The basics of British racing
03 British Racing 
/ Betfair Education / 07 March 2008 / Leave a comment
Horse racing in Britain is big business and extremely popular. If you're new to British racing, then you need to examine the basics. You might be familiar with racing in another country, or new to the game altogether.
How to learn the rules and better your understanding
• Take your time and watch a good amount of the racing. There are two different types of British racing; flat and National Hunt, or jump racing. Jump racing has two main types of race, hurdles and steeplechases. The chase races are normally for more experienced horses as the obstacles they jump are a lot bigger.
• All-weather racing is another type of racing which runs all year round. There are four venues with synthetic tracks; Lingfield, Kempton, Southwell and Wolverhampton, with another track, Great Leighs due to open in 2008. Some of the tracks have a Polytrack surface, while others use fibresand, so finding a horse with good form on each track is important.
• Use the Betfair Racing formguide or Racing Post websites and look into the full results of past races. There are detailed descriptions on every race, video footage of past races etc. Also read the comments of the race, find out if the horse finished strongly or tired. Look at trainer quotes for the horse, is it being aimed at certain races, will it need the run etc.
Betting on GB Horse Racing (Overview)
Learning about both types of racing is similar, the most important part is researching the form of each horse, look at the form of the trainer, what type of distance the horse runs best at and the type of ground it prefers, certain horses need good ground, where others perform better when the ground is soft.
British racetracks also vary for both flat and jump racing, certain tracks will suit certain horses better. For example some racecourses are flat, galloping tracks and others are undulating with steep up-hill finishes, which suit stamina horses better. Some tracks the horses will run left-handed and others are right-handed. Course form is often more relevant at some tracks than others.
Handicap races mean horses carry different weights in relation to their ability. The idea is to give every horse an equal chance of winning, the better the horse, the more weight it has to carry. Older or more experienced horses are often said to be 'exposed' in handicaps - that is, their ability has been fully shown and their rating should be accurate. Inexperienced horses may still be open to improvement and thus may actually be better than the handicap rating given.
There are also different class groups of racing, Class 6 being the lowest standard ranging up to Class 1, followed by Grade and Group races, with Grade (jumps) or Group (flat) 1 being the highest standard. So it is important to see what standard of racing the horses have been running in prior to the race you are interested.
Another aspect of flat racing is the draw. Look at which stall (also known as barrier or gate) the horse is drawn in. Certain tracks will have a significant draw bias and it is worth researching if there is a bias to a high or low draw.
Betting on GB Horse Racing (Win Markets - In-Running)
Betting in-running can be very volatile, the prices of each runner change as soon as a horse looks to be going well or the jockey starts to use the whip early in the race. Commentators can have a big influence on the prices of horses in-running, on a couple of occasions a commentator has called the wrong horse as the one out in front, so familiarise yourself with the jockey colours and the number of the horse before the race. A mistake during the race placing your bet could be costly!
It is also handy to learn about running styles, which horses don't stay, or the ones which come running on late in a race, learning to judge whether the race is being run at a fast pace or a slow pace is also vital as this will tell you if the front runners will tire or not. Once you learn this and you are able to read a race well, then betting in-running could be very profitable.
Betting on GB Horse Racing (Place Markets)
Races with seven or less runners have two to be placed, races with seven or more have three to be placed. The exceptions to this are handicap races and nurseries, if they have 16 runners or more, then it is four to be placed. Unlike betting with bookmakers, non-runners (whether early or late) do not affect the number of winners in the place markets, so make sure you familiarize yourself with the Betfair rules and regs, found in the tab next to My Bets on each market.
Other Useful Websites
Sporting Life
At The Races
Timeform
Oddschecker
Links to useful In Play articles on racing
Debate on the merits of National Hunt vs Flat racing
Cheltenham previews with generic racing principles - 2005, 2006
