How To Read A Harness Racing Program

Standardbred harness horse racing is not quite as popular as thoroughbred horse racing, but it can be just as or even more exciting! The betting process is nearly identical with the only difference being that the better must take into account different information. And all this information can be found on a harness racing program. This program contains the information about that day’s race, horses, and drivers as well as stats from the horses’ previous races. Understanding how to read a harness racing program correctly can mean the difference between walking away a winner or a l**** (we don’t like to say the “L” word). At AmWager, we want everyone to be a winner, which is why we have put together this easy to read guide on how to read a greyhound racing program.

Want to learn how to read other racing programs?
Click over to our other guides!

How To Read A Greyhound Racing Program

Standardbred Horse Racing: How To Read a Program

A harness racing program, or also called a Standardbred racing program, can be broken down into two key sections;

1. Information about today’s race
2. Details about the horses’ past performance

We took an example program and labeled each section so you can better understand how to read a harness racing program and be ready for race day.

Information About Today’s Race

A	Distance of the Race
B	Race Number – The Race Number indicates the order that race will run for the day.
C	Track Name – Designates the track where the race is run.
D	Track Name – Designates the track where the race is run.
E	Purse of the Race
F	TRA Saddle Cloth Color – Indicates the color cloth the horse will have under his saddle. The saddle cloth will also display the program number of the horse.
G	Horse number in race
H	Owner(s) and address
I	Horse’s name
J	Race Day Medication – Indicates if the horse is running with Lasix or special equipment. L – Lasix, B- Bute, b – blinkers, f – front bandages
K	Horse’s color, gender, age and bloodlines
L	Breeder
M	Trainer with summary of starts, wins, seconds, thirds & Universal Rating
N	Driver with summary of starts, wins, seconds, thirds, Universal Rating, driving colors, weight and class of driving license
O	Estimated Odds and Claiming Price
P	Best Races
Q	Current Year Record, Previous Year Record, and Lifetime Record
R	Starts
S	Win
T	Place
U	Show
V	Speed/Class Rating

Details About The Horses’ Past Performance

1	Date of past performance
2	Track where horse raced and race number
3	Course Conditions – Shows the condition of the track for that race. (Some horses will perform better over a wet track than they will a fast track. Look to see what conditions a horse does well or bad over)
4	Purse & Class
5	Distance
6	Horse’s individual fractional times for each 1/4 mile
7	Horses post position
8	Horse’s position at 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, and top of stretch with lengths behind leader and ‘outs’ to indicate horse raced outside of other horses
9	Finish position and margin
10	Horse’s final quarter
11	Horses’s personal time for the race
12	Odds at post-time
13	Medication/Equipment – Indicates if the horse ran with Lasix or special equipment. L – Lasix, B- Bute, b – blinkers, f – front
14	Driver
15	First three finishers and Number of Horses in Race

Turning The Corner To A Betting Victory

While Standardbred harness horse racing is different from the more popular Thoroughbred horse racing, you can still walk away with a big win if you know what you’re doing.

Understanding how to read a harness racing program is critical to placing a smart bet.

We hope this helpful guide makes you bet with a little more confidence. If you are anxious to place your first, tenth, or 100th bet, head on over to AmWager’s online betting platform.

We wish you happy (and lucky) betting!