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DISSECTING THE CHART Chart Head /lOTftKI FIFTH RACE— 1 Mile. Out of chute. Handy Mandy, Oct. 26, 1927— 1:37%— 3— 112. Tt*7 4 Oil Geneva Handicap. Purse ,000. 3-year-olds and upward. Fillies and Mares. Allow- July-2-30-A.P ances. Net value to winner ,400; second, 50; third, 75; fourth, 5. The above section of Daily Racing Forms chart, tells the reader what race it. is, where the race was run. the distance, conditions, etc. The large number in the left hand corner — 49785— is the number assigned to the race by Daily Racing Form. Every race run on a recognized track in America is so indexed. Regardless of where the reader may be, if he buys the Pacific Coast Daily Racing Form, the New York Racing Form, New Orleans Racing Form, or the Miami Racing Form, the number given to this particular race will be the same. Below the laige number is the date of the race and the track; i. e., July-2-30-A.P, which means that the race was run on July 2, 1930, at Arlington Park. Every track has an abbreviation for the conservation of space. Thus Hawthorne is "Haw" and Washington Park "Was. A table showing these abbreviations is carried at the head of all Daily Racing Forms past performances. Reading on we note that the race is the FIFTH— 1 Mile. Out of chute., which may be noted by glancing at the diagram of the race. The track record: Handy Mandy, October, 26, 1927— 1:37%— 3— 112. follows, and means that. Handy Mandy ran one mile on the date shown in one minute, thirty seven and two-fifths seconds, the fastest time ever made over the track. Until another horse made a faster time for the distance, or equaled it at a later date. Handy Mandy held the track record and all races over that route carried that track record until it was broken. The "3" which follows is Handy Mandys age and the "112" is the weight she carried. The remainder of the chart head is self-explanatory. The name of the race, the Geneva Handicap, the purse and the prizes for the first, second, third and fourth horses following. Caption Line Index Uorses EqtAWtPPSt and % % Sstr Fin Jockeys Owners Equiv. Odds Strt The first word in the caption line is "Index," and refers to the numbers before the horses names below. Each one of these numbers refers to a chart such as the one above and should the reader turn back to that chart the number will be the large number in the upper left hand corner, such as 49785 in the chart above. Thus if the reader obtains the number of the last race in which any horse participated, that horses career may be followed back to his first start, without a break. No other racing publication has this feature. The next word is "Horses" meaning the horses shown below. "Eqt" follows and means the "WB," "WSB" and "W" immediately after the horses names. "Eqt" means equipment carried, "W" meaning Whip, "S" Spurs and "B" Blinkers. Thus if "WSB" follows the horses name the reader knows that he was equipped with Blinkers and that his rider carried a Whip and wore Spurs. The "A" following "Eqt" means the age of the horse. Thus we note that Snow-flake, the first horse, was equipped with Whip and Blinkers and that she is a three-year-old, the "3" following the "WB" giving us that information. In any race where the horses are not of an even age, the chart shows the age of all the horses. However, if the race was for two-year-olds, no ages are shown, the chart head telling us that the race was exclusively for two-, three- or four-year-olds, or whatever the conditions may be. After the "A" come "Wt," an abbreviation for Weight. Below this is the number of pounds each horse carried in the race, weight being the leveling factor in horse racing. "PP" follows the weight and means Post Position. The post positions are numbered outward from the inner rail of the course, the horse next to the rail always having number 1 post position. "St, Yi, Vz, %, Str and Fin" mean, Start, quarter post, half-mile post, three-quarter post, Stretch and Finish, and indicate the positions where the calls were taken. Horses, Calls, Jockeys, Owners, Equiv. Odds Strt 49220SOWFLAKE wb 3 114 2 14M1 4 43 1" SchaeferL W J Salmon 151100 49595LADY BROADCAST w 4 107 5 3 2" 21 32 3J 2 MeyerC R Caldwell 165 100 48600 VALENCIENNES wb 3 97 1 4 33 33 2" 2" 3"k RichardA Mrs J D Hertz 2276 IOC MJMfSUPREME SWEET w 3 98 4 2 Vi I3 I3 V 43 DePesoG R W Selden 384 100 49595 BEN MACHREE wb 4 106 3 5 5 5 5 5 5 MarcumJ C C and G Y Hieatt 1999 IOC We now ask the reader to refer to the diagram of the race at the top of the page. The figures back of the line drawn across the track represent the five horses which took part in race 49785. These figures are numbered respectively, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. If we refer to the chart we see by glancing down the line of figures under "pp" that number 1 represents Valenciennes; number 2, Snowflake; 3, Ben Machree; 4, Supreme Sweet and 5 Lady Broadcast. The diagram is a pictorial chart of the race and we can follow the horses in their flight around the track very easily. The barrier is usually placed about twenty or twenty-five feet behind the actual starting point of the race. If we look at the diagram, then at the chart, we see that number 2, Snowflake, was first at the start, number 4, Supreme Sweet, second, etc. The margins separating the horses at the start are never given because usually they are small and hardly worthy of consideration. • The next call is made at the "k," quarter post. Here we see that number 4, Supreme Sweet, has taken the lead and if we refer to the chart and glance down the line of figures under the caption "lb," we note that she was first by one and one-half lengths. Number 4, Lady Broadcast, was second, a head before Valenciennes, number 1 in the diagram. At the next call, the "V2," half-mile post, number 4, Supreme Sweet, is still first and if we look again at the chart, running our eye down the line of figures under this caption, we see that she was leading by three lengths, Lady Broadcast still being second, a half a length before number 1, Valenciennes. Now we ask the reader to read the chart crosswise, taking for our example Supreme Sweet. Before Supreme Sweets name is the number 494641, that being the index number to her last race. The small 2 tells us that she finished second. After Supreme Sweeta name is the "W," indicating that her rider carried a whip. The "3" tells us she is a three-year-old and she carried 98 pounds. She was number four at the post, was second at the start, took the lead at the quarter post with a margin of one and one-half lengths, increased her margin to three lengths at the half-mile post, held that lead at the three-quarters post and raced into the stretch still first by one length. All during the race, if the readei will look at Snowflakes line, reading across the chart, it will be noted that she was in fourth place, various margins in front of Ben Machree, which was last throughout. In the stretch however, Snowflake finished with a rush, coming from fourth place to take the lead in the final strides and win by a head. The reader can create a mind picture of any race by reading Daily Racing Forms charts. After the calls comes the jockeys names, then the owners and finally, the "Equiv. Odds Strt," which means Equivalent Odds Straight, or the odds against the horse winning the race. The prices are all figured against one dollar. Thus the price on Snow-flakes line is 151, meaning one hundred and fifty-one cents to a dollar. The odds against Valenciennes, "2276-100" means 2.76 to . Time, Mutuels, Pedigree, Scratches, Etc. Time, :23%, :46%, 1:12, 1:37%. Track fast. , MUTUELS PAID s , OFFICIAL BOOKING ODDS — » SNOWFLAKE S 5.02 S 2.70 .26 151—100 35—100 13—100 LADY BROADCAST 2.70 2.48 35—100 24—100 VALENCIENNES 3.32 66—100 Winner — Ch. f, by Mad Hatter — Snowdrop, by Cicero trained by P. F. Dwyer; bred by Mereworth Stud. WENT TO POST— 4:201. AT POST— 1 minute. Start good out of stationary stalls. Won driving; second and third the same. Below the calls, jockeys, owners and odds, is the time, mutuels, pedigree, post time, notes, scratches and overweights. The line beginning with "Time" shows the first figures at :23%, which means that the first quarter of the race was run in twenty-three and three-fifths seconds. The next figure is; 46%, or forty-six and two-fifths seconds for one-half mile. These times are taken at the posts designated on the diagram, or quarter, half, three-quarters and one mile, the stretch being excepted. After the "Time" line are the "Mutuel Prices" — Straight, win, Place to finish second and Show to finish third. As Snowflake won, she is the only horse carrying the mutuel odds "Straight," or, as shown above, .02. The second column of figures are the "Place Prices" and the first and second horses show these odds. Thus Snow-flake, having won and Lady Broadcast, having finished second, odds of .70 are shown after Snowflake and Lady Broadcast. The last figures are the "Show Prices" and are shown following the names of the first three horses. The "Official Booking Odds," following the mutuel prices, are the odds against one dollar paid by the first three horses. To arrive at the odds shown, Snowflakes Straight Mutuel Price, .02, is taken for an example. The player at the track having bought a Mutuel ticket straight on Snowflake, received .02. To find the odds against one dollar, he subtracts his original , which leaves him .02 and this amount split in half, or divided by two, is 151, or one dollar and fifty-one cents for each dollar he played. All mutuel prices are thus figured. If the reader will look at the chart above in the column under the caption "Equiv. Odds Strt," he will note that the odds are the same as shown below; 151-100. Next is the winners line, denoting the color and sex of the horse, the sire father — dam mother, and sire of the dam, the trainer and the breeder. The next line is "Went to Post — 4:202. At Post— 1 minute." meaning that at twenty and one-half minutes after 4 oclock the horses reached the barrier, or starting point and were there one minute. Thus the "Off Time" may be figured by adding the one minute spent at the post to the post time, making the "Off Time" 4:212. The notes follow, being a detailed pictorial at length, explain themselves. They tell what happened to the individual horses during the race and often explain the reason for the defeat of some outstanding favorite which the figures themselves would not show. They tell of the interference, bumps and handicaps suffered by the horses and are well worth reading because of the information contained therein. If ten or more horses are entered the day before a race and four of them are withdrawn on the morning of the race, the chart will carry a "Scratched" line followed by the number, name of the horse, or horses, and weight assigned, withdrawn. Overweights, if any, are shown below the scratches. They furnish the information that such and such a jockey could not scale at the weight assigned the horse and was one, two, or three pounds overweight. It is permissible for a horse to carry more weight than the impost assigned him, but never weight below the figure assigned. Should the latter occur, the horse would be disqualified.
