What Is The Track Program?

The track program is a guide to the day's races. (You can pick one up at any program stand for $3.00.) It has been refined over the years to provide you with racing information in a straightforward format. Two full pages are devoted to each race.

The most important handicapping factors on this page are:

Distance / Surface - Most horses are at their best at a certain distance and on a certain surface. It is important to note this information when handicapping, since you will be checking each horse's past performances to see how they stack up.

Class Level - As it was pointed out in "What is Handicapping," class is an important factor. The type of the race is printed at the top of the page, to the left of the "track diagram." If it says "Claiming," and you want to know what level race it is, just look right below the jockey's name - there you will find a dollar figure which can give you a rough idea of the competition. (Remember: The higher the claiming price, the better the race.)

Important Numbers:

Program Numbers: This is the "call number" that you must use when you bet on a horse. You can find it directly to the left of each horses' name.

Morning Line The morning line is the track handicapper's educated guess at what the odds will be at post time. This figure is important to racing fans because it can give them a rough idea of what to expect from a winning ticket.

Weight: The weight that each horse carries is listed to the left of the each jockey's name.

Race Reviews: Ryan Goldberg writes a summary/analysis of each horse's strengths and weaknesses. These are helpful to fans of all levels, since they allow them to read a horse's review and make the connection between comments and the actual past performances.

Expert Handicappers' Picks: Both Brad Thomas and Ryan Goldberg's top three selections appear directly under the Race Reviews in our track program. They are two of the best handicappers in the country, so their picks warrant serious consideration.

The left page is the "who / what" part of the program: What type of race is it? Who's running / riding / training / owns the horses? What are the odds going to be?

It can get you acquainted with the horses, their connections, and conditions of the race - but the left page isn't where you will be spending most of your time. In order to truly handicap a race, you will need to learn how to read our past performances.

The "past performances," on the right page answer the questions when, where, and why? Depending on the number of horses in a race, you will get between four and ten race histories per entrant.

Each horse's block of "past performances," (or PP's for short) looks like this:

It's a lot to look at, but if we separate them into three sections, PP's suddenly begin to make sense:

The top third contains some of the information from the left page.

In this example, the "number one horse's" name is Saycaseysribs. Right below his name, you see his color (Bay), his sex (c, for colt), his pedigree (Oh Say-Always and Always), and the state that he was bred in (MD).

In the middle of the image, you see the owner (G. Friends Stable), trainer (Shavelson), and jockey (Turner). The numbers in parentheses to the right of the trainer and jockey's names are their respective records. Shavelson's record reads (4-1-1-0). This means that she has started four horses at the Monmouth meet: one finished first, one finished second and none was third. The rest were off the board (meaning they didn't run first, second or third).

On the right side of the PP's, you see six different records (all which apply to the horse).

-Turf 1 1-0-0 $24,000

means that the horse ran once on the turf and won. The dollar figure is the total amount of money which the horse has earned when racing on the turf. This is an important record to consider when a horse is changing surfaces. When handicapping a turf race, it is very important to note each horse's record on the grass.

-Off Tracks 2 1-0-1 $25,430

means that the horse ran twice over an "off" track (meaning that the track condition was not fast, but good, sloppy, or muddy), winning once and running third once. This is an important record to consider when there is heavy rain before or during a race. Some horses love a wet track, some hate it, while others are neutral towards it.

-Mth 3 1-0-0 $25,060

means that the horse ran three times at Monmouth Park, winning once and running out of the money (same meaning as "off the board") twice.

-1997 5 3-0-0 $41,690

is the horse's record in 1997. In '97, Saycaseysribs started five times, and won three times. (Any time that a record begins with a year, it stands for a horse's record in that year.

-Life 9 3-1-1

is the horse's lifetime record. In Saycaseysribs' career, he has started nine times. He won three races, and finished second and third once - having earned $47,780.

The middle third contains the most important information - unfortunately, it is also the most confusing section to read.

This image is of the entire middle third for Saycaseysribs.

Each horizontal line represents one race (or a "running line"). They are listed in chronological order with the most recent race on top. In order to make this easier to learn, we have divided one "running line" into three sections.

The first section looks like this:

7Jun97 tells us that the race was run on June 7, 1997.

10Mth means that this was the tenth race run at Monmouth Park on the given date.

5f is the distance of the race. All thoroughbred races run in the USA are measured in furlongs. One furlong is one-eighth of a mile (220 yards). This race was a "sprint" (since it was less than a mile). Any race at 8 furlongs (one mile) or more is called a "route." Distance is one of the most important categories in handicapping, since certain horses have a preferred one. A big part of handicapping concerns whether a horse can "go the distance."

T (with a circle around it) denotes the surface on which the race was run. In this case, it was a turf race. If this race was run over the main track (dirt), there would be no symbol indicating the surface.

gd The next character tells you what the track condition was. In this case, the track was "good," meaning that it still has some moisture in it. There are different conditions for each surface:

MAIN (DIRT) TRACK
1. Fast (fst) = a dry, "normal" track
2. Good (gd) = a track that has a degree of moisture (other than liquid from the water trucks).
3. Muddy (my) = a track that is very wet, but not yet saturated with water.
4. Sloppy (sly) = a track that is very wet and saturated with water.

TURF COURSE
1. Firm (fm) = A turf course with little or no moisture.
2. Good (gd) = A turf course that has absorbed some water (i.e. from an overnight shower).
3. Yielding (yl) = A turf course which has absorbed a significant amount of water.
4. Soft (sft) = A turf course which has absorbed a very large amount of water. (If the turf course becomes too wet, races are taken off the grass and run on the main track for safety reasons.)


:21.4, :45.1, 57.4 These numbers are called "fractions" since they represent the time of three different parts of the race. The first number is the leader's time for ¼ mile; the second number is the leader's time for ½ mile, and the last number is the final time which is set by the leader as s/he crosses the finish line." (For different distances, internal "fractions" vary - but after you get more familiar with PP's, you won't even have to think twice about what distance each individual time represents.)

(For different distance races, internal "fractions" vary - but after some time, you won't even have to think twice about what distance each individual time represents.

For races run between 5 furlongs and 7 furlongs (sprints)

1. The first number represents the time when the leader has run ¼ of a mile.
2. The second number represents the time when the leader has run ½ of a mile.
3. The final number represents the time when the winner crossed the finish line.

For races run between 8 furlongs (one mile) and 9 furlongs (1 1/8 miles)

1. The first number represents the time when the leader has run ½ of a mile.
2. The second number represents the time when the leader has run 6 furlongs (or ¾ of a mile).
3. The final number represents the time when the winner crossed the finish line.

OceanHotel - The text or numbers in this space indicate(s) the type or "class" of the race. In this case, it was the Ocean Hotel stakes. If this was a $25,000 claiming race, the text would read: Clm 25000. If this was a low-level "a-other-than" allowance, the text would read Alw 25000n1x.

The second third of a running line looks like this:

2 The first number that you see is the post position. The second stall away from the rail in the starting gate. In this race, Saycaseysribs broke from post number two. This can be an important handicapping factor, since at varying distances, some posts are harder to win out of than others. If you are interested in these statistics, they can be found right under the jockey / trainer standings in our track program. Generally, at Monmouth Park, the inside six stalls enjoy a significant advantage at all distances.

6 The second number that you see tells you how quickly the horse left or "broke from" the starting gate. This is also an important handicapping factor, since a slow break (higher number) means that the horse spotted the field a number of lengths. (A slow "break" is generally harder to overcome in a sprint race than a route.)

6(3) 6(5 ½) 4(3 ½) and 2(1)

these numbers are called the "points of call." They tell you what position the horse was in at set points during the race. At the "first call," Saycaseysribs was running in sixth position. The three in parenthesis (which appears smaller in the program) represents how many lengths a horse is behind the leader. So. after looking at this number, we know that the horse was running 6th, three lengths behind the leader at the first call. The same interpretation applies to the 2nd, 3rd, and final calls. These numbers are extremely important because they plot out how a horse tends to run. We can tell that Saycaseysribs is a closer because his beaten lengths get smaller and smaller as he approaches the final call or finish. (If a horse is in first position, the smaller number tells you how far he was in front of the closest horse behind him.)

Turner T

This is the jockey's name. If you would like to find out more about our jockeys, visit our bios page.

L bf 115 This part can be confusing because numbers and letters run together. We'll take it one character at a time:

L = Lasix: A medication which acts as a diuretic and aids in breathing.

b = Blinkers:

A cup-shaped device designed to limit a horse's vision and prevent him from reacting to and swerving from objects and other horses.

f = Front Wraps:

Bandages which are wrapped around horses' lower legs to protect injuries or guard against new ones.

115 = The weight that the horse carried in the race.

23.60

This number refers to the odds that Saycaseysribs went off at. In this case, 23.60 stands for 23/1 on the tote board. If the odds number appears as *2.00 (with an asterisk before the decimal), it means that the horse went off as the betting favorite.

89

This number makes handicapping a lot easier for newcomers. It is called an "Equibase speed rating." This figure let you compare different horses' performances without concern for track-to- track and day-to-day differences. If Saycaseysribs ran an 89 last time out and Thunder Breeze ran a 79, you could say with confidence that Thunder Breeze ran slower than Saycaseysribs. This is the number that you will use to do "speed handicapping," as discussed way back in our "What is Handicapping" page.

The final third our "running line" looks like this:

ThundrBrz 119(1) Sycsysrbs 115(3/4) CrysMnstrl 115(1/2)

This line lists the top three finishers of the race (Thunder Breeze, Saycaseysribs and Corey's Minstrel) in abbreviated format. The number to the right of each name is the weight carried by each horse. The number in parenthesis (which appears as a raised number in the program) is the distance between the horse it follows and the next horse listed.

So when you read this line, you will see that Thunder Breeze (carrying 119 pounds) won this race by one length over Saycaseysribs. Saycaseysribs (carrying 115 pounds) was ¾ of a length in front of Corey's Minstrel and so on.

Bumped finished well This text is often referred to as the "trouble line." The person who charts the race comes up with a few words to describe each horse's trip. Saycaseysribs overcame trouble in the stretch, and finished well. (This would be a highly positive factor to consider the next time that Saycaseysribs runs.)

10

The last number in this "running line" tells you how many horses were in the race. (Ten horses ran in this race.)

The final third is made up by a small horizontal line. This is called the "latest workouts" line.

Most thoroughbreds gallop every day. A gallop is similar to a human athlete's jog. It's a good way to keep a horse fit without asking them to exert themselves.

Ever 4-15 days, most horses will have a more serious workout. (This is the type which is listed in the program.) When horses are allowed to run (not restrained to a gallop), yet not called on for their best run, they are "breezing." ("Breeze" can be used as a noun or a verb, as in, "Secretariat breezed five furlongs" or "Secretariat's five-furlong breeze was a bullet workout.)" When horses work at a vigorous pace due to some urging from their riders, they are working "handily."

In the "latest workouts" line above, you can see that Saycaseysribs worked 4 furlongs (or ½ of a mile) on June 28th. This workout took place at Philadelphia Park (abbreviated PHA) and was timed over a fast track in 49 and 3/5 seconds. The "b" to the right of the number 49.3 means that Saycaseysribs was breezing. If there was an "h" instead, it would mean that he worked handily.