A racing program lists every horse in a race, and the past performances, often shortened to PPs, are the lines under each horse that show how it ran in recent starts. Each line gives the date, track, distance, surface, class, weight, finishing position, final time and a speed figure. Reading them means looking for what the lines say about a horse’s form, distance, surface and class. This guide explains each part with an invented example. It is education only: reading past performances does not remove the cost of a bet, and we do not name any horse to back.
The guide uses Breeders’ Cup style races for context. For the event, see our Breeders’ Cup 2026 guide. Layouts differ between publishers, so the order of items on your own program may not match the one below.
What is a racing program?
A racing program is a printed or digital booklet that lists the races on a card with every entered horse and the key facts about it. The program is the official listing for a race day, and the past performances are the more detailed version sold or provided by data companies such as Daily Racing Form, Equibase and Brisnet.
Both show the same idea: the horse’s identity at the top and its last starts below. A program for a Breeders’ Cup race often has 12 to 14 entries, with the maximum field set at 14 for most races, according to Wikipedia. That means a lot to read, which is why a clear order of reading helps.
What is at the top of a horse’s entry?
The top block identifies the horse and the people around it. It usually has the post position and saddle cloth number, the horse’s name, the jockey, trainer and owner, the weight to be carried, and the morning line odds. It may also show the horse’s age, sex, color and breeding.
| Item | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Post position | The starting stall the horse jumps from. It is drawn before the race. |
| Saddle cloth number | The number you use when you place a bet. It may differ from the post position. |
| Jockey and trainer | The people riding and preparing the horse. Programs often show their win rates. |
| Owner | Who owns the horse. |
| Weight | The weight carried, including the jockey and equipment. |
| Morning line | The track’s early estimate of the odds. It is a guide and not the final price. |
| Pedigree | The sire (father) and dam (mother). It can hint at distance and surface. |
The morning line is an estimate made before betting opens. The real odds come from the money bet, as explained in our guide to parimutuel versus fixed odds. A horse can be 5 to 1 on the morning line and finish as the favorite or a long shot.
How do you read a running line?
A running line is one row in the past performances that describes a single race. It reads left to right as date, track, distance, surface and condition, class and purse, weight, post position, positions at the calls, final position, final time and speed figure. The exact order differs by publisher, but the information is the same.
Here is an invented line, with each part explained. It is not a real horse or race.
| Part of the line | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Date | 03Oct26 | The race was run on 3 October 2026 |
| Track | Kee | Keeneland (a code of three letters or so) |
| Distance | 6f | Six furlongs, which is three-quarters of a mile |
| Surface and condition | ft | Dirt, fast (a dry, firm track) |
| Class and purse | Alw 85000 | An allowance race with an $85,000 purse |
| Weight | 120 | The horse carried 120 pounds |
| Post position | 5 | Started from stall 5 |
| Calls | 4 (1½), 3 (1), 2 (½), 1 (1¾) | Fourth by 1½ lengths early, third by 1, second by half a length, then led by 1¾ lengths |
| Final time | 1:10.2 | One minute 10.2 seconds |
| Speed figure | 92 | The data company’s figure for the performance |
The calls show how the race unfolded. A horse that was fourth early and first at the finish made up ground. A horse that led early and faded finished the race slower than it started. Each tells you something about running style, which can matter in a race where a fast early pace tires the leaders.
What is a speed figure?
A speed figure is a single number that rates how fast a horse ran, adjusted so that races at different distances and on different days can be compared. Andy Beyer popularized the idea with his 1975 book *Picking Winners*, according to America’s Best Racing, though Len Ragozin’s Sheets came earlier.
Several companies publish their own figures:
- Beyer Speed Figures in Daily Racing Form. Higher is better.
- Equibase figures, which come with pace, race and class ratings.
- Brisnet figures, with a Prime Power rating and running-style statistics.
- TimeformUS figures, with a pace projector and running-style ratings.
- Ragozin and Thoro-Graph figures, where lower numbers are better.
The most important rule is to compare figures only within the same source. A 90 from one company is not equal to a 90 from another, because each uses its own method. Within one source, look at the last three figures as a trend: rising, flat or falling.
Why do figures not tell the whole story?
A figure rates one performance on one day, and several things can distort it. The track may have favored horses on the rail that day. A slow pace can flatter the horses at the front. A horse may have been trapped or bumped. Figures also depend on the track variant, which is the adjustment for how fast the surface was that day, so the same time can earn different figures on different days.
This is why programs print more than the figure. The calls, the class and the comments are there to give context.
How does class change the picture?
Class is the level of the race, and it shows the quality of the competition a horse has faced. Common levels, from lowest to highest, are claiming races, allowance races and stakes races, with Grade 1 stakes at the top. Maiden races are for horses that have not yet won.
A Breeders’ Cup race is Grade 1, so every horse in it is either a proven stakes horse or a qualifier with a strong record. A horse stepping up from allowance races to a Grade 1 faces a higher class. A horse dropping down in class faces weaker rivals. The reverse is also true: a horse with a good figure against weak rivals may not repeat it against better ones.
What do distance and surface tell you?
They show what the horse has tried and where it has done well. Distances are listed in furlongs (8 per mile) or miles. A race of 6 furlongs is a sprint and a race of a mile and an eighth is a route. Surface is listed as dirt, turf or all-weather, with a condition such as fast, firm or good.
Horse Racing Sense says distance preference tends to be persistent, and surface preference is one of the more reliable factors. A horse with several starts on dirt and none on turf is a question mark in a turf race, and a horse whose pedigree suggests turf may be worth a second look when it switches. A Breeders’ Cup card has dirt races and turf races, so a horse’s record on the surface of the day matters.
How do you read workouts?
Workouts are practice runs between races, and they are listed under the running lines. Each shows the date, track, distance, surface, time and the way the horse was asked to run. A symbol, often a dot, marks the fastest work of the day at that distance, according to Horse Racing Sense.
A gap in the race lines followed by regular workouts suggests a horse was resting and being prepared. Workouts are not races, so times are less reliable than race figures. They are one more clue to condition, not a prediction.
What do jockey and trainer statistics add?
They add context about the people. Programs show win percentages, and sometimes the in-the-money percentage, which counts first, second and third. Horse Racing Sense notes that a trainer’s stats for the current meet or the last 60 to 90 days are often shown, and that the win rate of a jockey and trainer working together appears in DRF.
Use these with care. A high win rate for a small sample is not strong evidence, and the figures describe the past, not the race in front of you.
How do foreign and young horses change the reading?
They make the past performances harder to compare. Two-year-olds have only a few lines, so there is less to read, and the Friday Breeders’ Cup races are for two-year-olds. Horses from Europe, Japan and elsewhere come through the Challenge Series, which has qualifying races in 14 countries according to America’s Best Racing, so their lines are from other tracks, other surfaces and sometimes other figure systems.
Read more: Breeders’ Cup 2026 Schedule and Start Times
The rule is to read what you can and accept what you cannot. A horse with short or foreign lines is a bigger unknown, and the market reflects that in its price.
What does a side-by-side reading look like?
Putting two invented horses next to each other shows how the pieces fit. The table uses made-up figures from the last three starts of each. Neither is a real horse.
| Item | Horse A | Horse B |
|---|---|---|
| Last three speed figures (oldest to latest) | 84, 88, 92 | 96, 90, 85 |
| Trend | Rising | Falling |
| Best surface | Dirt (3 starts) | Turf (4 starts), 1 start on dirt |
| Distance record | Six furlongs, two starts | One mile, three starts |
| Class | Stepping up to Grade 1 | Used to stakes races |
| Today’s race | One mile on dirt | One mile on dirt |
On paper, Horse A has the better trend and Horse B has the higher peak. Horse A has never run a mile, and Horse B has run only once on dirt. A reader might call both uncertain. That is the point: the lines raise questions rather than give answers.
In what order should you read a race?
A fixed order keeps you from jumping to the first number that catches your eye. One simple order works for most programs.
- Check the conditions of today’s race: distance, surface, class and field size.
- Scan each horse’s last three starts for finishing position and speed figure trend.
- Match distance and surface to the horse’s record.
- Note the running style from the calls: early speed, stalker or closer.
- Look at workouts and gaps between races.
- Add the people: jockey and trainer statistics for context.
- Compare the morning line with the live odds, and ask why they differ.
The aim is to learn what the lines say, not to find a winner. With 12 or 14 runners in a Breeders’ Cup race, a sensible reader will finish with a list of questions about several horses.
Can reading past performances beat the takeout?
Reading the past performances helps you understand a race, but it does not remove the takeout. Every pool takes a percentage, and the favorite and other horses are already priced from the same information. Keeneland, for example, lists 16% on win and place and 22% on trifectas, according to its wagering page. Our exotic bets guide shows how that cost works.
So treat the program as a way to learn the sport, not as a system for profit. If you bet, set a limit first. Our budget and time limit guide and Safer play toolkit explain how, and our Get help page lists free support.
What mistakes do new readers make?
Most mistakes come from reading too much into one number. Watch for these:
- Comparing figures across companies. A Beyer figure and a Brisnet figure are different scales.
- Ignoring the surface. A dirt figure may not transfer to turf.
- Reading a single great figure as a pattern. One peak is not a trend.
- Skipping the class level. A big figure against weak rivals does not mean the same figure against stars.
- Treating the morning line as the price. It is an estimate.
- Forgetting that the crowd has the same data. The odds already include it.
What should you read next about racing programs?
- The event these races come from: Breeders’ Cup 2026 guide
- The combination bets: Exotic bets explained
- How payouts are worked out: Parimutuel versus fixed odds
- Handicap races and weights: Handicap races explained