If you intend to bet on horses, it is advisable to be able to interpret a race card. Although the race cards vary from publication to publication, the race card below shows the main contents which most decent race cards contain.

Form
In this race card, it shows the form for the horse's last 4 runnings. Race cards show normally up to the last 6 race results for a horse. The number zero (0) indicates that the horse was unplaced in that race.

Horse
The name of the horse. The letter [D] next to the name indicates that the horse has won previously over today's race distance. Some cards also show the letter [C] which indicates that the horse has won at today's track whilst [CD] means that the horse has won at today's track at today's race distance. [BF] shows that the horse was a beaten favourite in its last race.

Trainer
The name of the trainer.

Age
The number to the right of the name of the trainer indicates the horse's age. As the race is for 2 year olds only, all the horses have the number 2. If a horse is 6 years of age, a number 6 would be written there.

Wgt
The weight that the horse has to carry including jockey and saddle. If the jockey and saddle weigh less than the minimum weight as indicated by the number in the Wgt column, weights are added to the saddle. If a jockey weighs more than the minimum, the racing public are informed of an overweight and how much extra the horse is carrying in the race. The letter "v" next to the weight indicates that the horse is visored. "BL" indicates that the horse is blinkered.

Jockey
The name of the jockey.

RPR
The horse's handicap rating. The higher rating, the better the horse is supposed to be. The rating is set by a handicapper based upon a horse's results which is dependent more about placings against the horses in the race rather than actual placing itself. Coming 4th in a high value race against high rated horses will result in a higher re-rating than coming first in a lowly seller, for example.

The Title Section of the race provides important information as well. Some are quite self evident such as the prize fund and the name of the race.

Listed
Listed stakes, unknown to racegoers and to most regular handicappers as well, are considered by racing's establishment of sufficient prestige to be "listed" on the pages of international sales catalogs. Owners and breeders hold winners of listed stakes in higher esteem than they do winners of open but unlisted stakes, and handicappers should too. The purses are richer, the competition keener, and the winners praiseworthy.

A1
This denotes that it is a top class race. Second tier races races are given a "Bx" down to "G" which is for a seller (lowest rated races).

6F
The distance of the race. This race is a sprint over 6 furlongs (or approximately 1,000 metres).

GOOD
This indicates the latest readings of the ground conditions. FIRM is the hardest/firmest going whilst HEAVY is the softest going. GOOD indicates that the ground is decent and not too firm, nor too soft.