For beginner bettors, reading the racecard for Cheltenham Festival may sound complicated, especially with the action-packed 28 races schedule. However, the basics are very simple, and here’s why.
The first aspect you may notice is the colours of the silks of each jockey, which is there to show you what each jockey will wear and highlight who owns the horse. To the right of this, you’ll see the age and weight of every horse entered into every race. One point to note is that weights will vary if the race is a handicap, as these are races which horses are weighed according to their past performances.
In the next column on the right will be information on the trainer and jockey of each horse, sometimes this will just be the name both, however some racecards go into more detail. To find the best horse the numbers to the left of each name correlate to their form along with the places they have finished in their most recent run. For example, if a horse has 2-3-2-1-1-2, it means they have won twice and finished second in the last three races.
It’s wise to keep an eye on the form figures as this normally gives a good indication of the horse’s chances, however this is likely to be reflected in the odds. You will be able to see the odds on the far-right hand side and say for example your horse wins at 6/1, a £1 stake would return £7, which is made up of the £6 winnings and your stake back.
