Form (horse racing)

{{Short description|Record of events for a race horse}}

{{Refimprove|date=February 2013}}

{{about|forms in horse racing||Form (disambiguation)}}

File:Racing form. (5358344789).jpg

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In horse racing, the form of a horse is a record of significant events, mainly its performance in previous races.{{cite web|url=http://www1.drf.com/flash/drf_pp_tutorial.html|title=How to Read PPs |format=Flash |date= |accessdate=2012-07-26}} The form may identify the horse's sire, dam and wider pedigree. It is used by tipsters and punters as an aid in the prediction of its performance in future races.

A typical way of showing a horse's form, as published in newspapers and other media, is shown here.

Number Colours Form Horse Name Age Weight Trainer Jockey

3 image 43-2F1 Mill Reef 3 11-12 A.Smith L.Piggott

7 image 680U54 Glue Pot 3 11-10 B.Brown F.Dettori

Abbreviations used to decode the Form column can include:

style="width:50px" | 1-9	The position the horse finished in a race
0	Finished outside the top 9
P	Pulled up (reined in as horse may be too tired/injured, or horse may just stop running)
F	Fell
S	Slipped Up
R	Refusal
B	Brought down
U	Unseated rider
-	Separates years, i.e. left of this is from previous year, e.g. Dec 06 - Jan 07
/	Separates racing seasons, i.e. left of this is from the season before last |
BD	Indicates the horse was brought down by another runner
BF	Stands for the beaten favourite and indicates a horse was favourite for a race but did not win
CD	Indicates a horse has won over course and distance

Form is arranged chronologically from left (oldest) to right (newest).

So, in the example above, the horse Mill Reef gained a fourth place, followed by a third, then took some time out from racing, then gained a second followed by falling in the next race, and its latest result was a win.