Racecard Abbreviations – What do they mean?

When reading a horse racing racecard, whether it be online or in a newspaper, you will see various abbreviations next to the horses name which gives important information, but what do these mean?

Reading the form in horse racing is a very important part of picking bets out but if you don’t know what some of the abbreviated terms mean you might miss some vital information.

Our guide below will help you navigate through a racecard with all the information you will need.

 

Racecard Abbreviations

As well as terms you’ll find across horse racing tips and articles, you’ll also find a number of abbreviations on racecards.

Below you’ll find some of the more commonly used abbreviations found.

 

Horse

These are all used to describe a horse.

• C: The horse has previously won on the same course.
• D: The horse has previously won over the same distance.
• CD: A horse that has won on the same course and the same distance.
• BF: The horse has previously been a favourite in a race but lost.
• OR: The official rating of a horse according to the BHA.

 

Form

These terms are all used to represent a horse’s form.

• 1-9: Previous finishing positions of a horse.
• 0: Horse finished outside the top nine.
• – : Represents the turning of a year.
• / : A separation of horse racing seasons.
• P: The horse pulled up in a race and didn’t finish.
• R: The horse refused to race or take a fence.
• F: The horse fell during a race.
• BD: The horse was brought down in a race.
• U: The rider of the horse became unseated during the race.

 

Going

These represent the conditions of the racecourse in terms of the race track.

• f or fm: Firm
• g or gd: Good
• hd: Hard
• hy or hvy: Heavy
• s or sft: Soft
• stand: Standard AW

 

Horse’s Headgear

This is used to tell a punter whether the horse was wearing a particular type of headgear.

• h: Hood
• b: Blinkers
• p: Cheekpieces
• v: Visor
• t: Tongue-tie
• e: Eye hood
• Ht: Hood and tongue-tie.
• e/c: Eyecover
• e/s: Eyeshield

 

Type Of Race

You’ll also find a series of initials to represent the type of race.

• AW: All Weather
• Ch: Chase
• Cls: Class
• Div: Divisional
• Gd: Grade 1, 2 or 3 in jump racing
• Gp: Group 1, 2 or 3 in flat racing
• Hcap: Handicap
• H: Hurdle
• List: Listed
• Mdn: Maiden
• NHF: National Hunt Flat
• Nov: Novice

Read More: Horse racing terms explained.

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