The Essentials of Studying Form - Part 5 | Ratings Guide - ISOLATE THE BEST

Australian horse racing form study often ends the same way: an hour on the form guide, and a bet on the one whose name you liked. Writing in Practical Punting in September 2000, Richard Hartley Jnr brought the whole of his Ratings Guide series together into one final points formula — a Race Rating for every runner, then the points apportioned under Fitness, Class, Ability, Form, Weight and Track Condition. Add up all points scored, and the horse with the highest total is rated the best chance.

What you'll learn:

• Which races the method will bet at all, and which it throws out before you start — in town, Open and Restricted Handicaps, Welters, Fillies and Mares, WFA and Set Weights for 2yos and 3yos, with no race of 15 or more runners and none lower than 1000m; at provincial and country meetings, Class 5, Class 6, Welters, Fillies and Mares and Open Handicaps, with no race of 13 or more runners and none under 1000m; and apprentice-only races ignored at both
• How a Race Rating is worked out, in his own worked example: use 1.5kg to equal one length, so a horse beaten 2 lengths in a wfa race off a Class Rating of 70 rates 67 — then add the weight it carried over the theoretical Limit in wfa of 50kg, and a horse that carried 57kg finishes on a final rating of 74
• The full rules roundup, eight numbered steps from choosing the races to adding the points up — with the Fitness block in full: 3 runs or more this current campaign and a last start 14 days or fewer ago, 10 points; 3 or more with a last start between 15 and 21 days ago, 8 points; 2 runs this campaign and a last start 14 days or fewer ago, 5 points; 2 runs with a last start between 15 and 21 days ago, 4 points
• What the method costs you, and it isn't money: a couple of meetings a week — maybe one on Wednesday and another on Saturday — going through the card carefully so you operate only on the races the rules recommend, because one race alone may take some half an hour to assess