The horses are listed from top to bottom in the predicted running order.  Races are scored for the scheduled racing surface.  Factors used in scoring  races are speed, class, conditions, day intervals between starts, weight carried, distance/surface record, jockey/trainer record, purses/claiming prices, ascending/descending beyers, change of rider,  changes in equipment/medication, and workout times/rankings.  But, by design, I keep it simple and readable.  At a quick glance, you can analyze a race with respect to the class of the field, and the abundance or lack of early speed. 

Race Heading:

Horse detail:   

* C - equipment or mediation change (b: blinkers on, -b: blinkers off, L: first time lasix), A - age, S - sex, Brd - state bred, Sire - cumulative rankings of the sire and sire's sire (top), and dam's sire (bottom), in the category that applies to today's race. This ranking is based on earnings of the top 500 sires of North American thoroughbreds in each of these five categories - turf, sprint, mile, route, and all-weather (for main tracks with synthetic surfaces).  The rankings are in the category corresponding to today's scheduled surface and distance.  The lower the number, the higher the ranking.  To get a excellent ranking in this column, a horse must be be well bred, top and bottom. Horses by sires not ranked in the top 500 will have no number in this column.   If a horse is entered for the 'main track only' in a turf race, the sire ranking for main track will be displayed. I find these sire rankings helpful in handicapping maiden and turf races.  First time starters can often be handicapped based solely on this statistic.   

** This number can be useful when considering maiden and condition races.  For example, a horse with 42 lifetime starts is usually not a good bet if he hasn't broken his maiden yet.  I favor lightly raced horses in Mdn, MSW, N2L, N3L, and N4L (maiden claiming, maiden special weight, and non-winners of X lifetime races).  The better horses usually clear their conditions early in their career.

*** the difference in lengths between the estimated first and second quarters.  It's a simple calculation that is used for each horse to build the +/- column as a whole. Compare a horse's pace difference to that of the entire field.  The formula is: [(Q1 - (H - Q1)) * 5] where Q1 is the 1st quarter and H is the half mile.  For example, a horse with  fractions of :22-0 :46-0 gets a (-10) pace difference because, at 5 horse lengths per second, he runs the second quarter 10 lengths slower than the first.  A horse that runs :24-0 :48-0  gets a (0) pace difference because he runs the second quarter in exactly the same time as the first.  So, a horse with :25-0 :49-0 gets a (+5).  This is NOT an indication of total speed.  It merely gives a indication of running style with respect to the first two quarters of a race. I use this column to determine how much early speed is in the race.  A race with all positive numbers in this column has no true front-runners.  Conversely, a race with all negative numbers in this column has no true closers.  This is where we find lone speed and lone closers, although most races have no significant bias one way or another.