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Inform Racing Speed Ratings

Introduction 2
About The Ratings 6
Average ratings, ‘Par’ figures 7
Standard times 9
The going allowance 10
Weight 11
Wind 12
Winning Using The Ratings 13
The overall picture 15
Digging deeper 16
Form Cycles 17
Pace And Run Style 18
Discount Subscription Offer 20

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Introduction
The idea behind speed ratings is simple:
The easiest way to measure one race horse against another is by
how fast it runs and a speed rating translates performance into an
easy to use number.
How fast horses run is the single most important factor in finding
your winners and is the only place to start when looking at a race.
Normal ratings are compiled using judgement and basic opinion,
using outdated and unreliable pounds per length as the variant.
Speed ratings on the other hand are measured by the actual time
the horse took to run the race, using time to determine the
beaten horses and is an absolute measure of a horse’s ability that
can be accurately compared to all the other runners in the race.
What’s more, Inform Ratings are compiled manually by hand,
using an old fashioned calculator, pen and paper as well as human
experience and understanding, allowing for any discrepancies
regarding goings, track conditions and race class etc. all ironed out
at source and applied to the final ratings.
Most other speed ratings available are calculated using a
computer programme, feeding in race times and ‘official goings’,
which are often frighteningly wide of the mark and simply cannot
be as accurate because it is the understanding of everything other
than the clocked time that makes the rating so valuable.
Speed Ratings allow you to compare horses in a race that have run
on different goings, (firm, good to firm, soft, etc.) at different
courses and over different distances and this allows for a quick
and reliable comparison.

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If every horse ran over a standard surface at the same distance we

could compare their speeds simply by looking at their finishing
times and comparing these horses would be practically
impossible.
By taking into account the race time and accurate race conditions,
that encompasses everything required about a run and calculating
this one speed rating number, now allows you to do this.
For example, a horse that rates 80 over seven furlongs should
theoretically run 80 going over a mile and a horse that rates 76
over five furlongs on good ground at Sandown should
theoretically get a similar rating over five furlongs on soft ground
at Epsom.

A speed rating of 77 from Windsor represents the same level of

ability as a speed rating of 77 from York or anywhere else.

Therefore these numbers can be compared and a decision on the

absolute ability of each horse, can now simply be made.

You can now use identifiable and profitable patterns to find value
bets every day because the ratings take into account each
previous run with regards to trip and track etc.
Given the huge variety in British racecourses and goings
throughout the year, most horses show preferences for some
conditions and speed ratings are the best tool for uncovering
these.
Over the years I have found ways to make my speed ratings
profitable and every successful and professional punter I have
come across at race meetings or those I know from the media, all
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use speed ratings as one of their main betting tools and that
should inspire you to compile your own look into using the Inform
Racing speed ratings already available.

Our data goes back over 20 years and is produced in a simple to

view, race card format, with all those in with a chance highlighted
for you already.

I believe these are as accurate an assessment of a horse's

performance available today and this has been backed up by
numerous, positive emails over the years.

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Testimonials

Bearing in mind 98% of punters lose over the long term, breaking
even can be called an achievement these days with the average
punter losing up to 20% of their bank every year according to
reports.

Speed ratings will give you a unique angle and an edge throughout
the year and many current subscribers have been continuous
members from the beginning, back in 2003.

This offers genuine proof of how useful the speed ratings really
are and while nothing can be guaranteed, it must be said that an
intelligent use of the ratings will certainly put the odds in your
favour.

“I use IR (Inform Racing) stats every day and base my betting

regime around the LTO figures which have proved profitable over
the years for me.” Mark

“My betting using your M+A ratings is going great guns and I’m
already in profit to the tune of over £600 in 4 days.” Mike

“The LTO (last time out) ratings with a clear rating of 7+. Since Sun
15/02/15 have virtually doubled my bank using these
ratings.” Brian

Are you ready for a fresh start and a new beginning to your
betting with our speed ratings today?

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ABOUT THE RATINGS

So speed ratings allow us to analyse a horse’s particular
performance in a race simply and easily, without having to worry
about what course the race was run at, or what the condition of
the ground was during the race.
First however the calculation has to be made.

1. The first part we have is called the raw speed rating. This is
simply calculated using the finishing time and the distance of
the race. These are compared to standard times and par
figures to determine how fast or slow the winner of the race
actually ran.

2. The second adjustment to the raw speed rating is the going

allowance which compensates for different surfaces through
from hard/firm ground to heavy which can even vary during a
meeting as conditions change, as well as having different
goings on different parts of the same course.

It is not uncommon for example for the five furlong straight

at Sandown to be quite different from the round course or
the hurdle course at Carlisle not to be the same as on the
chase course.

These factors combined together now produce a single figure

which is the final speed rating.

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Average Speed Ratings or ‘Par’ Figures

Every race type for each age group has a par figure or average
winning speed rating which is the average rating required to win a
race of that grade and type and finding those not up to the par,
helps narrow down the field to find those selections with the best
chance of winning the race.

Determining if a horse has previously or recently raced to the par

figure will immediately eliminate those that cannot win. Looking
at all past ratings for each horse by using the form guide link for
each race, or simply by looking at the Best Ever Rating for each
horse in the first form pop up, allows you to compare a horse’s
best speed figures with the par for today.

Many professional punters use speed figures to quickly identify

the real contenders in a race and using par figures in this way will
often eliminate false favourites and short priced runners from the
reckoning that the general public will always over bet.

Yes, the par ratings increase as the class of the races improve,
however horses don’t just run to the level of the race they are in,
they run to the speed that they run to and will therefore rate
accordingly.

For example, you can find a horse that has won a Class 4 Handicap
or two before but has only ever run to a mid 70’s rating, against a
horse that has only won in Class 5 company before but regularly
rates in the high 70’s or low 80’s.

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The ratings and pars will highlight those horses with a better
chance of winning than most punters or experts would have you
believe and often at far bigger prices than they should be.

“Just couldn’t believe a top rated speed figured horse could go off
at Betfair 24.19 in a 5 horse race, almost all the indicators
screaming back me! Nova Princesse at Lingfield (Won 16/1). Paid
the subs and then some. Your figures just keep on producing, get
in.” Roger

“Hi Ian I had a good day other day backed Last Supper @80/1 also
had others so a good day sticking with the M&A (column).” Andy

“Just a quick email to thank you for the brilliant ratings as Surf and
Turf stormed in at 33/1 and one look at the c/d ratings tell you
that’s the one to be on. Top drawer.” Andy

“I think yesterday’s start on 2 non handicaps producing 40/1 &

33/1 winners says it all. Best site I’ve ever found.” Lee

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Standard Times

The first thing we need to establish when compiling our speed

ratings are our standard times for each course and distance.
A horse running over the downhill five furlongs at Epsom will run a
faster time than one running over the same distance on the uphill
finish of the Rowley Mile at Newmarket so a different standard
time for each course and distance is needed to level things up for
the differences of each course.
The standard time is the median time from a large, constantly
updated number of races, that have been run over a given course
and distance on good or good to firm going.
It would be easy of course to just use the Racing Post standard
times but I have found many discrepancies over the years with
these and often no allowance is made when a rail is moved or the
distance of a race is changed as it is on quite a few occasions
which may surprise some.
Calculating the ratings manually allows me to take all of these
changes into account and the more race times we include the
more effective our own private standard times will be.
It’s a time consuming process, but incredibly worth the effort and
all standard times are updated throughout the year to make the
ratings as accurate as possible.

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The Going Allowance

The second piece of the puzzle is to calculate the going
allowance.
Some tracks are inherently fast or slow, for instance Bath is a track
that is a notoriously fast and is one of the few that will have the
going as Hard during a season.
A horse that runs five furlongs in sixty one seconds at Bath would
have to have his figure adjusted downward to compensate for the
fast track he is likely to be running on.
Likewise, a horse running on a Heavy track at Ffos Las for example
would have his figure raised in compensation.
By taking the difference between the race times to standard times
and pars you end up with an initial allowance for each race at a
meeting.
It is often the case that the fastest and slowest races on the day
are discounted if they are vastly different to the majority and an
average of the remainder is used as the going allowance.

You also need to look at certain courses where you will have
different goings on different parts of the course and factor this
into the calculations and final ratings.
As well as different goings for the Chase course and the Hurdle
course on occasions there will also be differences on the straight
course or round course at some tracks too.
Speed ratings give you a far better understanding of the going too
as you will find that good going at one course means something
different at another and I have also seen how often the official
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going is ‘wrong’ compared to my final going allowances on the day

and is one thing I would like to see improved by the racing
authorities.
For example, I have seen my going allowance at a meeting end up
at -0.23 seconds per furlong, generally good racing ground but
given an official going of Soft by the clerk of the course.

Weight
Inform Racing ratings take no account of weight. All of the
material and literature I came across in the early days ignored the
weight carried and this is the way I have always gone.
In a survey I once came across, a large number of horses were
looked at to see the affect that weight had on their speed figure
performances for every pound more or less they carried on the
previous run.
It turned out that for every one pound extra the horse ran a
slower figure of 0.4 but interestingly for every one pound less that
was carried the horses ran slower again but by 0.3.
Horses running around a tight track can win carrying more weight
because they are slowing down more often round the bends than
those running on a flat, straight, speed track.
Horses are also very different in size and like humans can carry
more or less weight because of their build and factoring any of
this into a rating would be nigh on impossible.
From a personal point of view I have no real desire to see
sectional timings in the future as I believe these just reflect the

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race that has already been run and have very little bearing on
future races for punters.
However, I would dearly love to see a horses weight on the day
published for all to see as this would give far more clues to the
horses fitness and readiness to win.
However, don’t expect this to happen anytime soon.

Wind
There are some people who ask whether a strong headwind will
slow down the horses or speed them up if it is coming up the
straight behind the horses and if I make any allowance for this.
Well if there is any difference - and I think it would have to be a
hell of a wind to make any difference in the first place - it is
actually factored into the going allowance automatically if you
think about it.

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WINNING USING THE RATINGS

The good thing about speed ratings is that they are used less
frequently by punters here in the UK. This means that they are not
factored into bookmaker’s odds to the same extent as other
ratings.
Therefore those who do use them correctly can gain a definite
edge over other punters and value prices in many of the bets that
they place
A genuinely high speed figure represents a fast performance
irrespective of the conditions on the day, but one high speed
figure should not be taken as evidence that the horse can run to
this level every time, however if the horse in question has run only
a couple of times a very good speed rating can often be relied
upon.
Backing the top rated or top three rated horses is a good place to
start and from these many good winners will be found.
The Inform Racing top rated horses win an average of 24% of the
time, nearly one in every four races and the top three rated win
over 50% of all races so if you want a quick method of narrowing
down the field then this is certainly as good a place to start as any.
The top rated horses are taken from the Master column and if you
bear in mind that this is simply the best rating for each runner
from the last 12 months, irrespective of the course, distance and
going where the rating was achieved and we can still achieve
these excellent strike rates, then I’m sure you can see how
successful you can be if you take a little time to look a little deeper
into the ratings.

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By weeding out those that shouldn’t be winning or by following

some of the patterns we suggest that you look out for you will
soon see some improvement in your betting
For example, speed ratings will highlight horses to you that the
general punting public will not be looking at. Horses that ran
down the field in fifth or worse perhaps but still ran a good speed
rating will largely be ignored but these horses are a real potent
source of winning bets, especially if they are one of the top three
rated horses last time out too.
In fact the last time out figure (Lto), or latest rating for the horse is
often considered to be the most relevant rating as it shows the
current form of the horse, its well being and how fit it is,
especially when the rating was from a recently run race.
As you can already see when used properly, speed ratings can
help make a very positive impact to the fortunes of the shrewd
punter.
“I have tried about everything on the market and nothing
compares to the accuracy of the ratings. This is now going to be
my only source of information regardless. Week in week out the
ratings remain constant. I will definitely be renewing my
membership when my subscription expires.” Malcolm

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The overall picture

Ideally you need more than just one single speed figure to give an
overall picture of how the horse gained its ratings over the past
year or from its full career.

This will give a far clearer picture and allow you to see whether
the horse has preferences for a particular type of going, specific
courses, field sizes, length of time between runs, class levels and
race distances to name a few factors.

Some sites only provide one figure but it is helpful to have a full
database of speed ratings which stretch back over at least one
season for them to be most useful.

Inform Racing provide the full career ratings for every horse
running and a quick check can be done on a whole race or even a
meeting in a matter of minutes.

Having a full set of speed ratings will enable you to see if there are
any patterns in the horse's speed ratings and will make your
decision on whether to back the horse much more informed and
more valuable.

In some races it will be relatively easy to separate the contenders

from the non-contenders, but in other races you will not be able
to separate them no matter what you do.

You will find there are just too many horses in the race that are
capable of running similar figures, or you have over the half the
race within two or three for their Master rating.

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You can look for one that stands out on its latest rating, or try to
separate them using the better jockey or trainer or some other
method but there is no shame, indeed it is good practice, to give
the race a miss.

If you can use the speed ratings to regularly narrow a race down
to three or four horses and have the winner from these in around
half the races that you bet on, you will be well on your way to
making consistent profits from your betting!

In fact I challenge you to do just this over the next week or two
and see how many winners you come up with from your shortlist.

Are you up for the challenge?

It is an excellent way to practice discipline and to learn more

about the speed ratings at the same time and doing this will only
benefit you and your betting bank in the long run.

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Form Cycles
Sometimes unusually high or low ratings will be hard to explain
but in many cases the horse is simply going through its normal
form cycle. These form cycles, which are many and varied, can be
uncovered through deeper analysis of the speed ratings.

You will find among mature horses that improving speed ratings
will highlight a horse coming into peak form, despite what the
actual form figures look like.

Recent speed figures of 68, 72, 76 show a horse who is improving

by ratings even if the finishing positions were 5th then 6th then 8th.

If time allows, analysing the overall pattern of a horse combined

with a deeper look at how each rating was achieved will give you
some amazing insights into the form, how the horse is likely to run
and some excellent betting opportunities too, often in races that
would normally be left alone on first inspection.

Occasionally you will find a horse you think is ready to cycle back
up to or close to its best ever rating in the same race as a very
short priced favourite with high recent ratings but who is unlikely
to run up to its best due to the race conditions perhaps and this
can make for a very lucrative betting opportunity.

In fact, I can often spot a false favourite a mile away using the
ratings and this gives me a value edge on the other runners in the
race.

Those who take the the time to understand the ratings and how
each horses patterns and cycles evolve will uncover one value bet

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after another. These bets won't always win but they will win often
enough to make you a profit.

PACE AND RUN STYLE FIGURES

Is the pace of the race, or how the race will unfold an important
part?

Well the answer is yes and to help you see just how the race is
likely to unfold, Inform Racing provides Run Style Figures for every
runner and this number shows how a horse ran in the early part of
a race.

We take the in running comments and turn this into a number

that shows a 1 if the horse led or was prominent, a 2 if it ran
behind the leaders, a 3 if it ran in midfield and a 4 if it was held up
or slowly away.

A race where you have just one likely front runner, a horse with a
majority of 1’s and maybe the odd 2, running against horses with
mostly or all 3’s and 4’s, is likely to suit this one horse.

If you have more than one of these front running horses then they
are likely to make it a fast pace and this can suit the held up
horses much more because the front runners are going to take
each other on, run too fast too early and burn themselves out,
allowing the horses who started out the back at a steadier pace to
come through and win.

On the race card the R/S column gives the most likely run style
figure for each horse so you can see at a glance how each horse
will be positioned in the race.
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You can also see all Run Style Figures on the form pop up box, the
form guide or In Depth Form Tables too.

If you find a top or highly rated horse that is either a lone front
runner or the only horse likely to be held up then you have an
excellent bet as the ratings suggest a good horse and the pace of
the race that is likely to suit.

Most talented punters and professionals in this country are very

adept and skilful with speed ratings and is something you want to
aim to be too.

As you have seen there are many ways to use the ratings
depending on what time you have available.

Not only is this a fascinating subject but it will also give you a very
positive betting edge over other punters and a profit to your
betting.

“Ian, I’m speechless for a change, I’ve been around the punting
block a few times over the last 4 decades and I’m doing my best to
keep a calm level head about your ratings. In a nutshell I’m
mightily impressed thank you.” Neil
“Even though I have only been a client of yours for a short while I
was a customer in the past and I have to say that I cannot
understand why I ever left you.” George
” Congratulations on making Many Clouds clear top rated, winner
of the Grand National at 25-1. Totally unconsidered by the ‘expert
tipsters’. Keep up the good work.” David

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12 Months Discount Subscription Offer

You can join today for a full year at just £150 and continue to pay
that amount each year thereafter unless you decide to cancel.
12 months discount offer here >> >>
The benefits of a 12 month subscription:
✓ Access ratings for over 9,000 races every year.
✓ Big priced winners from the top 3 rated every week.
✓ Quick view race stats, full form guides, advanced search
feature and more - read the form quicker than ever before.
✓ Join for 12 months and use Inform Racing just when required.
Dip in and out to gain the information you need, when you
need it, or access the ratings and form every day.
✓ Unlimited access to the System Builder
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✓ Ratings posted before 6pm the night before.
Start today and let speed ratings become your new winning edge!
“I couldn’t bet without your superb ratings which help me find big
priced winners on a daily basis. Inform Racing really is the secret
to value!” Darren
12 months discount offer here >> >>
Remember, it’s only 150 today and the same for each subsequent
year that you continue as a member – Excellent deal now!

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