Your guide to studying Cheltenham Festival form – Daily Business

Cheltenham Racecards can look a little confusing from the outside looking in and if you’re heading to the Cheltenham Festival this year, it could be useful to know what’s going on.

There are lots of letters and numbers dotted around, but fear not, as we’re going to explain what everything means in this guide on how to read a racecard.

First thing’s first, the race title is displayed underneath the race time and we’ve included an example below.

Cheltenham 14:25

2m½f (2m87y) (Old) Unibet Champion Hurdle Challenge Trophy (Grade 1) (4yo+)

In this example, the Champion Hurdle is a Grade 1, which is the highest level of race classification in National Hunt racing.

Most races are either hurdles or chases but there’s one race at Cheltenham called a bumper, in which they don’t jump any obstacles. In this case, they will jump hurdles.

It is open to horses aged four and upwards and run over a distance of two miles and about half-a-furlong (the exact distance of the race is bracketed next to it). 

Cheltenham specifically has two courses, which are named the old and new courses and races over the first two days are on the old, while the new course takes over for Thursday and Friday. This is important as the courses make a significant difference, with stamina more emphasised on the new course.

Not all the races at Cheltenham are graded races and there are many handicaps. Each runner is given an official rating, a numerical assessment of their ability, and it directly impacts how much weight a horse will carry.

Saddle cloth numbers are ordered by weight carried in handicaps, so the top weight will always wear the number one. 

For example, in the Jack Richards Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase last season, Springwell Bay was the top weight and he carried 11-12 (11 stone and 12 pounds), while the winner Caldwell Potter (number three) carried 11-4.

Here you will see more differences in the weight carried compared to the Grade 1. In the Champion Hurdle, the conditions stipulate that all horses will carry 11-10 unless they have an allowance, like mares and four-year-olds. 

Key terms to watch out for

There are often numbers and letters shown on a racecard and they are usually key pieces of information about the horse or jockey. We’ve listed most of the ones you’ll need to know below.

C: If there’s a letter C on its own near a horse’s name, it means that they have won at Cheltenham before. Previous course form at Cheltenham is always a positive, as the stiff uphill finish doesn’t suit every horse.

D: This means that the horse has won over the same trip before. 

CD: Unsurprisingly, this indicates that a horse has won over course and distance before, which is definitely a combination to look out for.

BF: Sometimes a racecard will tell you that a horse was favourite to win last time out but failed to do, with BF meaning beaten favourite.

Whenever a horse wears headgear during a race it must be declared beforehand and there are certain letters which indicate that a runner will swear some. p (cheekpieces), v (visor), t (tongue tie), h (hood) and b (blinkers) are the main ones to look out for.

Reading a racecard

Here’s an example of a Champion Hurdle runner and we’ll go through what everything means.

This horse is called The New Lion and his jockey will wear green and yellow hooped silks with a white cap. He will wear number 11 during the race and he has won two of his last three starts, whilst the F indicates that he was a faller two starts ago.

The handicapper has given him an official rating of 159 and he will carry 11-10 during the race. This particular horse is a seven-year-old and his current odds are 9/4. His trainer is Dan Skelton and he currently doesn’t have a jockey.

Click on the horse’s name to find his full form. Figures of note include a 0, which means the horse finished outside of the first nine on that occasion, a P means they were pulled up and didn’t finish the race, whilst U means the jockey was unseated.

You will occasionally see a B, which means the horse was brought down, V means the race was void, R tells us the horse refused to race or jump an obstacle, and S stands for slipped up.