Calculating the effective grade

This is undoubtedly the most important aspect of handicapping and is achieved through the study of programs. Using the last 12 races, you must try and figure out which dogs have the most class. It is difficult to track a dog’s progress using just the last 6 races. The analysis of 12 races will provide a much more comprehensive picture of whether the dog is likely to do well.

Even though dogs move up a grade when they win, and drop a grade when they are out of form, they always tend to gravitate towards the grade in which they show the most consistency - this is referred to as their effective grade. When they are running at a lower grade than they are effective at and are on their way back to showing form, they are always worth betting on.

The fist step in determining an animal’s effective grade is by highlighting each grade where a dog finished in the top three in its last 12 races. (Always save your programs !!!)

When you have completed highlighting the grades, use the following chart to decide how many points a top-three finish receives.

For alphabetical grading systems:

Grade Points
A = 5
B = 4
C = 3
D = 2
E = 1

Then simply place the grade point score to the right of all highlighted grades. After this, add up the total points and divide by the total number of grades that you highlighted.

By using the following chart you will now be able to effectively determine the effective grade of each dog in the race:

Average points Effective grade

4.73 – 5.00 =      A +
4.46 – 4.72 =      A
4.20 – 4.45 =      A -
3.92 – 4.19 =      B +
3.66 – 3.91 =      B
3.40 – 3.65 =      B -
3.12 – 3.39 =      C +
2.86 – 3.11 =      C
2.60 – 2.85 =      C -
2.32 – 2.59 =      D +
2.06 – 2.31 =      D
1.80 – 2.05 =      D -
1.52 – 1.79 =      E +
1.26 – 1.51 =      E
1.00 – 1.25 =      E-

You should mark this effective grade next to the greyhound’s form on the guide.

For numerical grading systems:

1 = 9
2 = 8
3 = 7
4 = 6
5 = 5
6 = 4
7 = 3
8 = 2
9 = 1

Average points Effective grade

8.70 – 9.00 =      9 +
8.40 – 8.69 =      9
8.10 – 8.39 =      9 -
7.81 – 8.09 =      8 +
7.51 – 7.80 =      8
7.21 – 7.50 =      8 -
6.92 – 7.20 =      7 +
6.62 – 6.91 =      7
6.32 – 6.61 =      7 -
6.03 – 6.31 =      6 +
5.73 – 6.02 =      6
5.43 – 5.72 =      6 -
5.13 – 5.42 =      5 +
4.84 – 5.12 =      5
4.54 – 4.83 =      5 -
4.24 – 4.53 =      4 +
3.94 – 4.23 =      4
3.65 – 3.93 =      4 -
3.35 – 3.64 =      3 +
3.05 – 3.34 =      3
2.76 – 3.04 =      3 -
2.48 – 2.75 =      2 +
2.18 – 2.47 =      2
1.89 – 2.17 =      2 -
1.59 – 1.88 =      1 +
1.30 – 1.58 =      1
1.00 – 1.29 =      1 -

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