Harness Race Card
A harness race card is a printed program containing details about a horse race meeting. It usually lists the scheduled races, the names of the horses, and other pertinent race information. A harness race card helps bettors make an informed betting choice.
Symbols and Abbreviations
Track Conditions
- f - fast
- sy - sloppy
- gd - good
- hy - heavy
- sl - slow
- my - muddy
Horse's Sex
- f - filly
- h - horse
- c - colt
- m - mare
- g - gelding
- rig - ridgling
Horse's Colour
- B - bay
- Ch - chestnut
- Blk - black
- Gr - grey
- Br - brown
- Ro - roan
Race Class Examples
- Cnd - condition unavailable at printing time
- 3000clm - $3,000 claiming
- Nw2000L6 - non-winners of $2,000 in last 6 starts
- Nw12000L - non-winners of $12,000 lifetime
- Nw2pm - non-winners of 2 pari-mutuel races
- W5001 - winners over $5,000
- Hc - handicap race
- Op4000clm - optional claiming $4,000
- Qualifier - qualifying race
- Qualifier-t&p - qualifying race for totters and pacers
- Qualifier-h&d - qualifying race for horse and driver
- ec - early closing
- lc - late closing
- Ffa - Free for All
Finish Information Symbols
- ns - nose
- dh - dead heat
- hd - head
- (dnf) - did not finish
- nk - neck
- p - placed
- dis - distanced over 35 lengths
- behind winner
- dq - disqualified after race was declared official
Wagering Information Symbols
- * - favourite
- NB - no betting
- f - field
- NR - not reported
- e - entry
- bar - barred
Types of Race Wagers
Win - You are a winner if your horse is the winner of the race.
Place - If your horse finishes first or second, you are a winner.
Show - If your horse finishes first, second, or third you are a winner.
Across the Board - If you want to bet one horse to win, place, and show, you may simplify the bet by telling the mutuel clerk that you wish to wager, for example, "$2 across the board on No. 4." That's the same as asking for a $2 win, $2 place, and $2 show on No. 4.
Daily Double - A wager calling for the selection of the winning horses in two designated races. Most racetracks offer a daily double on the first and second races. If you bet a "2-6" daily double, No. 2 must win the first race and No. 6 must win the second.
Exacta (or Perfecta) - A wager calling for a selection of the first and second horses in a race, in their exact order of finish. If you bet a "3-4" exacta, No. 3 must win and No. 4 must finish second.
Trifecta (or Triple) - You must select the first, second, and third horses in a race, in their exact order of finish.
Pick Three - You win by selecting the winners of three designated races. You can select more than one horse in each race, but the cost of your wager will increase proportionally. Also called the daily triple.
Pick Six - Not an easy task to select the winners of six consecutive races, but the payoff is usually very large depending on the number of bettors who can correctly select this winning combination.