A night at the greyhound races is a fun thing to do. Get together with friends, have a few drinks and maybe something to eat watching those cute dogs chase the bunny, or rather what they think is a bunny. An integral part of your evening will be choosing a dog to participate in the races. Just a little network for fun and maybe a little reward. But there is so much information on the career card that it can be confusing to the uninitiated. To help you get familiar with it, here is a quick rundown of what is presented to you on the career card.
The breed card contains all kinds of useful information and recent form (the last six appearances of each dog) to help you make your selections. It can seem a bit overwhelming at first, although it’s not hard to get used to.
The main (or bold) type is pretty straightforward. When reading from left to right, you usually have the trap number the greyhound will start from, the owner, the trainer, and a summary of the number of races contested, won, or placed. Below this you have the shape of the dog during its last six runs. This is what you want to analyze to help you choose the winners. With that in mind, here is the usual kind of information that the typical UK greyhound racing card will show you for each dog in the race. Date of last execution
Distance: The distance that the race will travel expressed in meters. For 280,500, 660 as applicable.
Trap number: the number of the trap from which the dog should start the race. The dog will be wearing a numbered race jacket to help you identify it during the race.
Time to First Split – This is the time (in seconds) the dog traveled from the start traps to typically the first turn of the race. For example, 4:57 means that the dog ran to the first division in just over four and a half seconds. An indicator of how fast the animal is moving away from the traps.
Position during the race: It is expressed as a series of numbers to reflect the position of the dog during each of its six previous races. For example, 5631 would mean that the dog had to start slowly, then set off to move up to third place and finally win. Conversely, 1246 would indicate that the animal started out brilliantly but did not have the speed to hold it back.
Final position: self-explanatory. The position the greyhound finished in the race. Expressed as a number between 1 and 6.
Distance exceeded (or won if you won the race): expressed as a whole number or a fraction if applicable. For example, 4th 3 means that the dog came fourth and was hit by three bodies. Or first 2 ΒΌ means the dog won by two and a quarter lengths.
Winning dog (or dog in second place if the dog won): The name of the dog that won your greyhound’s last race or if your greyhound won, the name of the dog that he beat will be displayed here.
Comments on how the dog ran: The abbreviations used here are intended to give a snapshot of the run. Most career cards give definitions of abbreviations for you to follow. For example, full2 means the greyhound encountered some problem in turn two and did not have enough room or a hit start means the dog was hit by an opponent coming out of the traps.
Winning time: self-explanatory. The time that the winning greyhound recorded.
One-Way Adjustment in Hundredths of a Second – Win times are adjusted according to prevailing track conditions. A plus sign means that the march is fast, while a minus sign means that the march was slow; for example, it could be a wet track after the rain.
Weight: the weight of the greyhound in kilograms. All greyhounds are weighed on the track to ensure there are no discrepancies between declared weight and actual race day weight. It is important to compare it with weights from previous races for consistency.
Starting Price – The price at which the winning greyhound was returned for wagering purposes. If it was a test run, it will show the number of dogs in the test. For example, T3 would be a three-dog test).
Degree of the career: indicates the level of the career. For example, A2, A4, etc. The lower the number, the higher the breed rating.
Calculated Time – The winning time after the current settings are applied. An asterisk shows the greyhound’s recent best time. Also look for the fastest time recently recorded among all the greyhounds in the race over the distance. This is known as the “weather dog”.
You now have a short explanation of what all those letters and numbers mean and an understanding of how to read a greyhound racing card. With a little practice you will become fluent and will be able to “read” a career. Part of the fun is using the information to form an opinion on which greyhound will win, discuss it with your friends, and then see who is right.