Form is the record of a horse’s performance in previous races and is seen by many as a good way of predicting a horse’s future performance.
Comparing horses’ form should enable you to pick the likely best performers in a race.
In the race card, it normally is arranged as a line of numbers denoting finishing position or abbreviations. Form runs from left to right, with the oldest races on the left and the most recent on the right.
- The numbers 1-9 indicate the position the horse finished in the race
- The number 0 indicates that the horse finished outside the first 9
- The symbol – separates racing seasons. Numbers before the – are for last season
- The symbol / indicates a longer gap, for example if the horse missed an entire racing season
- P or PU indicates that the horse was pulled up by the jockey and did not complete the race
The following abbreviations normally apply to jump racing:
- F indicates the horse fell
- R indicates a horse refused
- BD indicates the horse was brought down by another runner
- U or UR indicates that the horse unseated its jockey
You may also see theses abbreviations:
- C indicates a horse has won on that course before
- D indicates a horse has won over that distance before
- CD indicates a horse has won over course and distance
- BF stands for beaten favourite and indicates a horse was favourite for a race, but did not win
