Conditions races are races where a certain set of conditions are selected by the race secretary where there is a set of criteria each horse must meet in order to gain entry.

Conditions races are much more prevalent in the US than they are in the UK. An example of a conditions race in the UK is the Derby which has the following conditions. It is only open to three year old horses, male horses must carry 126lbs and females carry 121lbs.

In the US the conditions in a race may be "for fillies two years old which have never won a race other than maiden. Weight 125lbs. Non winners of a race since August 25 th allowed 2lbs." This means that the only horses that may enter the race are 2 year old females who have only won one race. The weight these horses must carry is 125lbs unless they haven't won a race since August 25 th then they will carry 123lbs.

As you can see the conditions in US races are far more complicated. The criteria used in the US is used to attract similar quality horses to each race. Whereas in the UK the handicap system is used more for this purpose.

So how does this effect the winner of the race. In the US there are things that can be learned from the conditions alone. Say for example that a race is only for 2 and 3 year olds and the conditions state that 2 year olds will carry 3lbs more than their 3 year old counterparts. There is a big difference between the strength of a 2 year old and a 3 year old horse as a 2 year old is still developing so the fact that the 2 year olds are only given a 3lb weight advantage should tell you that the winner is likely to be a 3 year old as a 3 year old will usually beat a 2 year old all other things being equal.

Learning how to interpret the conditions can be important as there is often something to be learnt, that most gamblers will not see, because this factor is largely ignored. There is not so much to be learned from assessing the conditions of races in the UK so this section can largely be ignored if you are gambling in the UK.