CLASS
HANDICAPPING GLOSSARY
ADDED-MONEY
The portion of the purse in a stakes race paid to the first several
finishers by the race track
ALLOWANCE
RACE
A graduated series of non-claiming races, increasingly more testing
as to distance and level of competition, in which the horses are granted
weight allowances (two pounds off the prescribed weight, or three pounds
off, et. al.) according to their recent records; for non-winners once
other than maiden or claiming (NW1X) limits eligibility to horses that
have won a maiden race and maybe claiming races but have not won even
one allowance race
CLAIMING
RACE
The horses are classified according to selling prices at which they
have run well in the past or which their owners and trainers judge to
be fair value in relation to the horse's abilities; horses can be purchased
out of the race for the
CLASS
The attributes of speed, stamina, and determination, expressed in combination
in actual competition.
CLASS OF
THE FIELD
An expression indicating a horse has demonstrated a level of ability
clearly superior to other horses eligible for this kind of race
CLASS STANDOUT
A horse which has persistently run faster against better horses than
it faces today
CONDITIONS
OF ELIGIBILITY
The conditions, restrictions, and allowances that prescribe and determine
which horses can be entered in a particular race
CONSISTENCY
An aspect of class that refers to the win percentage; among better horses
recent consistency means the horse has won two of its past six races;
claiming consistency means 20 percent wins
GRADED STAKES
A hierarchy of the best stakes races from Grade I to Grade 3, as determined
by a committee of racing secretaries known as the North American Graded
Stakes Committee
GROUP RACES
The graded stakes of Europe, as determined by the International Select
Group Pattern Committee
STAKES RACE
Races among the most talented horses whose owners pay nomination, entry,
and starting fees, all of which is awarded to the owner of the winning
horse; a relatively large purse is added to the owners' fees by the
race track and this added-money is awarded to the first several finishers
according to the state's regulations
STARTER RACES
Races limited to horses that have starter for a designated claiming
price since a specified date, perhaps with other restrictions, such
as horses that have starter for a $12,500 claiming race in the past
six months and since starting for that price have not won a race exceeding
that claiming price
