Form

After determining the effective grade, the handicapper must find out about their most recent performances. The career of all athletes both human and canine, have both peaks and troughs. The performance of a dog in a previous race is often a sound indicator of its likely performance in the next. At the track, this is referred to as recent form.

Low-grade dogs: This category tends to be consistently average and recent form is often not the best indicator of how they will do next. Although they occasionally win, success is usually down to favourable conditions. It is best to judge this category of dogs by factors such as their running style or whether they start from a favourable box.

Hi grade dogs: The recent form of these animals is essential in determining future progress and is used by all good handicappers. Form is temporary but often fairly cyclical – in the absence of external factors, most dogs will tend to drift in and out of form rather than having extremely erratic results.

Dogs dropping in grade: Arguably the best scenario for using recent form is when it is applied to a dog that has dropped a class, and suddenly rediscovers the edge that it has over others in that class – the reason it was previously promoted in the first place.

Dogs rising in grade: You should not normally be betting on dogs that have gone up a grade until they have established themselves as being able to compete at that level.

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