended, you must check that the horse has already been placed in this situation. As usual, you have the answer in the Full form of the horse. By hovering your mouse over the racecourse name in the Full form (see below), you can see if the track is the same hand as for today’s race and if the horse has been placed.
The race that concerns us is a Handicap race. As with previous questions, most of the time we have the answer in the racecard with the form icons. This is the case when the race is a Handicap one. The letter of the icon that corresponds to this race type is Hcp.
Our horse has already been placed at this race type so the answer is Yes. If the race is a group stake, you will have to check the Full form of the horse if it has already been placed at similar race type.
As for previous questions, most of the time we have the answer in the racecard with the form icons. The letter of the icon that corresponds to the Class is C.
Our horse has already been placed at this class so the answer is Yes.
As for previous questions, most of the time we have the answer in the racecard with the form icons. The letter of the icon that corresponds to the Going is G.
Our horse has already been placed on this going so the answer is Yes.
However if the icon is not present, we have to check the Full form of the horse if the horse has been placed at similar going, with only strong difference between good and bad ground: heavy/soft/… grounds on one side and good/firm/… on the other side.
E.g. If today’s going is soft and the horse won a previous race on heavy ground, we answer Yes. But if the horse only won on firm or good grounds, we answer No.
For this criterion, we hardly encourage you to use the filter option of the Full form page.
Today’s is a straight line race, so the answer is Yes and we add 1 point to all the runners.
However, here is where you can check the criterion in case of a left-handed/right-handed race. It is again in the Full form of the horse that we will find the answer. We must check that the horse has already been placed at a similar stall, with only one strong difference between low, middle and high numbers.
The stall is the number between the parentheses in the Result column.
The horse weighting today is 9-7. We need to check in his Full form that he has already been placed with a weight equal or higher.
In 2015 the horse won a race at a higher weight. It is more than 2 years ago, however he only ran 4 races at 9-7 or higher in the last 3 years, so we can consider he is able to do it. We answer Yes. In a specific case like this one, this is really a matter of judgment.
Our horse never wears any pieces and as he has already been placed without them we answer Yes. Let’s take another horse to show you how to verify this criterion.
By hovering your mouse over the horse name in the Racecard (see above), you can instantly see if he has already been a winner or been placed with the pieces of the day (headgear or tongue tie).
Again we will find the answer in the Full form of the horse.
The prize money of each race is indicated in the Race Details. As you can see in the screenshot above, the 16 Dec 17 the horse finished 2nd at a much higher prize money than today (£5,531). We answer Yes.
Again we will find the answer in the Full form of the horse.
The horse only ran one race in the last 30 days. We answer Yes.
Again we will find the answer in the Full form of the horse.
By hovering your mouse over the symbol of the last race, you will discover the comment concerning the horse. If the comment is positive, answer Yes, if it is negative, answer No, and if it is neutral like this one, it is at your own discretion.
Here it is neutral and we should choose to answer Yes.
In the Racecard, click on the Trainer name to access his current form. A new windows opens, click on the Current Form section. You have now the last 20 results of the trainer.
The best way to get a good idea of the trainer’s form is to look at his results of the last 30 days. Maybe you will find the following method of dealing with the list of trainer’s form useful.
You only have to count the number of wins and places, then multiply the amount by 100 and divide it by 20. If the result is equal or greater than 30, the answer is Yes, otherwise it is No.
Number of wins (1) + number of places (7) = 8
Percentage of placed runners = 8 x 100 / 20 = 40%
The percentage is higher than 30 so the answer is Yes.