Home / Stats & Records / Weight-for-age
LiveFree dataUpdated after every racing day

Weight-for-age: young horses against their elders

How 3yos do against older horses in all-aged Flat races by month, distance and handicap status, and 4yos and 5yos against older horses in open hurdles, with strike rate The current season rows update after every racing day.

season rows update daily · Results to 18 October 2026 · Refreshed 19 October 2026
986
All-aged Flat wins by 3yos this year

Go deeper before the next race.

Open every racecard in full and get your research done before they go to post.

  • 14racecard tabs per race
  • 20+bookmaker prices side by side
  • Trackeralerts when your horses are declared

30-day free trial

£0today

Start my 30-day free trial

By continuing you agree to our Terms and Intellectual Property and Acceptable Use policy.

£0 today. Card on step 2. £24.99 from day 31.Cancel any time.

Key takeaways

  • 3yos win 11.2% of their runs in all-aged Flat races against 8.8% for older horses, though the 3yos are often shorter in the market.
  • The weight-for-age scale gives younger horses a weight allowance against older rivals that shrinks through the season, and the monthly tables show how results follow it.

4yos and 5yos v older horses in open hurdles, by month

May7.8%9.6%1,66313,57310.2%6,079
Jun7.7%10.4%1,3498,6619.1%3,710
Jul7.4%9.4%1,48910,5259.6%4,426
Aug9.0%8.9%1,6809,01710.0%4,209
Sep6.9%9.6%1,6157,82310.0%4,024
Oct7.4%9.2%3,24711,94611.8%7,442
Nov7.7%8.8%4,59013,83112.1%9,531
Dec7.4%7.9%4,77212,64912.1%9,066
Jan8.0%9.7%50113,3258.1%5,497
Feb8.5%10.1%67212,4728.9%5,296
Mar8.6%10.4%94614,5899.4%6,202
Apr9.2%9.4%1,27513,5839.1%5,749

Open hurdles = hurdle races whose runners included at least one 4yo or 5yo and at least one horse aged 6 or older, and no 3yos. British and Irish, 2016/17 to 2025/26, months in season order.

Additional research statistics and historical returns are in the RaceWatch app.

Go deeper before the next race.

Open every racecard in full and get your research done before they go to post.

  • 14racecard tabs per race
  • 20+bookmaker prices side by side
  • Trackeralerts when your horses are declared

30-day free trial

£0today

Start my 30-day free trial

By continuing you agree to our Terms and Intellectual Property and Acceptable Use policy.

£0 today. Card on step 2. £24.99 from day 31.Cancel any time.

4yos and 5yos v older horses by distance

Up to 2m4f7.9%9.4%20,71890,65410.1%52,781
Beyond 2m4f7.0%9.5%3,08151,34010.9%18,450

Same races, up to and including 2m4f v beyond, 2016/17 to 2025/26.

Additional research statistics and historical returns are in the RaceWatch app.

Go deeper before the next race.

Open every racecard in full and get your research done before they go to post.

  • 14racecard tabs per race
  • 20+bookmaker prices side by side
  • Trackeralerts when your horses are declared

30-day free trial

£0today

Start my 30-day free trial

By continuing you agree to our Terms and Intellectual Property and Acceptable Use policy.

£0 today. Card on step 2. £24.99 from day 31.Cancel any time.

4yos and 5yos v older horses, handicap and non-handicap hurdles

Non-handicap hurdles7.8%11.0%15,20243,03810.2%41,443
Handicap hurdles7.7%8.8%8,59798,95610.6%29,788

Same races, 2016/17 to 2025/26.

Additional research statistics and historical returns are in the RaceWatch app.

Go deeper before the next race.

Open every racecard in full and get your research done before they go to post.

  • 14racecard tabs per race
  • 20+bookmaker prices side by side
  • Trackeralerts when your horses are declared

30-day free trial

£0today

Start my 30-day free trial

By continuing you agree to our Terms and Intellectual Property and Acceptable Use policy.

£0 today. Card on step 2. £24.99 from day 31.Cancel any time.

4yos and 5yos v older horses by season

2016/179.4%9.2%2,21315,22810.8%6,827
2017/189.2%9.6%2,53513,83110.5%6,644
2018/198.5%8.9%2,52715,07710.8%7,717
2019/207.7%9.7%2,49411,91710.0%6,168
2020/216.0%8.8%2,15914,44910.0%7,017
2021/226.8%9.5%2,51015,66610.2%7,448
2022/237.0%9.6%2,39514,58610.7%7,596
2023/247.3%10.0%2,28513,7929.7%7,398
2024/257.8%9.6%2,37814,9999.9%7,581
2025/267.9%9.9%2,30312,44910.8%6,835
2026/27 to date9.1%9.4%9865,02010.5%2,751

One row per jumps season from 2016/17, current season to date.

Additional research statistics and historical returns are in the RaceWatch app.

Go deeper before the next race.

Open every racecard in full and get your research done before they go to post.

  • 14racecard tabs per race
  • 20+bookmaker prices side by side
  • Trackeralerts when your horses are declared

30-day free trial

£0today

Start my 30-day free trial

By continuing you agree to our Terms and Intellectual Property and Acceptable Use policy.

£0 today. Card on step 2. £24.99 from day 31.Cancel any time.

3yos v older horses in all-aged Flat races, by month

Jan12.0%8.7%1,5401,006
Feb13.8%7.4%1,447990
Mar11.6%7.8%2,1871,586
Apr11.8%7.0%3,2382,694
May11.5%7.9%5,6734,989
Jun11.8%8.8%10,31714,167
Jul12.6%9.5%15,40724,616
Aug11.9%9.4%17,40128,557
Sep10.9%8.6%18,92829,290
Oct9.7%8.1%18,95029,030
Nov10.2%8.4%9,53216,916
Dec10.2%9.2%7,92114,328

All-aged races = Flat races whose runners included at least one 3yo and at least one horse aged 4 or older, and no 2yos. British and Irish, turf and all-weather, 2016 to 2025.

Additional research statistics and historical returns are in the RaceWatch app.

Go deeper before the next race.

Open every racecard in full and get your research done before they go to post.

  • 14racecard tabs per race
  • 20+bookmaker prices side by side
  • Trackeralerts when your horses are declared

30-day free trial

£0today

Start my 30-day free trial

By continuing you agree to our Terms and Intellectual Property and Acceptable Use policy.

£0 today. Card on step 2. £24.99 from day 31.Cancel any time.

3yos v older horses by distance

5f to 6f10.1%9.4%28,82753,267
7f to 1m10.5%8.7%46,59260,007
9f to 12f12.6%8.2%32,90143,307
13f and further16.1%8.3%4,22111,588

Same races, by race distance band, 2016 to 2025.

Additional research statistics and historical returns are in the RaceWatch app.

Go deeper before the next race.

Open every racecard in full and get your research done before they go to post.

  • 14racecard tabs per race
  • 20+bookmaker prices side by side
  • Trackeralerts when your horses are declared

30-day free trial

£0today

Start my 30-day free trial

By continuing you agree to our Terms and Intellectual Property and Acceptable Use policy.

£0 today. Card on step 2. £24.99 from day 31.Cancel any time.

3yos v older horses, handicaps and non-handicaps

Non-handicaps11.5%8.9%42,82425,182
Handicaps11.0%8.8%69,717142,987

Same races, 2016 to 2025. In handicaps the allowance is already built into the weights.

Additional research statistics and historical returns are in the RaceWatch app.

Go deeper before the next race.

Open every racecard in full and get your research done before they go to post.

  • 14racecard tabs per race
  • 20+bookmaker prices side by side
  • Trackeralerts when your horses are declared

30-day free trial

£0today

Start my 30-day free trial

By continuing you agree to our Terms and Intellectual Property and Acceptable Use policy.

£0 today. Card on step 2. £24.99 from day 31.Cancel any time.

3yos v older horses by year

201612.0%8.6%10,54616,648
201712.4%8.1%10,97116,984
201811.7%8.5%11,26617,218
201911.1%8.4%11,44217,187
202010.6%8.2%11,12215,926
202111.0%8.9%12,30417,157
202210.4%9.4%11,41817,153
202310.8%9.1%11,30116,703
202411.3%9.2%10,80716,691
202510.9%9.3%11,36416,502
2026 to date11.5%9.0%8,56211,936

One row per Flat year from 2016, current year to date.

Additional research statistics and historical returns are in the RaceWatch app.

Go deeper before the next race.

Open every racecard in full and get your research done before they go to post.

  • 14racecard tabs per race
  • 20+bookmaker prices side by side
  • Trackeralerts when your horses are declared

30-day free trial

£0today

Start my 30-day free trial

By continuing you agree to our Terms and Intellectual Property and Acceptable Use policy.

£0 today. Card on step 2. £24.99 from day 31.Cancel any time.

Build your own splits

Members can build shortlists with Filter+ using 25+ race flags and track each filter's £1 SP profit and loss, next to racecards with RWS scores.

Start free trial

By continuing you agree to our Terms and Intellectual Property and Acceptable Use policy.

Do 3yos do well against older horses?

A figure near 1.00 means results match what the starting prices implied.

Which month is best for 3yos against older horses?

The monthly table and chart show every month with runs for both groups.

How were all-aged races identified?

An all-aged Flat race here is one whose runners included at least one 3yo and at least one horse aged four or older, and no 2yos. Open hurdles use the same method for 4yos and 5yos.

How do 4yo and 5yo hurdlers do against older horses?

The month, distance and handicap tables split the figures further.

Does distance change the picture?

Public racing records and results from Britain and Ireland.

Questions people ask

What is weight-for-age in horse racing?

Weight-for-age is an official scale that gives younger horses a weight allowance when they race against older horses. The allowance is largest early in the season and over longer distances, and it reduces as young horses mature.

Do 3yos win their share of all-aged races?

Their win rate is 11.2% against 8.8%.

Does the allowance apply in handicaps?

In all-aged handicaps younger horses still get the weight-for-age allowance, and it is included in the weights they are set to carry. The handicap tables split handicaps from non-handicaps so both can be compared.

How often is the weight-for-age page updated?

The current season rows refresh after every racing day from British and Irish results. The ten-season tables change when a season ends.

More free data

Mares' allowanceMares v geldings over jumps and fillies v colts on the Flat.Win rate by ageStrike rate by age for Flat and jumps runners.Weight changesHow horses do when their weight goes up or down.Win rate by rating bandResults by official rating band.Racing reportsMonthly reports and the annual review

Go deeper before the next race.

Open every racecard in full and get your research done before they go to post.

  • 14racecard tabs per race
  • 20+bookmaker prices side by side
  • Trackeralerts when your horses are declared

30-day free trial

£0today

Start my 30-day free trial

By continuing you agree to our Terms and Intellectual Property and Acceptable Use policy.

£0 today. Card on step 2. £24.99 from day 31.Cancel any time.

Updated