UNDERSTANDING THE RACECARD 

The Racecourse have a programme or 'Racecard' printed for every race meeting.

They are available in ALL Enclosures at a cost of £2. You can buy them in advance when you book your tickets to the Grandstand & Paddock Enclosure for just £1.50!

A Racecard is included in the price of the Premier Enclosure (click here for more info) and also in the Paddock Package and Picnic Package

The Racecard- General Information

At the front of every racecard is a section on 'General Information' - this has basic information such as how to change between the Enclosures, what to do if you need to go back to your car etc.

There is also a plan of the Racecourse with a list of Restaurants and Bars and what they sell. You'll also find a handy voucher page which can be used in any of the bars or restaurants round the course. You can also download one of these vouchers here

There is then a section on other race meetings taking place across the country on the same day. You can bet on these meetings (click here for info on how to put a bet on) at any Tote window or with some bookmakers.

Before the 1st race at Pontefract you'll find a list of 'Trackfacts' - this tells you the top trainers and Jockeys at Pontefract along with details of horses who have been running in better races or have travelled a long way to get to Pontefract. These are often good indicators of horses that are expected to do well. An example of what you might find is below:

THE RACES

Ok, you've had something to eat; you've had a quick drink; you've studied the track facts and you've got 30 minutes before the first race - the horses haven't come in to the Parade Ring yet and so it's time to have a quick look at the runners and riders for the first race.

In the racecard, each race number can be identified by the number in red on the far left and right hand edges of the page (in our example below it's race 4).

If you look at a typical race from the racecard below you will see the following general details about the race situated in the top left hand corner of the page :

1. The race number and time (ie the FOURTH race at 3.40pm)
2. The race distance (ONE MILE ABOUT FOUR FURLONGS)
3. The race title (THE totepool PONTEFRACT CASTLE STAKES)
4. The type of race (LISTED RACE)
5. The age of the horses running (FOUR YEARS OLD AND UPWARDS)
6. The value of the race and the prizemoney (£45,000 - below this, the prize money allocated to the winner, second, third, fourth etc is broken down)
7. A map showing where the race will start (the small red arrow indicates where the start is - as a guide, the 'winning post' is also indicated so you can see where you are!)

See types of race for an explanation of distances and race types.

Next, look at a specific horse - let's look at horse numer 1, HATTON FLIGHT

If you look at the whole 'block', there is everything you will need to know about the horse.

Looking left to right, you will see the colour of the shirt (known as the 'silks') that the jockey will wear. Take good note of this so that you can cheer your horse on at the finish! A written description of the colours appears to the right hand side.

After the name of the horse you will see a number in brackets - ie 43 - this indicates the number of days since the horse last ran. If you look at horse 5, PROSPECT WELLS, you will notice that this horse has not run for 412 days. If a horse has been 'off the course' for a long time it may indicate that it has had some training problems, been injured, or simply needed a long period of rest and relaxation.

Looking again at HATTON FLIGHT, to the right of the brackets you will see the horses age - 6 - followed by the weight that the horse will carry. In this case the weight is 9st 1lb. This weight is made up of the weight of the jockey, the saddle and the jockey's clothing. If, for example the jockey and the saddle etc weigh in at 9st, he/she will put a 1lb lead weight into the saddle to make it correct. All jockeys are then 'weighed out' to make sure that they are carrying the correct weight and then weighed in AFTER the race to make sure that they've not lost anything!

After the weight of the horse is a number in brackets. This is the horse's position within the starting stalls. The picture below gives a good example of this: 

Back to the racecard and HATTON FLIGHT!

Underneath the name of the horse you can see the following:

B g Kahyasi - Platonic

'B' is the colour of the horse - in this case 'Bay' (or light brown)
You can also have 'Br' (Brown), 'Ch' (Chesnut), 'Bl' (Black), 'Gr' (Grey), 'Ro' (Roan) or (very rarely) 'W' (White).

'g' is the sex of the horse - in this case a 'gelding' (a male horse that has been castrated)
You can also have 'c' (colt - 2 or 3 yr old male 'entire' horse), 'h' (horse - 4yr old or older male 'entire' horse), 'f' (filly - 2 or 3 yr old female horse) or 'm' (mare - a 4yr old or older female horse)

'Khayasi' is the father or 'sire' of Hatton Flight and 'Platonic' is the 'dam' or mother. These details are known as the 'breeding' of the horse.

Underneath the details of the horses breeding you will see the name of the Owner, Trainer, Breeder and Sponsor of the horse.

Underneath the weight details you will find the name of the jockey - in this case Jimmy Fortune.

Beneath the jockey and 'colour of the silks' details you will see the horses 'form' or it's finishing positions in it's last 6 races. In the case of 'HATTON FLIGHT' the form is 11U05-5 So, on the horses last racecourse appearance (43 days ago), he finished 5th. The '-' that appears before the '5' indicates that any figures to the left of the '-' were during the previous racing year. A '/' indicates 2 previous racing years ago..... 

You can expect to see any of the following symbols within the form '1'. '2', '3', '4', '5', '6' which indicate the horse's finishing position (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th).

You may also see:
'0' - the horse finished out of the first 6 and was 'unplaced'
'F' - the horse fell
'U' - the horse did not fall but the jockey was knocked off or 'unseated'
'R' - the horse 'refused' to race
'P' - the horse 'Pulled up' and did not complete the race.

A little gap after the 'form' may be one of the following letters 'C', 'D', 'C D' which are as follows:
C - the horse has won over this course (ie Pontefract)
D - the horse has won over the distance of today's race
C D - the horse has won over the distance at this course!

Below all this information is a small review of the horses chances with the offical rating given to it by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) and a 'star' rating given by the racecard compilers.

After the very last horse in the race you may see a line which states that certain horses are wearing 'blinkers' or 'cheek pieces' or 'tongue strap'. The following are permitted pieces of equipment that the horse may wear on it's head or in it's mouth:

Blinkers - fit over the head and keep the horse looking straight forward to concentrate
Cheekpieces - fit to either side of the horse's head and again aim to keep the horse focused by looking straight ahead
Visor - fit over the head but have a slit in the 'cover' to allow the horse more peripheral vision
Eyecover - fit over the head and completely blocks vision in one eye (these are rarely used)
Tonguestrap - fits in the mouth over the tongue to prevent a horse from swallowing his/her tongue.

At the end of all the runners you will see a race summary and the predicted 1-2-3!

And that's it!