Abbreviations

By Timeform — published 5th February 2014

A guide to the symbols you'll find in Race Passes and Timeform Race Cards

Abbreviations

The following symbols are used with (or sometimes in place of) Timeform Ratings.

p	commonly referred to as a small 'p'; the horse is likely to improve
P	commonly referred to as a large 'P'; the horse is capable of much better
+	the horse may be better than rated
?	the rating is suspect or (used alone) the horse is out of form or cannot be assessed with confidence
§	the 'Timeform squiggle'; the horse is unreliable (for temperamental or other reasons)
§§	the 'double squiggle'; the horse is so unsatisfactory as to be not worth a rating
x	a poor jumper
xx	so bad a jumper as to be not worth a rating

You will also find the following In-Play symbols used in Race Passes.

Start
1	led/disputed lead
2	prominent/close up
3	mid-division
4	towards rear
5	behind
S	very slowly away
s	slowly away
O	badly outpaced
o	badly outpaced
Mid
K	travelled notably strongly
k	travelled comfortably
L	raced very lazily
l	raced lazily/went in snatches
P	pulled very hard
p	pulled hard
J	jumped very well
j	jumped well
xx	made numerous mistakes
x	made mistakes
End
F	found nothing
f	found less than seemed likely
I	idled markedly
i	idled
R	responded really well to pressure
r	responded to pressure
§	signs of temperament
§§	marked reluctance

Equipment carried abbreviations are as follows.

b	blinkers
es	eyeshield
h	hood
s	(sheepskin) cheekpieces
t	tongue tie
v	visor

In addition, the following abbreviations are used.

3 b.c.	means three-year-old bay colt. You may also see br (brown), ch (chestnut), gr (grey) or ro (roan), and h (horse), g (gelding), f (filly) or m (mare).
p8.1g	In Flat racing form figures: the surface if not turf (f - fibresand; p - polytrack; t - tapeta; a - any other artificial surface), the distance (in furlongs to the nearest tenth of a furlong), and the going (as returned by Timeform). The going abbreviations are h (hard), f (firm or fast), m (good to firm), g (good or standard), d (dead), s (soft or slow) and v (heavy)
c24v	In jumps racing form figures: c (steeplechase), h (hurdle) and b (bumper/National Hunt Flat race), followed by the distance rounded to the nearest furlong and the going as for Flat racing. Bumpers run on any all-weather surface are prefaced with 'a'.
G1	Group/Grade 1. Similarly G2 (Group/Grade 2), G3 (Group/Grade 3), L (Listed), W (weight-for-age/conditions), M (maiden). N (novice), S (seller), C (claiming event), A (amateurs event). Where a number appears in the ratings summary, rather than a letter, this is the BHB mark off which the horse ran in a handicap.
TRW	Timeform Ratings of Winners. The weight-adjusted Timeform rating that the winner of the race has achieved in each of the last five years.
TWFA	Timeform weight-for-age. Timeform race ratings are adjusted to 12-7 (jumps) or 10-0 (Flat) unless shown. So, in a Flat race, TWFA 4 9-13, 3 8-12 indicates that ratings for 3-y-os are adjusted to 8 stone 12 lb and for 4-y-os to 9 stone 13 lb. Any older horses would have their ratings adjusted to 10 stone.
*	in form figures indicates 'won'. Other superior figures indicate finishing position (2nd - 6th). Letters used include F (fell), pu (pulled up), ur (unseated rider), bd (brought down), r (refused), su (slipped up), ro (ran out) and co (carried out).

Sectional timing abbreviations

Closing sectional (3f): 38.85s (99.7%)

Race Reporter sectionals showing this distance from which the sectional was taken (in this example 3f out), the time taken to complete this section of the race—rounded to the nearest 0.05s on the Flat and the nearest 0.1s over jumps—and the finishing speed (as a percentage). In past performance records individual finishing speed is sometimes abbreviated to FS%.

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