Horse Racing

[Tyrion44]

Looking at the race cards in the Daily Mail for the 2.40 at Newcastle yesterday I saw that many of the horses had their form figures ending with a #. Can anyone explain what this means please. Many thanks.

[AuntLydia]

It means they have no form for this season. Common at this time of the year for NH

[Tyrion44]

Thank you. I have never noticed it being used before.

[AuntLydia]

Thanks for the best answer. I've only seen the hashtag symbol a few times, they normally have a dash to indicate previous season form, or a forward slash if the form is from more than a season ago.

[Ken4155]

Never seen the # used for this purpose? Tyrion, when you say 'many of the horses' do you mean just 3 of the 11 runners - there were only 3 making their seasonal appearances. If so, AuntLydia is more than likely correct and it may just be a 'Daily Mail' thing. If there were more, it must indicate something else.

[angie55]

I don't think it does actually. One of the horses, Getaway Gerry, with # against it had run on 13 Oct and 3 Nov, so clearly this horse has current form. Sorry I can't find out what the # means but will keep looking. I did see the # against other runners not just at Newcastle on Saturday. Have also looked at Racing Post and Timeform form guides, but they don't use the #.

[angie55]

I think I've cracked it. All the horses with # in the form column, their previous race was in a NH Flat Race. I suppose it's trying to make sure the previous form is not misleading as the races these horses ran in on Saturday were hurdle races.

[-Talbot-]

The hash-tag means the horse has a Twitter account.

[sunny-dave]

Neigh, neigh and thrice neigh, Talbot ...

[Spicerack]

Wind operation since last run?
This is the first season they have to be reported.

[BANANASPLITS]

It's to tell you that the # horse can sing#

[jno]

I don't know when they have time to run/jump, Banana

http://www.dennyweb.com/singing_horses.htm

[Ken4155]

Angie55 @ 12:42. That seems a reasonable explanation. The Mirror did something similar a few years back, highlighting those horses who usually ran well after a lay off.

[Spicerack]

There should be an index with the racecard explaining what the various symbols stand for.

[Ken4155]

They're only printed every so often, spice, not every day.

[Tyrion44]

Than you everybody. I rarely look at the Daily Mail and was just surprised to see the #.