Horse Racing Class System

Most people new to horse racing are usually only familiar with the big races like the Kentucky Derby or Breeders' Cup in USA, Royal Ascot in UK, the Dubai Cup, Krisflyer and SAI Cup in Singapore. These are the pinnacle of racing and the top rung of the class ladder for Thoroughbred race horses. Before a race horse can get to that level, he or she will have started out at a much lower level of competition. To understand where the big horses come from, you need to understand the class system for horse racing.

Why are classes important?
First and foremost all horses are not the same, just as all sports players are not the same. What is class? Class in horse racing is really like levels in other sports. Such as Major League, Minor League, College etc.

Any horse who has yet to win a race is known as a maiden. To win that first race is known as "breaking his/her maiden" and while this is usually done in a maiden race, it can happen in any type of race so an exceptional horse (in skill or luck) may get that first win in an allowance or even stakes race. Just like the races for winners, race for maidens also have several levels of class.

In horse racing, horses move up and down the class ladder to find their spot. For example, a horse may do fine at the $35,000 Maiden so the horse may appear at a higher level next time out. If the horse falters bad, it could be an indication that the horse is outclassed at that level and the horse will come back down. Typically horses move up and down one rung on the ladder at a time. Sometimes horses that are close to being competitive at their current level will come down a bit to snatch up a win.

Understanding the horse racing class system in the can benefit the form or the Systems player. Other factors such as course, distance, going and weight may be in the horses favour but if it is racing in a grade that is too high for it, the horse will be outclassed by speedier animals.

Each race horse will have its optimum level, whether it improves from a lower grade, it will eventually reach a class of race where it simply cannot match the performance of other contestants in the race unless it us the world's top breed.

Others may be highly tried and then be dropped down a level where it can cope with the pace and stamina of its competitors.

Here is a very effective way of obtaining Horse Class Ratings for individual animals that really shows whether they are among the top rated runners in the race.

The UK horse racing class system runs to a scale of 0 to 140lbs. The Malayan Racing class system is also quite similar to this except the rating bands.

Class 1 Group 1
Class 1 Group 2
Class 1 Group 3
Class 1 Listed (include Handicaps)
Class 2 rated 86-110
Class 3 rated 76-95
Class 4 rated 66-75
Class 5 rated 56-65
Class 6 rated 46-55
Class 7 rated 0-45

A review of a horses past performance in the class of race it has contested can be very revealing whether for the form or the system builder.

Here's an example of a profile of the career record of a racehorse.

Class 2 Starts 1 Wins 0 rating 67
Class 3 Starts 4 Wins 0 rating 89
Class 4 Starts 5 Wins 1 rating 92
Class 5 Starts 5 Wins 3 rating 82
Class 6 Starts 4 Wins 2 rating 81

This horse looks to improve, very effective at Class 5 and beyond that level now, best rating at Class 4 with 1 win from 5 starts, decent rating at Class 3 but no wins from 4 starts. At levels 3 and 4 there have been 9 starts and 1 win (11%) the best ratings have been achieved at that level but the questions to ask are:

1. Will it produce more success or will the horse find one too good on many occasions?
2. Will the horse have to drop back to a lower level for a confidence booster?

A structured horse racing class system reveals the optimum level the horse can achieve.
A form based system that provides for a horse to have won at the class level or higher can only be of advantage in building a winning method.

It is advisable to look at the class the horse had competed as well as the best time it had achieved. The horse may have perform exceptionally well at a certain class and is promoted to a higher class with horses of the same calibre.