According to the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), approximately 60% of all horse races run in Britain are handicaps. The purpose of such races is to create parity between horses of differing ability by allocating them weights commensurate with the level of form they have shown on the racecourse. Theoretically, at least, each horse has an equal chance of winning, so handicaps are, by definition, competitive and provide an exhilarating spectacle for spectators, particularly those who like to have a bet.
The BHA employs a team of specialist handicappers, whose responsibility it is to assess the ability of each horse, each time it competes in a race, and express that ability, numerically, as a ‘performance figure’. Generally speaking, once a horse has achieved a minimum of three performance figures – although there are exceptions – it can be allotted an official handicap rating.
Like performance figures, official handicap ratings express, numerically, the perceived level of ability of each horse at any given time and allow straightforward comparison between horses of varied ability. Notwithstanding allowances and penalties, the horse(s) with the highest official rating(s) carries, or carry, the heaviest weight and the other horses carry proportionally less weight.
The maximum and minimum weights to be carried by each age group are specified in the race conditions, as are weight-for-age allowances. So, to take a typical example, in a 0-60 handicap, a horse officially 60 would carry the specified highest weight of, say, 10st 2lb, while a horse rated 59 would carry 1lb less or, in other words, 10st 1lb, and so on down the card. Of course, weight-for-age allowances may mean that, say, a three-year-old rated 50 would carry 9st 0lb, while a four-year-old rated 46, who has to conceded 6lb weight-for-age, would carry 2lb more, or 9st 2lb.