North American Model Thoroughbred Owners' and Breeders' Association

How a Racemeet is Run

All races are assigned to volunteers by the racing secretary (Ashley Getsay). If you would like to hold races for the following year, you must let Ashley know. In order to hold a racemeet, the prospective meet holder must have participated actively as a member of NAMTOBA for at least a year. Once the minimum requirement has been met, the member becomes a meet holder on a trial basis, such as 2-3 meets for the first year.

Should the new meet holder experience difficulty beyond reasonable expectations, the remainder of the meets will be re-assigned to more experienced meet holders. Such difficulties may include a lengthy delay (> 45 days) in posting results, loss of regular internet access, and numerous mistakes. Should a meet holder experience a family or personal emergency and cannot hold the meet, please notify Ashley Getsay and she will re-assign that meet only.

The racing schedule is posted to the list prior to the commencement of the racing season in Word or RTF format. Race meets may be edited after the season has started, but no more meets can be added. A few important racing schedule abbreviations: "f" immediately following a number refers to furlong. A furlong is 1/8 of a mile, so a mile race is 8f. "T" means turf, as opposed to dirt. "f/m" is fillies and mares, "f" following an age refers to fillies (ex. 3yof is a race for 3yo fillies); c/g is colts and geldings. "St." or "S" means stakes. "H" or "Hcp" means Handicap.

The chronological way in which a meet is run starts with the meet holder receiving entries via email (or in case of email problems, the Yahoo Groups list). Once the meet holder reaches the meet date, the meet holder posts to the list members from whom they've received entries. This is a good way to make sure bouncing e-mails don't prohibit horses from running each week.

Next, the meet holder will sort entries into their appropriate races, making sure that each race is evenly matched, and with enough entries. If (according to the rules below) there are enough entries in a race, the field may be split.

After horses are moved into their appropriate races, the meet holder will determine and assign pre-race points. All meet holders use the same pre-race point system, followed by a luck draw or dice rolling, whichever method is prefered by the meet holder. Pre-race points are based on two factors: past performance and pedigree. Meet holders determine point value from the information on a horse's racecard. The scales used for both past performance and pedigree points are below:

For any horse that is a champion in his own right, add 1 point to the pre-race total.

• Sire's Series stakes races fall under the non-graded stakes category.
• Previous race records and championships from other racing organizations (such as The Express, MRF, etc.) are not eligible for past performance points.
• Placing denotes a 1-2-3 finish in any race.

For any horse racing on a surface that is does NOT prefer, subtract 3 points from the pre-race total. If the surface is off, please email the group when you post the entrants/post positions so entrants may scratch their horses as needed. Please denote any horses scratched in the final results at the end of each race.

In addition to the points, many meet holders find training notes helpful when providing feedback about how a horse performs. Providing notes about past runnings (such as being blocked behind horses, having slop in the face, slipped out of the gate), training problems (spooks easily) and solutions to improve placings (outfitted with blinkers/tongue-tie, etc) might make giving race notes easier.

Another tip that makes performance easier to understand is running style. A horse who is a noted closer who runs poorly might have ended up on a fast lead and run out of steam, or a stalker might have been stuck behind horses and unable to get around to make a move. These are suggested tips for training and racing notes.

When adding trainer's notes to racecards, however, make sure they follow the format suggested on the How to Enter A Racemeet page. Owners who's entries do not follow the suggested guidlines will be asked to modify said entry to an acceptable format. Failure to modify cards after a warning may result in a loss of pre-race points for the owner's horses.

Using all of this information, a meet holder would tally the following entry for the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby in the following way:

Race: G1 Kentucky Derby
Enter: John's Pony-2002 b. g. by Hot Sire x Sweet Mare, Great Grand Sire
o/t/b: owner j: jockey
NAMTOBA Reg #12345
Race record: 30(21) 12(9)-10(8)-4(2) (3G1W)
Last out: 3rd G1 Santa Anita Derby. (this is for handicapping purposes)
Pedigree notes: please keep this to no more than 2 lines. By the sire of 4 Chs, dam has produced 2 GSWs.
Surface preferences: dislikes soggy turf.
Training notes: please keep this to no more that 2 lines.

Notes on the race card:

• Entrants - Please list ONLY the highest race type the horse has won or placed in. This is to avoid confusion for meet holders. For example: if the horse has won 7 G2 races and 1 G1 stakes, please list this as '1G1W'.
• Meet holders - please do NOT put a horse's NAMTOBA registration number in the results.
• Surface preference - you do NOT have to list a preference for 2yos as you may not have run in enough races to determine this. Preferences are to be gleaned from prior race results and under what conditions the race was held. The track condition is to be found at the top of EVERY set of race results.

From reading the entry card, we see that John's Pony is a 3x (three time) Grade 1 stakes winner. The meet holder would assign him 8 points. Reading the pedigree notes, we see that his sire has sired 4 Chs. The meet holder would assign him 3 points. John's Pony's dam has also produced 2 GSWs, so he would get 2 additional pedigree points for her. He gets no points for his dam because she has not produced 3 or more SW (stakes winners). John's Pony doesn't like soggy turf, so you would subtract 3 points when he runs on it. But for this example, it is run on dirt, and we'll say it is a fast track, so he will not lose any points.

Therefore, the pre-race total for John's Pony would be 13 points.

When a meet holder tallies pre-race points, it is very helpful to state the information clearly, and according to the point scale to receive the maximum amount of points possible. Listing a horse as "MG2SW" (Multi-Grade 2 stakes winner) will not get as many points (7) as stating "5x G2SW" (5-time Grade 2 stakes winner)(See above).

The final part of running the racemeet is the luck points. Meet holders may use whatever style of assigning luck points is easiest, whether that be randomly drawing numbers from a hat, rolling multiple dice or using a random-number generating computer program. Luck points are random, which helps to create the unpredictability in horseracing. Once a rank or order has been assigned, points are assigned. They are assigned according to the following scale:

Points may be assigned once or multiple times, depending on the preference of the meet holder, but always according to the scale.

Luck points are added to the pre-race point total to achieve a final total. Once that total has been figured for all entrants in a race, horses are ranked highest to lowest, determining the order of finish.

Understanding race meet results can be confusing, as each meet holder produces results in a slightly different format. However, there are several factors that help determine what might have gone right or wrong for a horse when reading results.

First, results are always emailed to the NAMTOBA mailing list, and also uploaded to the website for future reference. As a general rule, results are posted one to two weeks from the date the meet is held, unless a meet holder expresses a reason for delay.

Second, results are in the same race order as listed on the schedule. If allowances are split to accommodate large fields, a title such as "Sec A" or other restrictions may follow the title of the race. Results use a "Win-Place-Show" system, corresponding to first through third placings. The value of the race is split between first through fourth places, according to the following general breakdowns:

In addition to purse breakdown, the initials of the owner of the horse may follow the name of the horse. Meet holders will generally list entrants and the abbreviations used for their horses at either the begining or end of the results. This is to make sure all horses were properly entered, and to see which members race which horses.

Other optional components of racemeet results include time, margins and notes. Each of these components are important, and provide useful information.

• Time. Times for races are helpful for horses that might have "run out of steam" during the race. Was the pace too fast? Was the horse too close to the lead? Perhaps the pace was too fast and the race too short. This information can be used to find the right niche for your horse.
• Margins. Many meet holders use the point differences between horses to determine how many lengths are between horses at the wire. Many times, if there is a very large margin between your horse and the horse in front of him, it is indicitive of his pre-race point total. If a horse wins by 3 or 4 lengths, he most likely had a high pre-race total and received a high luck point value as well. If a horse runs poorly, placing low in the field by 3 or 4 lengths to his opponent, he was probably outclassed in previous experience, and should be moved to a lower level of stakes or to an allowance.
• Notes. Notes are helpful, but not always included in the sake of getting results out in a timely manner. Notes might reveal that a horse was spooked and didnt perform his best, or that he didn't like the track condition. Notes also reveal field position, which can many times make or break a horse. Different meet holders may do notes in different styles-don't be afraid to privately e-mail the meet holder to ask for further explanation as to why a horse performed the way he did.

Using this information, you might read racemeet results like this:

After entering a racemeet and waiting for the results to see your horse place either higher or lower than expectations, what is the next step? After each performance it is important to evaluate why the horse performed the way he did, and to look forward on the schedule to select his next start. If he placed lower than expected, perhaps a drop in stakes level or another allowance is in order. If he placed higher or won his race, another start at the same level or a move up in class might be in order.

Remember, just like any hobby NAMTOBA takes time and dedication to become succesful. Horses from experienced and proven stock are likely to become succesful before horses who's parents are unproven. By carefully learning about Thoroughbred Racing in real life and asking careful questions to experienced NAMTOBA members, success is likely and NAMTOBA is an enjoyable experience!