Racing angle finder: 80+ angles checked every day

What counts as an angle in RaceWatch?

An angle is a fixed rule applied the same way to every runner, every day. A trainer's runners after a long break, a horse dropping in class, or a first run in blinkers are all angles.

The point of an angle is that it is written down in advance. Instead of noticing a pattern after a race and then looking for it again, an angle states the rule, applies it to every runner and keeps score.

RaceWatch runs 80+ angles each day. An angle can be as simple as a single fact about a runner or combine several conditions, such as a horse returning from a break for a trainer whose runners do well fresh. Each is a question the data can answer, not a verdict.

How are runners matched to angles each day?

Every day the declared runners are tested against each angle's rules, and the Angles page lists today's matching runners under each angle.

A runner can match one angle, several or none. Seeing the pattern and the runners that fit it together is the point: the angle states the rule, and today's list shows where it applies, so you can go straight from a rule you trust to the races it points to.

Late changes matter. A non runner drops out of the list, and a going change can move a runner into or out of a going angle, so check the racecard before relying on an early list.

Which families of angles does RaceWatch check?

The 80+ angles sit in six tabs: Market, Form, Trainer, Breeding, Going and Watch. Each tab groups angles that ask the same kind of question about a runner.

The tab names describe the kind of evidence each group of angles draws on: what the market is doing, the horse's own form, the trainer behind it, its breeding and today's going. Watch holds a further group of angles alongside them.

Moving between tabs is a quick way to see the same day's runners through different lenses. A runner that appears under one tab only is backed by one kind of evidence, which matters when you come to weigh several matches, as the section below explains.

Racing records

Strike rate is the share of qualifiers that won. Both only mean something with the number of runs behind them.

Strike rate alone misleads, because an angle made up of short priced horses will have a high strike rate without being any better than the market. above 1.0 means more often, below 1.0 means less often.

Sample size decides how far to trust either number. The free Angles Tracker shows this season's figures beside a five season baseline, which is the fairest test of whether a signal is holding up.

• Strike rate: winners divided by runs
• Above 1.0: more winners than the prices implied
• Check the runs behind every figure
• Compare this season with the longer baseline

Does matching several angles make a runner more likely to win?

Not by itself.

A course and distance winner dropping in class on its favoured ground may match four angles, but those four are closely linked: horses that have won at a course often run there in their usual class on their usual ground. Counting matches double counts the same evidence.

A better test is independence. Two angles built on different kinds of evidence, say a trainer pattern and a breeding pattern, agreeing on a runner say more than four angles all built on its course record. Read each angle's record, then think about whether the matches are telling you something new.

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