{"id":142,"date":"2016-08-16T15:53:16","date_gmt":"2016-08-16T15:53:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bettingwebsites.org.uk\/?page_id=142"},"modified":"2022-11-07T09:49:12","modified_gmt":"2022-11-07T09:49:12","slug":"horse-racing-grades","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bettingwebsites.org.uk\/articles\/horse-racing\/horse-racing-grades\/","title":{"rendered":"Horse Racing Grades"},"content":{"rendered":"
For every famous Derby winning horse there are hundreds more who are inconsistent and a heck of a lot slower. Similarly, not every jumper can be in contention to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup, and will feel more at home trying to get around the course at Hexham on a Monday afternoon.<\/p>\n
There are around 15,000 horses in training in the UK, and the gulf between the champions and the also rans is huge.<\/p>\n
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Race meetings are held almost every day of the year; the average day might see four or five meetings over the flat and jumps, at the weekend this can be higher still, and into double figures when it’s a Bank Holiday Monday. The vast majority of the races are lower level meetings with the higher-class races often at the weekend or at celebrated racing festivals such as Royal Ascot, Epsom and Newmarket on the flat, and at Cheltenham and Aintree over the jumps.<\/p>\n
With so many different classes, it means owners are given plenty of chances to find a race in which their horse can compete and hopefully be competitive in.<\/p>\n
The way in which the racing industry attempts to distinguish between horses of varying qualities is by using a rating system for the horses, and a grading system for the races. This can feel daunting if you have never investigated it before, but stick with us and you will become more familiar with what this all means.<\/p>\n
The first thing to understand is that there are two different categories of horse racing in this country; flat racing and National Hunt racing. The grading system works differently for each, so the best thing to do is to split them up and look at each category in isolation.<\/p>\n
Before we get into the different race grades, it\u2019s important to have at least a vague understanding of ratings, as these have an impact on what level of race a horse can compete in.<\/p>\n
All horses have a rating determined by the BHA (British Horseracing Authority). The higher that rating is, the better that horse should theoretically be. The rating system works slightly differently for flat racing than it does for National Hunt racing, but don\u2019t worry about that for now.<\/p>\n
A horse gets an official rating after it has won a race, or after it has raced unsuccessfully three times and finished in the top 6 at least once. This rating will then be re-evaluated each week, so it can go up and down fairly often.<\/p>\n
The rating is based on performance and gives an indication as to the handicap each horse should have.<\/p>\n
Yep, yet another term you should get to grips with.<\/p>\n
This one is nice and simple though; a handicap is used to even the field and hopefully make for a more competitive race.<\/p>\n
Top performing horses will be made to run with extra weights (the handicap) in order to give the other runners in the race a fighting chance of winning. The amount of extra weight they carry is based on their rating, as well as the rating of the other horses in the race.<\/p>\n
As a basic example, a horse rated at 110 will carry 10lbs more weight than a horse rated at 100. Simple.<\/p>\n