Once we have found the Daily Variant and added it to our adjusted speed ratings, we will complete our notebook by writing in a class rating for each individual race for future use.
Just as Speed Ratings are different at most tracks, so are Class ratings. In other words, a $10,000 Claimer at Hollywood Park is a classier horse that a $10,000 Claimer at Golden Gate. Neither is a Non-Winner 1 Allowance race as classy as a Classified Allowance at the same track.
Class usually tells in a race, but most handicappers treat it lightly. Or on the other hand, put too much emphasis on it. Just because a horse ran in an Allowance race, doesn't make him an Allowance horse. In order for a horse to attain a certain class, it must have performed well at that level.
To find a Class rating for a race, look to your Class Rating Chart found in the previous class. It is broken down by different types of races. Look at the conditions of the race today for the type of race - example - Stakes, Classified Allowance, etc. and to the right you will find the class rating.
Let's look at 2 different conditions of races.
HOLLYWOOD PARK - 1 Mile. CLAIMING. Purse $14,000. Fillies 3 year olds. Claiming Price $25,000.
GOLDEN GATE - 6 Furlongs ALLOWANCE. Purse $16,000. 3 year olds. Non-Winners of $3000 twice other than Maiden, Claiming or Starter.
To find the class rating for the $25,000 Claiming race at Hollywood Park look to your Class Rating Chart under Claiming Races to where $25,000 would fit - $29,000-$23,000. You will see the number 10.
Now go to your Class Rating Adjustment Chart and look up Hollywood Park or HOL and find the Class Rating Adjustment for that track. You will see 0. You add the number found in the Class Rating Chart and the Class Rating Adjustment Chart together 10 + 0 = 10.
The Class rating for a $25,000 Claiming race at Hollywood Park is 10.
Now, do the same procedure for the race at Golden Gate. It was a Non-Winners of 2 Allowance race. Look to your Class Rating Chart.
Find Non-Winners 2 Allowance. To the right you will see a 5.
Now go to your Class Rating Adjustment Chart and look up Golden Gate or GG. You will see a 2.
Total these two numbers - 5 + 2 = 7.
This is now the Class Rating for a Non-Winners of 2 Allowance at Golden Gate. Use this same procedure on every race of the day.
After you have completed your Daily Variant as explained in the previous class and written your speed ratings in your notebook, write down beside each race the Class Rating as explained above.
When finding the Class Rating of all Maiden Claiming races at all tracks, look up the Class Rating for the Claiming price. Add the Class Rating Adjustment for the track and add 3 points to it.
EXAMPLE:
Maiden Claiming $32,000 at Hollywood Park. Claiming Price $32000 9 Class Rating Adjustment for HOL 0 Maiden Claiming 3 TOTAL 12 CLASS RATING
When you are ready to handicap a race, you will need to use your final adjusted speed ratings.
To handicap a horse look up the date of the horse's last race and the track that he raced. Now look to your notebook and find the race track and the date that the horse ran on.
Next, you will need to know the race number that he ran the race in.
Example: June 24 at Hollywood Park, Race 6. In your notebook, you will find a speed rating with the Daily Variant added to it for that race on that day.
Let's say it is 87. This represents the winner's time. Check to see if your horse won the race. If he did, then 87 is his speed rating. If not, note the number of lengths that the horse was behind at the end of the race. At this point, we will now our TIME CONVERSION CHART to find your final horse's speed rating.
Most people are under the belief that 5 lengths equals 1 second or 1 length equals 1/5 of a second. We do not follow this rule of thumb.
We feel a horse runs faster. It is printed this way for convenience. Therefore, we convert the number of lengths a horse is behind the winner of a race by the use of a TIME CONVERSION CHART.
This TIME CONVERSION CHART is to be used on every horse who does not win a race. Always round-off 1/2 or 3/4 lengths to a full length. Noses, heads, necks, or 1/4 length do not round off.
Lengths Off Conversion
1 1 2 2 3 2 4 3 5 4 6 5 7 5 8 6 9 7 10 8 11 8 12 9 13 10 14 11 15 12 16 12 17 13 18 14 19 15 20 15 21 16 22 17 23 18 24 18
The TIME CONVERSION CHART is broken down into 2 columns - LENGTHS OFF and CONVERSION. First look to the number of lengths the horse you are handicapping was behind the winner. Then find that number under the LENGTHS OFF column. Whatever that number is you will subtract from the winner's speed rating you found when you looked up the race track, date and race number.
Winner's Speed Rating - 87.
Number of lengths horse is behind the winner - 8
Look under your LENGTHS OFF column until you come to 8.
Under the CONVERSION COLUMN opposite the number 8 you will see 6.
Subtract 6 from the speed rating for that race - 87 - 6 = 81.
This is now the speed for the horse that was 8 lengths off. Use this chart for all races when a horse did not win the race. Just look up the speed rating in your notebook. Find the lengths that the horse is behind. Look at the TIME CONVERSION CHART.
Look up the lengths behind under the LENGTHS OFF Column and look to the CONVERSION column. Take that number opposite the LENGTHS OFF column and subtract it from the speed rating. This is now your final speed rating for that horse in that particular race.
As in finding a Speed Rating, we also use the horse's lengths behind to find the horses class rating. To do this we use the following CLASS CONVERSION chart.
1/4 LENGTH TO 5 1/4 LENGTHS PENALIZE THE CLASS RATING 1 POINT. 5 1/2 LENGTHS TO 9 1/4 LENGTHS PENALIZE THE CLASS RATING 2 POINTS. 9 1/2 LENGTHS TO 14 1/4 LENGTHS PENALIZE THE CLASS RATING 3 POINTS. 14 1/2 LENGTHS OR MORE PENALIZE THE CLASS RATING 4 POINTS.
Here's a simple example to close out this class.
A $50,000 Claimer at Santa Anita is a 7 class. If the horse that you are handicapping won this $50,000 race then it is a 7 class horse.
Therefore, if you are looking at a horse that finished 4 lengths behind the above winner, you would rate the class of that horse as 1 class level cheaper or an 8 class. (1/4 length to 5 1/4 lengths penalize the class rating 1 point.)
In dealing with class remember, the lower the number the better the class. While just the opposite applies when dealing with speed, the higher the number the better the speed.
Horse A has a speed rating of 87 and a class rating of 7.
Horse B has a speed of 87 and a class rating of 9. It should be obvious that Horse A has a 2 class level edge over Horse B.
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