The upper part of the card (yellow) Above each race in the race card, we have the number of the race, if it is included in V5 (pick five). The distance, estimated time for the off, the prize money and the conditions for the race as well as how the weights are calculated. Finally the track record is shown. If the jockey have a weight claim (as well as overweight) it is shown in the parenthesis after the jockeys name. The lower part of the card (green) 1 Track, date, number on the card 2 Purse for the winner 3 Type of race 4 Distance, surface and going 5 The Winner’s time 6 The Winner of the race (with the weight) 7 The Runner-up of the race (with the weight) 8 Formtal (The rating) 9 The horse’s placing with the number of lengths it was beaten with, or won by 10 The size of the field 11 Weight 12 Jockey 13 The odds from the pari-mutuel win pool (* = favourite) Abbreviations: Type of race a amateur race åv weight-for-age race h handicap race md maiden race H hurdle race S steeplechase Surface gd good nt good-to-heavy bl wet lt fast tg heavy mj soft Underlag gr turf dt dirt track, h hurdle race s steeplechase, Tracks Jä Jägersro Tä Täby Gbg Gothenburg St Strömsholm Kl Klampenborg, (DK) Öv Övrevoll (NOR) DK Denmark GB Great Britain IRE Ireland D Germany F France I Italy Other B blinkers hls neck m many lengths (dist) dl död löpning 1 l One length = 3 m = 0,2 seconds 2 pound difference = 1 length over 1600 m, 0,5 l over 1200 m and 1,5 l over 2400 m The Rating (Formtal) is important In Scandinavia, the Handicapper assigns an official rating (formtal) to each and every horse. This is a grading system from 30 (lowest) and 100 (highest). This gives the punter the opportunity to follow the form of the horse. Simply put, increased rating directly equals improved performance or vice versa. Since the rating is expressed in kilos, it is possible to subtract the horses weight from the handicappers rating, to give a number known as the Index figure (Plustal). The higher the Index (Plustal) the better the horse’s chance. Example: A horse rated 75 carrying 58 kilos, has an index figure of 17. Another horse in the same race carrying 60 kilos but rated 80, has an index of 20 and is therefore better off in the race.