Reading horse racing form is not nearly as difficult as many people assume at first glance. Racing form is generally presented in newspaper and online as a string of information, and once you understand what each part of that form string means, reading form is very easy. In fact, by the time you finish this article you’ll be able to read a basic horse racing form string as good as anyone.

Let’s start by showing you what a horse racing form string looks like. Here’s one for a fictional runner called Potential Winner:

321  Potential Winner  14  [C]  6  11-3  T Rainer  J Ockey  132

There are nine separate items of information in this horse racing form string, so for ease of discussing we will now take a look at each in turn, from left to right:

Form – The first piece of information (321) tells us the finishing position of the horse in its previous races, with the result of the latest race appearing last. We can therefore see that this horse came 1st in its last race, 2nd in the race before that, and third in the race before that. As a rule, the form for the last two or three races is far more useful than form for earlier races.

Name – The second piece of information is the name of the horse. In this case the name of the horse is Potential Winner.

Days Since Last Run – The third piece of information is the number of days since the horse last ran. In this case, Potential Winner last ran 14 days ago. The number of days since the last run is important because it gives some idea of how fit and ready the horse is likely to be for the coming race. Generally speaking, the more recently a horse last ran, the better, and avoiding horses that haven’t had a run for more than 40 days will help you to avoid plenty of losers.

Course & Distance Wins – The fourth piece of information tells you if the horse has previously won over the same course and/or distance as the race in question. If it has won over the course then this is indicated by a [C] and if it has won over the distance then this is indicated by a [D]. Previous course and/or distance wins are always a good thing.

Age – The fifth piece of information is the age of the horse. Here we see that Potential Winner is 6 years old.

Weight – Next up is the weight that the horse will carry in the race, stated in stones and pounds. Potential Winner will carry 11st 3lbs.

Trainer – The seventh piece of information is the name of the trainer, in this case T Rainer.

Jockey – The eighth piece of information is the name of the jockey scheduled to ride the horse. Potential Winner will be ridden by J Ockey.

Rating – The ninth and final piece of information is a numerical rating that represents an assessment of the horse’s form. This isn’t always present, but when it is it can be a useful guide to how the horse compares with the other runners according to the newspaper or website publishing the form string. The top rated horse (the one with the highest rating) is deemed to be the one with the best form (and arguably the best chance of winning), and the lowest rated horse is the one with the worst form.

Now that you know what each piece of information in a horse racing form string means, you will be able to look at any form string and understand it quite easily. Even better, you will now be able to use Betting Systems to help you pick more winners when horse betting online!