Using The Speed Rating Class Pars

Speed ratings can help you uncover winners in many ways—but one powerful, often overlooked approach is using class pars to narrow down the field.

On every Inform Racing race card, you’ll see a class par figure in the race header, followed by an H.

• Class Par: This shows the average winning speed rating for races just like today’s—taking into account the race class, age group, and whether it’s a handicap.

• H: This is the highest ever speed rating recorded in this race type, class, and age group.

In simple terms, a horse usually needs to have run to the class par or better to be competitive.

While lightly-raced or unexposed horses can always improve out of nowhere, focusing on handicap races where most runners already have several speed ratings gives you a solid edge. You’ll often find that the horses capable of hitting that par figure are the ones most likely to make an impact.

By combining class pars with the rest of your speed ratings, you can quickly separate the serious contenders from the hopefuls—and make smarter betting decisions.

Pro Tip: When you’re scanning a race card, quickly check which runners have already hit or exceeded the class par. It’s a simple filter that can instantly guide you to the real contenders and save you from wasting bets on horses unlikely to keep up.

Let's look at an example race card

You can see on the image below that the class par for this race is 74. 
The image can be clicked to enlarge if needed.

One of the simplest ways to avoid backing weak contenders is by using the Master rating—the best speed rating a horse has achieved in the last 12 months.

Take the race card example above. If we use a cutoff of 74 or higher, we can immediately eliminate any horse below that mark.

In that race:

• Banana (Master rating below 74) lost at 66/1.

• Deep Spirit (Master rating below 74) was unplaced at 12/1.

• Churchill Boy, despite being a 7/4 favourite with two recent course-and-distance seconds, had not yet rated high enough to be a true contender—and also finished unplaced.

This is a perfect illustration of how speed ratings cut through misleading form and market confidence.

On the same day, across all handicaps:

• 13 runners had Master ratings below the class par.

• All 13 lost—including a 2/1 favourite.

The lesson is clear: If a horse has never run to the class par or achieved a competitive Master rating, the odds-on paper often overestimate its real chance.

By combining Master ratings with class pars, you can confidently eliminate weak runners, especially those short-priced favourites that the market loves—but the ratings quietly warn against.

Take a look at the video below.

This video goes through another days racing. It shows how just 1 horse from 47 won when having a Master rating lower than the class par. From the 47 horses there were 37 that were unplaced.

Betting against these runners

As you have seen on the video, you can dutch bet the horses that do have a Master rating equal or better than the class par.

On the image below, you can see I have risked £20 but won £8.27 by backing the qualifiers, or I suppose you could say by laying those without a positive class par figure.

The profits will depend on the prices of those you are betting against but when you have a shorter priced runner like Churchill Boy, you can make a decent amount.

Then multiply this by the number of winning races and it can be a simple way to win using the speed rating class pars.

Should You Back or Lay Blindly?

The short answer is no. Not every race type will be profitable, and not every opportunity is worth taking. Class pars are best used as a filter, helping you narrow down the field and avoid poor bets.

In my experience:

• Low-grade jump races often produce unpredictable results.
• Large fields (12+ runners) make it harder to maintain consistency.
• Smaller fields naturally improve your strike rate and reduce risk.

If you can achieve a 40% return or better per bet, this strategy can be highly effective. But remember:

If you’re staking £20 and only winning £2–3 per race, you’ll need a high strike rate to offset the occasional loser.

With the huge volume of UK races every day, there’s no need to force bets. Wait for the opportunities that offer the clearest edge.

Key Takeaway

Speed rating class pars are unique to Inform Racing and provide a quick, reliable way to highlight both strong contenders and weak favourites.

You don’t always need to study the form to spot value.

Take Churchill Boy as an example: two recent seconds over course and distance looked solid on paper but its Master rating was below the class par, and it was never truly competitive despite the 7/4 market confidence.

Remember: A flashy finishing position is meaningless if the horse hasn’t shown the speed to win in that class.

The ratings are shown as a simple to understand number. Which can be easily compared with the other runners rating numbers. As well as the horses own past ratings allowing you to see the real chance that each horse has.

Read more about the speed ratings here >>