Horse Racing Structure

Most casual horse racing fans and those new to horse racing handicapping tend to think all races are the same. Some horses are lined up and run to the finish. If you are going to engage in horse racing handicapping, it’s vital to know not only the difference in race types, but also how they stack in a hierarchal sense. Horse racing is the same as many other sports—you have the major leagues and several levels below them. A horse may run at many levels over the course of its lifetime and during that lifetime it may move up and down many times. Following is a listing of horse racing types (also known as “Class”), listed in the order of their level—from lowest to highest.

Maiden Claiming

When a horse has not won a race, it is a maiden. In a maiden claiming race, all horses racing have never won a single race and all horses running can be claimed. This is the lowest class of horse racing and typically accounts for about 15% of all horse races. Maiden Claiming races typically start around the $3,00 level and go up from there.

Maiden Special Weight

Next up is maiden special weight. All the races in this class feature horses that have never won a race, but they can’t be claimed. Additionally, many maiden special weight races have special restrictions, such as locally bred horses only.

Claiming Race

Claiming races can be considered the bread and butter of the horse racing world, because they account for about half of all horse races. Horses running in claiming races have won before. Claiming races can also feature, for better or worse, horses from upper levels. For example, if a horse was at a higher level, but has slowed, that horse might be run at a Claiming race so the current owner can sell off that horse. Claiming races are run at all different levels, from $2,000 on up. The amount is determined by the track. A major track, like Del Mar, will typically have claiming races on the high end of the scale.

Allowance Race

The next level up is the allowance race. Allowance races have various levels—N1X, N2X, N3X and N4X. In an N1X allowance race, all horses must have not won an allowance race before. In other words, the horse can only have won at the previous levels. In a N2X allowance race, all the horses have only won once at the allowance level. As you might guess, N3X is for winners of not more than two allowance races and N4X is for winners of not more than three allowance races.

Stakes Races

Stakes races are the major leagues of horse racing. Stakes races have three different classes: Grade I, Grade II and Grade III. The difference between Grade I and Grade III is night an day. A true Grade I horse is far superior to a Grade III horse. This is important to know when you are handicapping stakes races. For example, if a horse is running a Grade I race that has struggled at Grade II or Grade III, the odds of that horse winning the Grade I race is slim to none.

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