Kickthebookies is the analytical layer of horse racing: the statistics, prices and records behind a race, shown plainly so you can make your own call.

This page explains how handicapping works in Britain and Ireland — what the official rating is, how the handicapper sets it, what the weights and classes on the card mean, and how to tell when a horse is on a good mark — with every term explained once.

Contents: What a handicap is · How the handicapper rates a horse · Classes, allowances and the words on the card · Speed figures and sectionals · A worked example · How the mark shapes the price · Finding a horse on a good mark · The words, plainly · Common questions

What a handicap is

A handicap is a race in which each horse carries a weight set from its official rating (OR) — the handicapper’s mark for its ability, in pounds — so that, in theory, every runner has an equal chance. The best-rated horse carries the most weight (top weight), the lowest-rated the least (bottom weight), and the difference in weight equals the difference in rating: a horse rated 90 gives 10 lb to one rated 80.

Most races run in Britain and Ireland are handicaps, which is why the mark matters so much. Three things follow from the definition:

• Out of the handicap. Every race has a minimum weight. A horse whose rating would put it below that minimum carries the minimum anyway, so it is giving more weight than its mark says it should. The racecard shows how many pounds “wrong” it is.
• Penalties. A horse that wins after the weights are published carries a penalty, set by the race conditions and commonly around 6 lb, until the handicapper reassesses it. A horse can win off a penalty and still be on a lower mark than its new rating will be — punters call that being well in.
• Non-handicaps — maidens (for horses yet to win), novice races (for horses early in their career), conditions races and the pattern races at the top — set weight by age, sex and past wins, not by rating. The rating still describes the horse; it just does not set the weight.

Today’s handicappers running off a winning mark, dropping in class or returning from a break are listed on Off a winning mark, rebuilt through the day from the record.

How the handicapper rates a horse

In Britain the ratings are set by the BHA’s handicappers, in Ireland by the IHRB’s. Each one covers a division of the sport and rates every run, using the same tools in roughly the same order.

1. Anchor the race. Find a runner whose ability is well established — an exposed horse, one with many runs and a settled mark — and assume it ran to its rating. An unexposed horse, lightly raced with its ability still unknown, is the opposite, and the hardest to rate.
2. Turn the margins into pounds. A length is worth more pounds in a sprint than in a staying race, because a length is a smaller share of the distance. The scales are published and roughly these: on the Flat, about 3 lb a length at 5f, about 2 lb at a mile and 1–1.5 lb at 1m4f and beyond; over jumps, about 1 lb a length at 2m and less at 3m. They are starting points, not a formula.
3. Allow for the weight carried. A horse that finished level with a rival while carrying 5 lb more has run 5 lb the better.
4. Check the shape of the race. A slowly run race or a strong pace that collapsed can make the margins misleading; the time, the sectionals where they exist and the going allowance (how much the ground slowed the race) all feed the read.
5. Cross-check against collateral form — what the beaten horses had done before and do afterwards — and move the mark, usually by a few pounds. A rating that later proves wrong is corrected by the next runs.

So a rating is an expert estimate built from evidence, not a measurement. Two handicappers can read the same race differently, connections may prefer a lower mark for next time, and a horse can improve or decline between assessments. That gap between the mark and the horse’s true ability is the whole subject of this page.

Classes, allowances and the words on the card

Races are graded by class. On the Flat, Class 1 holds the Group and Listed races (Listed being the tier just below Group) and the handicaps run from Class 2 down to Class 7; over jumps the scale runs Class 1 to Class 6, with the big Saturday handicaps usually Class 2 or 3. A horse dropping two classes faces a weaker field than its mark implies, which can matter as much as a drop in rating.

Term	What it means
Weight-for-age	A younger horse racing against older ones gets a weight allowance that shrinks through the year as it matures.
Sex allowance	Fillies and mares racing against colts and geldings get an allowance, commonly 3 lb on the Flat and 7 lb over jumps.
Apprentice, conditional	A young rider still qualifying claims 7, 5 or 3 lb off the weight depending on wins — an apprentice on the Flat, a conditional over jumps. The card shows the claim in brackets after the name.
Claimer, seller	Lower-grade races after which any runner can be bought at a set price (a claimer) or the winner is offered for sale (a seller). In a claimer, the price the connections set changes the weight carried.
Nursery	A handicap for two-year-olds only.
Penalty	Extra weight for a win since the weights were published.

Reading the rest of the racecard — the form figures, the headgear, the going — is covered in how to read form.

Speed figures and sectionals

A speed figure compares the time a horse ran with a standard time for that course and distance, adjusted for the going. It answers a question the finishing position cannot: did the horse run fast, or only faster than a weak field? A strong figure while carrying more weight than its rivals is the most valuable kind in a handicap, because it was earned the hard way. Sectionals — the times for each part of the race — show where the race was run fast or slow, and so whether a closing horse was flying or the leaders were stopping.

A worked example

An illustration with invented horses, not a real race. A 2m4f handicap chase, 12 runners, good to soft. Horse A carries top weight of 12st off a mark of 150. Horse B, rated 142, carries 11st 6lb; Horse C, rated 136, carries 11st. A wins by four lengths from B, with C six lengths further back.

1. At roughly 1 lb a length over this trip, four lengths is worth about 4 lb. A also gave B 8 lb. So A ran about 12 lb better than B.
2. Against C: ten lengths is about 10 lb, plus the 14 lb A gave C — about 24 lb better.
3. If B is the exposed horse and ran to its 142, A’s performance rates about 154: a rise of around 4 lb. If instead C ran to its mark, A rated 160, which is a much bigger rise. The handicapper chooses the reading the rest of the race supports — usually the more exposed horse — and watches what B and C do next.

The lesson for the punter is not the arithmetic but the uncertainty inside it. A’s new mark will be an estimate, and whether it is a few pounds too high or too low is exactly the question the market is pricing next time out.

How the mark shapes the price

The market reads every input the handicapper does and a few more: the mark, the weight, a change of class, the speed figures, the yard’s form, the rider, the draw and the likely pace. How bookmakers set prices explains how those become a price. Three readings of the mark are worth testing rather than assuming:

• “Top weights can’t win.” They win plenty; the top weight is usually the best horse. The question is whether the mark is fair, not how big the number is. Course statistics by weight carried are on each racecourse page.
• “A penalty rules it out.” A horse that won easily last week and carries 6 lb extra today may still be several pounds below its next mark.
• “It’ll bounce.” Some horses regress after a career-best run; many do not. The record of that yard and that horse after a big effort is the evidence, and it is on their profiles.

Finding a horse on a good mark

A horse is well handicapped when its mark is below the level it has shown it can reach. The plainest cases are a horse back on, or below, a mark it last won off, and a horse dropping into a lower grade with its mark unchanged. A short checklist:

• Does today suit it? The trip, the ground and the track should match its best runs; discount poor runs on the wrong set-up rather than averaging them in. Each racecourse page shows the record by trip, going and the draw.
• What has changed? First-time headgear, a wind operation, a new yard, a drop in class, a return to the mark it last won off, or a sensible claim reducing the weight — each is a reason the past runs may understate the horse.
• Does the clock agree? A speed figure that beats the mark’s expectation is confirmation; one that falls short is a warning.
• Is the yard in form? Runs and wins over the last 14, 30 and 90 days are on every trainer profile, with today’s runners.

Having found a horse on a good mark, the last step is the price: set your own view beside the market’s, as the pricing guide explains, and keep a record of every bet, win or lose, with the bet calculator. What to do with that comparison is your call; nothing on this site tells you what to back.

The words, plainly

Term	Meaning
Official rating (OR)	The handicapper’s mark for a horse’s ability, in pounds; it sets the weight in a handicap.
Out of the handicap	Rated below the race minimum, so carrying more weight than the mark says.
Well in / well handicapped	On a mark below the ability the horse has shown.
Exposed / unexposed	Ability well established by many runs / still unknown after few.
Collateral form	What the other horses in a race had done before and did afterwards, used to check a reading of it.
Going allowance	How much the ground slowed the race, allowed for in the time.
Pounds per length	The scale that turns a winning margin into a rating difference; larger in sprints, smaller over distance.
Penalty	Extra weight for a win since the weights were published.
Top weight, bottom weight	The highest and lowest weights in the race.

Common questions

What does a horse’s official rating actually mean?

It is the handicapper’s estimate of its ability in pounds, built from its runs: the margins, the weights carried, the time and the form of the horses around it. A horse rated 90 is held to be 10 lb better than one rated 80 and carries 10 lb more in a handicap. It is an estimate, revised after every run, not a measurement.

How do I know if a horse is well handicapped?

Compare today’s mark with the marks it has won off before. A horse on or below its last winning mark is well handicapped on paper; one several pounds above it has to improve. Off a winning mark lists today’s runners in that position, and a speed figure that beats the mark’s expectation is the confirmation.

Can a top weight win a handicap?

Yes, and they do regularly: the top weight is usually the best horse in the race. The weight is the handicapper’s attempt to level it with the others, so the question is whether the mark is fair to it today, not how heavy the burden looks.

What does out of the handicap mean?

The horse’s rating would put it below the race’s minimum weight, so it carries the minimum anyway and gives more weight to the others than its mark says it should. The card shows how many pounds it is wrong at the weights.

How much is a length worth in pounds?

It depends on the distance. A length is a bigger share of a five-furlong sprint than of a two-mile chase, so it is worth more pounds: roughly 3 lb at 5f, 2 lb at a mile, 1 to 1.5 lb at a mile and a half and beyond, and about 1 lb or less over jumps at two miles plus. The published scales are starting points; the handicapper also weighs the pace and the time.

Does Kickthebookies rate horses?

Yes, with our own figures: KTB Rating for ability, KTB Speed for how fast a horse has run and the KTB Fit Score for how well it fits today’s race, each computed from the record since 2005 and explained on its own page. They sit beside the official rating on every racecard. Where a selection appears it is shown with its record, win or lose, on the Fit record; nothing tells you what to back.

Betting should be for fun, never a way to make money. Set limits and only stake what you can afford to lose; if gambling is affecting you or someone near you, help is free and confidential on our responsible gambling page. 18+ only. Questions or corrections: the contact page. Last reviewed 11 October 2026.