The Race Book

If you're not familiar with how the race book works and what it's for, then it might as well be written in Russian. However, once you understand the beauty of it all and what the information actually means, then the racebook can become your best friend and the key to winning big - or at least not losing all the time.

Simple tips

1.  Make sure the race on the page you are looking at corresponds to the racetrack you are at, and the time (these details are at the top) as these days, most racebooks also carry details and form of other races throughout the country and even Australia.
    
2. To the right of the horse’s name, you’ll see a number that is in bracket. This is the horse’s barrier/starting gate position, with number 1 being the spot closest to the inside rail. Lower numbers tend to be favoured more, as the horses have less distance to run.
    
3. On the right-hand side of each horse’s form is the name of its jockey for the race (beside the image of the jockey’s ‘colours’ or tops). If you can’t decipher anything else in the form, look for names such as Samantha Spratt, James McDonald and Michael Coleman – these three are currently sitting near the top of the National Jockey Premiership.
    
4. Look for the numbers in bold font at the bottom left of each horse’s details (form). By reading these from right to left, you’ll see how the horse has placed in its last five starts (FYI: X means the horse hasn’t raced for a period of at least three months, F means the horse fell in that race and 0 means it was placed further back than 9th place).
    
5. Cheat a little and check out the form comment. You'll find this along the bottom of each horse’s details and should give you a good guide as to how one might expect the horse to perform in the race.
    
6. If you’re still unsure, take expert opinion into account. At the top of the page by the race's description, you’ll see that three experts in the industry have each listed the names of three horses. These are their favoured picks in the race.

Want more? Click here to download a PDF on how to read the racebook.