What Does Handicap Mean in Horse Racing?

OK – So, What is a Handicap in Horse Racing?

Let’s start with the basics. A handicap race is an event where each participating horse is allocated a weight. This is calculated individually and will vary from horse to horse, based largely on their perceived ability and specific ranking data (we’ll have more on this below). 

The purpose of a handicap is to create a more even playing field and equalise each runner’s chance of winning. In fact, the handicapper’s goal is often to assign weights to enable all the runners to finish in a dead heat. However, this has yet to happen in any race! 

Handicapping is also built on the basic premise that increasing the weight carried by a horse will affect their gallop speed and make them gradually slower over longer-distance races. 

How Exactly Do Handicap Horse Races Work?

There are many handicap horse races across flat and National Hunt meetings, including the iconic Grand National and Epsom Derby on these shores and the lucrative Melbourne Cup in Australia. 

But how does handicapping work in horse racing? Well, the process starts with an independent handicapper, who publishes official rankings based on the performance and form of runners. In the UK, this body is the British Horse Racing Authority, which publishes more than 12,000 ratings and ranking data across flat, hurdle and steeplechase races.  

Horses build their ratings throughout their careers, with performance figures or ‘scores’ calculated for each runner in every listed race. Races will be studied meticulously to determine precisely why they panned out the way they did, with multiple factors considered and expressed on an identical scale to handicap rankings. 

These variables include the racecourse, the distance and the going, alongside the draws, the relevant weights applied to each runner and the pace. These combine to create a final performance score, while data is then aggregated to afford each horse an overall (and constantly changing) ranking. 

In general terms, top-ranking flat racers produced an average rating of 115 or above from the British Horse Racing Authority. Conversely, British and Irish jump handicappers produced a similar classification for chasers (and hurdlers) ranked 140+, so this affords you some insight when appraising and comparing runners. 

Ahead of a race such as the Grand National, rankings data will be analysed to set specific handicaps. Broadly speaking, better and higher ranked runners will carry a heavier weight, while less fancied or unsuccessful horses will be assigned a smaller handicap. 

This is how handicappers equalise the field and negate the innate advantages boasted by the best horses. It’s, therefore, central to the integrity and popularity of the sport, as it stops races from being one-sided and incredibly easy to predict. 

Handicapping and Betting – What Do You Need to Know?

Of course, those of you who also wager on sports such as football, basketball and cricket may already be familiar with handicap betting.  

In these sports, it enables you to create value in match betting markets by applying a goals, points or runs handicap to a short price favourite, establishing a noticeably enhanced price in the process. 

While no such betting markets are available in horse racing, this is due to the use of handicaps to equalise the field and negate the superiority of betting favourites. So, handicapping has a direct impact on horse race betting and how you evaluate the available win markets. 

More specifically, the skill in picking the winner of a handicap race lies in identifying value and the horses that are better than the handicapper’s ranking suggests. But how can you go about doing this? Here are some ideas to keep in mind: 

• Track the Handicap Rating Over Time: A horse’s handicap ranking will fluctuate, so tracking this value with each passing race is worth tracking. Pay particular attention to instances where the ranking has dropped to see if this correlates with racing at a higher grade or a similar trend factor. This may also enable you to see if your horse struggled in a specific type of going or over a particular distance, as this can help you to identify value. 

• Understand the Impact of Trainer and Jockey: Horses will often be ridden by different jockeys during their lifetime, which introduces another dimension that must always be considered. After all, some jockeys perform particularly well at certain racetracks and in handicap races, and understanding this may afford less fancied runners a competitive edge. Trainers may also produce runners that fare better on specific course types, while experienced operators also prepare their horses in the best possible way. 

• Know That Horses Are More Likely to Win When Carrying More Weight Than Last Time Out: According to thorough analysis of 221,644 different runners that have taken to the turf since 1993, horses carrying more weight than during their last outing have won 10.22% of races. Conversely, horses who carried less weight than their previous race won just 8.63% of the time. So, a runner with more weight than before often has a statistical competitive edge, affording you a starting point when picking potential handicap winners here at Parimatch. 

Before you wager on your next handicap race here at Parimatch, setting a manageable bankroll that enables you to gamble responsibly is important. This ensures that you always bet within your means, and our Safer Gambling Portal includes several tools to help in this regard.