System Builder Sections and Categories. Click any link below to view the explanation. Categories recently added in January 2020 are shown with an asterisk *.
Date Section
Choose one or more days of the week. Some feel Saturday's are difficult days as the racing is so competitive so you could choose all days apart from Saturdays as an example.
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Month
Select one or more months of the year. Perhaps you could see how things fared over the Winter months or some Trainers have better records in certain months of the year so you could combine a Trainer with a selection of months.
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Race Date
This will bring up a date picker on a Calendar so you can choose an exact date or a range of dates.
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Year
Race Section
Class
Course Name
Select the Course or Courses you want in your system test. When choosing more than one Course, you need to Add Group, not Add Rule.
See here for more on this >>
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Flat or Jumps
Going
Handicap Races
Number Of Runners
Choose a set number of runners, a range of runners in a race or less than/greater than a set number of runners.
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Group/Listed Races
Select Group and Listed races only for flat racing, or Grade races for jumps, or select None to ignore all of these race types in your results.
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Prize Money
Pick a set amount of prize money, a range of prize money or less than/greater than a set amount of prize money.
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Race Distance
Pick a certain race distance, a range of race distances or less than/greater than a certain race distance.
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Here you can choose 'contains' and type Maiden or Claimer or any other individual race type or words that would be in any past race title to just see results for these. All Maiden races for example will contain the words 'Maiden'. You could also type in Grand National or Derby for example to see results from some of the major races over the past 10 years.
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Race Type
This is where to be more selective than just Flat or Jumps. Here you can select either All Weather (AWF), Flat Turf (FLT), Chase races (CHS), Hurdle races (HDL) or National Hunt Flat races (NHF).
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Horse Section
Bha Rating
The Bha rating is the official handicap mark for a horse so here you can choose a range of options for horses that have above or below a certain Bha rating to see if results prefer any range in particular.
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Bha Rating Diff
This shows the difference in Bha rating, or official handicap mark, between today's ratings and the one from the last race. This way you can see if a horse has dropped in the weights or gone up in the weights. Just read below for how to use the values correctly for this one. You need to think of a horizontal line where moving to the left is 'less than' and moving to the right is 'greater than'
-10, -9, -8, -7, -6, -5, -4, -3, -2, -1, =, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
To find horses that were dropped 3lbs or more from their last run; Select less or equal and use a minus number, so -3. This will show horses that have been dropped 3lbs, 4lbs, 5lbs, etc..
Greater or equal a minus number, say -3, will find all horses that have been dropped -3, -2, -1, or nothing (=) as well as those that have gone up 1, 2, 3 and so on.
To find horses that have gone up 3lbs or more since their last run; Select greater or equal 3. This will show all those that have gone up 3, 4, 5 etc.
If you select just equal a minus or a plus number, -3 or 3, it will show just those that have gone up or down exactly your chosen value.
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Class Diff
This shows the difference in the class of race between today's race and the previous race. Just read below for how to use the values correctly for this one. You need to think of a horizontal line where moving to the left is 'less than' or 'down in class' and moving to the right is 'greater than' and 'raised in class'.
-5, -4, -3, -2, -1, =, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
To find horses that were dropped 2 classes or more from their last run; Select less or equal and use a minus number, so -2. This will show horses that have been dropped 2, 3, 4 classes or more.
Greater or equal a minus number, say -2, will find all horses that have been dropped 2 classes, 1 class, or nothing (=) as well as those that have gone up 1, 2, 3 and so on.
To find horses that have gone up 2 classes or more from their last run; Select greater or equal 2. This will show all those that have gone up 2, 3, 4 etc.
If you select just equal a minus or a plus number, -2 or 2, it will show just those that have gone up or down exactly your chosen value.
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Course Winners
Here you can pick horses that have won at the days Course before. You can choose horses that have won twice or more at the course for example, by choosing; Greater or equal, 2.
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Dam Name
The Damsire is the father of the dam, so use the option 'contains' to select a Damsire name.
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Days Since Run
Some horses run better after a short lay off, others prefer a bit of a break between runs. Trainers can also be found to do well with horses that run quickly again after a run or giving their horses a lay off. So for example you could select 'equal/less than' 14 days to find only horses that have run within the last fortnight.
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Distance Winners
Here you can pick horses that have won over the days Distance before. You can choose horses that have won twice or more over the distance for example, by choosing; Greater or equal, 2.
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Draw
This category is for flat racing and is the for the stall number a horse has been drawn in. Some courses have an advantage if you are drawn in a low stall, others a high stall, so here you can find out which draw is preferred at any course of your choice.
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Favourite
Here you can see how Favourites fared in different circumstances, so select either the Favourite, Joint favourites if there were two, Co favourites if there were three or more favourites, the 2nd favourite or the 3rd favourite.
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Finishing Position*
This category is used to just show results for horses that finished in a particular position.
Mostly it will probably be used to just show all of the winners in a race. So if you have a query with a number of rules and get the results as normal, you can then filter that list of results to just show those horses that won.
For this you would just select Finishing Position equals 1
Note: If you want to run a query for horses that finished first or another poition last time out you do not use this category. For that query you will need Lto 1 Position Numerical
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Headgear/Equipment
Select if horses were wearing certain headgear or equipment to help them run better. The choices are; B = Blinkers, C = Eye Cover , E = Eye Hood, E/S = Eye Shield, H = Hood, P = Cheekpieces, T = Tongue Tie, V = Visor.
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Horse Age
Choose the age or range of ages you wish to select for your chosen query.
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Horse Course and Distance Winners/Win%*
Here you can pick horses that have won at the days Course and Distance. A horse may have won at the course before over a different distance and it may have won over the distance before at a different course. Just won over today's Course and Distance together before.
You can choose horses that have won twice or more for example by choosing; Greater or equal, 2.
Win% is the same as above for wins but for win%.
You can choose horses that have won 50% or more for example by choosing; Greater or equal, 50.
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Horse Distance Wins/Win%*
Here you can pick horses that have won at the days Distance.
You can choose horses that have won twice or more for example by choosing; Greater or equal, 2.
Win% is the same as above for wins but for win%.
You can choose horses that have won 50% or more for example by choosing; Greater or equal, 50.
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Horse Name
Choose 'contains' on the drop down list for this one and type in the name of the horse. It needs to be typed exactly as the official name of the horse is to make sure you get results for just that horse.
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Horse Prize Money Last 12 Months/Overall*
The amount of WINNING PRIZE MONEY in pounds that a horse has won in the last 12 months to date and overall in its career. This does not include placed prizemoney.
For example, looking for horses that have winning prize money of £15,000 or more, input: Greater or equal 15000.
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Horse Winners Last 12 Months/Overall (% overall)*
The number of times a horse has won in the last 12 months and overall in its career and the percentage of wins overall in its career.
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Lto 1 Lengths Btn
Select horses to show in results that were beaten less than or greater than a chosen amount in their last race (Lto 1). For example, only include horses beaten less than 2 lengths last time out, or those beaten equal to or greater than 5 lengths last time out.
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Lto 1, 2 and 3 Position
This is for choosing an actual position or to not include an actual position, or to select or not select a letter such as F = Fell, P = Pulled Up etc.in either the last race, the second last race, or the third last race. If you want to select all horses that didn't finish 1st last time out, then select 'not equal' and 1.
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Lto 1, 2 and 3 Position Numeric
This is for choosing an actual numeric position or a range of numeric positions in any of a horses last three races. So you could select 'less or equal' 3 and this would only show horses that came 3rd, 2nd or 1st last time out.
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Owner Name
Choose 'ends with' on the drop down list for this one and type in the surname of the Owner. Some owners have better records with certain Trainers and here you could combine both to find if they are historically successful or not, or perhaps together at certain courses.
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Penalty
Horses can run with a penalty on many occasions, for example if a horse wins it may run soon after the win and be given a 6lb penalty as it cannot be assessed by the handicapper before its next run. Here you can select or choose not to select one or a range of penalty amounts between 1 and 21lbs.
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Previous Runs Total
Select the number of previous runs you wish a horse to have had before showing in any results. You may want to select 'equal or greater' than 1 if you are using past records from the ratings columns as this then omit any horse winning on it's first race course appearance. You may also want to select 'equal or less' than 10 or 'between' 1 and 10 to only show results for horses that are unexposed and have not had many races so far.
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Saddle Cloth Number
You could select horse number 1 and 2 in handicap races to show those at the top of the weights and therefore the highest rated horses in a handicap race.
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Sex
Filter by the sex of the horse. There are many proven theories that Colts and Geldings run better after a short break, so here you can choose to only count or not include any of the following. Colt = generally a young male horse under the age of 4, Filly = a young female horse under the age of 4, Gelding = a horse that has been castrated, Horse = a mature horse that has not been castrated, Mare = an adult female horse.
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Sire Name
The Sire is the father of a horse, so use the option 'contains' to select a Sire name.
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Stalls Position
The actual stalls are positioned in different places on many courses and this can make a difference to results. The choices can be Centre (of the course), Far (side of the course), High (side of the course) and Low (side of the course).
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Weight
Here you can filter by any weight, equal to, less than, greater than or a range of weights. This allows to include only light weights, only heavy weights and/or anything in between. Some tight courses such as Fakenham can favour top rated horses carrying more weight as the runners cannot go full speed because the horses are constantly on the turn.
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Trainer and Jockey Section
Jockey Allowance lbs
The different amount of allowance in pounds a less experienced jockey can claim off the weight of the horse, ranging from 1 -10.
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Jockey Course Winners/Win %*
The number of winners overall at the course and the % of winners the jockey has had at the course.
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Jockey Name
Choose 'ends with' on the drop down list for this one and type in the surname of the specific Jockey. Otherwise type in the absolute correct name of the jockey you require as it is officially listed, such as Sean Bowen or Adam Kirby
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Jockey Winners Last 14 Days and Win%*
The number of wins a jockey has had in the last 14 days and the win percentage over the last 14 days.
So you could run a query that only counts jockeys that have had 5 winners or more or had a 20% strike rate over the last 14 days. For these you would query this category and either equal or greater than 5, or for the win%, equal or greater than 20.
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Trainer Course Winners/Win %*
The number of winners overall at the course and the % of winners the trainer has had at the course.
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Trainer Jockey Course Winners/Win %*
The number of winners overall and the % of winners the trainer and jockey combined have had together has had at the course, when the jockey has ridden for the trainer.
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Trainer Name
Choose 'ends with' on the drop down list for this one and type in the surname of the specific Trainer. There will be a list provided in the future of all Trainers so that you can ensure you have the correct spelling and name of the Trainer you are interested in.
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Trainer Winners Last 14 Days and Win%*
The number of wins a trainer has had in the last 14 days and the win% over the last 14 days.
So you could run a query that only counts trainers that have had 5 winners or more or had a 20% strike rate over the last 14 days. For these you would query this category, then either equal or greater than 5, or for the win%, equal or greater than 20.
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Odds and Ratings Sections
Betting Forecast Decimal
This filter allows you to choose what the starting price of a horse was, so you may want to only include horses that were forecast at 6/1 or less. As this is a decimal price you need to add 1 on to what is a normal fractional odds. So 3/1 would be 4, 10/1 would be 11 etc..
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BSP (Betfair Starting Price)
Choose a range or choose above/below any Betfair Starting Prices to be included in your results. You may have a query that looks okay, but by discounting all horses that had a BSP of below 4.0 and above 20.0 for example, may increase the success of the system you are testing.
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Place BSP
The same as for the BSP above but for checking out the place BSP for a place betting system.
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SP (Starting Price)
SP Decimal
As above for the SP's but like the Forecast prices, these need to be in decimal format so you must add a 1 to the price or prices you require. So 3/1 would need to be typed in as 4, 10/1 needs to be typed in as 11.
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SPvsFCDiff%
This category will you horses that have shortened or lengthened from the early morning forecast prices to the Starting Price.
This means you can see if horses have been backed in from their original forecast price or moved the other way. Sometimes this can give a signal to how the horse is likely to run.
A horse that has a forecast price of 8/1 and goes off with an SP 4/1 will have halved in price and this would be seen by selecting 'Less' 50 (%). A horse with a forecast price of 3/1 that goes off at 6/1, would have doubled in price, so this would be found if you select 'Greater' 200 (%)
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Ratings
Ability Rating and Rank
The Ability rating is worked out by the total amount of winning prize money a horse has had divided by the number of wins. So if a horse has winning prize money of 50,000 from two winning races, the ability rating would be £25,000, although we divide this by 1000 to give a more usable number of 25.
A horse with an ability rating of 4, means it has won an average of £4,000 per win and is thought to be of less 'class' than the horse above who has won more on average per win. So you can search for greater/less or equals a particular rating or you can look for the rankings too, where the horse with the highest Ability rating would be rank 1.
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Avg, Crs, Dis, Lto, Master and M+A Rating
Here you can choose a specific range of actual rating numbers from the Inform Racing race card. So you could select all horses with a rating in your chosen column of 80 or greater for example. This category is the same for all others shown on the System Builder in this section and they are:
Avg Rating: The average of the last 3 three runs (ratings)
Crs Rating: The best rating at the Course in the last 12 months
Dis Rating: The best rating at the distance in the last 12 months
Lto 1 Rating: The last time out rating
Lto 2 Rating: The second to last rating
Lto 3 Rating: The third to last rating
Master: The best rating overall in the last 12 months
M+A Rating: The total of the Master and the Average rating added together
There is an example card at the bottom of this page.
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Avg, Crs, Dis, Lto, Master and M+A Rank
Here you can select the position by ranking in all of the columns shown above. If you want to select only horses that were in the top 3 of a particular column, then you would select 'less or equal' 3. If you want to see just top rated horses (rank 1), then select 'equal' 1. This category is the same for all other columns shown on the System Builder and on the list above.
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Betting Forecast Rank
Here you can select the position by ranking of the Forecast Odds, so the horse that was forecast favourite would be rank 1. You could look for 'Less or equal' '3', to get the forecast favourite, second favourite and third favourite.
If you have a betting forecast that is 7/2, 7/2, 9/2, 11/2, 11/2 and 8/1, then searching for the 4th ranked horse would show the two at 11/2. The two at 7/2 would both show if you wanted the 1st ranked but these two together are also ranks 1 and 2. The horse at 9/2 is then rank 3 and the two at 11/2 are both ranked 4.
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Form Rating and Rank
The Form rating is worked out by adding the last three form figures together with anything over 10th place, as well as any letters such as F or P, counting as 10. Therefore a horse that came 3rd, 5th and 1st in it's last three races, would have a Form rating of 9.
So you can search for greater/less or equals a particular rating number or you can look for the rankings too, where the horse with the 'lowest' Form rating on this occasion, would be rank 1. If you search for horses with Less than 10, you will usually find horses that have been running well as their form figures do not add up to very much. A horse that won it's last 3 races would score a 3.
You may want to add the Category, 'Previous Runs Total' with a value of 3, to make sure you are looking at horses that have at least run three times so you can equate the form figures together.
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Top Rated Clear By
Avg, Crs, Dis, Lto, Master and M+A Clear By
This filter concerns only the top rated horses in all of the columns shown above, where you can determine by how far you want the top rated horse to be clear of the second rated horse. So if you want to show all top rated horses that were clear of the second top rated horse by 5 or more, then select 'equal or greater than' 5.
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Betting Forecast Top Rated Clear By*
This takes the betting forecast price as a decimal and counts the difference between the favourite, (classed here as the top rated) and the second favourite
So if you have a favourite that is 6/4, as a decimal this is 2.5 and a second favourite that is 7/2 or 4.5, then the difference is 2 as 4.5 - 2.5 = 2
This category can be used to look for races where there is a big gap between the first and second favourites.
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Example Speed Ratings Card
Below is an example card showing all of the columns. Those that can be used in the system builder at present in the Ratings sections are:
Avg Rating: The average of the last 3 three runs (ratings)
Crs Rating: The best rating at the Course in the last 12 months
Dis Rating: The best rating at the distance in the last 12 months
Lto 1 Rating: The last time out rating (You can see that the top rating of 80 is 5 clear of the second rated in this column with 75. This is how you can use the 'Top Rated Clear By' section above)
To the right of Lto, is the Lto 2 Rating: The second to last rating
To the right of the Lto 2 rating is the Lto 3 rating: The third to last rating
Master: The best rating overall in the last 12 months
M+A Rating: The total of the Master and the Average rating added together
F/C: The forecast price can be used in the Odds section on the system builder.
You can click the image below to enlarge it.
