In the UK when a race is described as a handicap race horses are required to carry a specified amount of weight depending on the horses official rating. Most races in the UK are handicap races. In the US the weight carried by each horse is dependent on the conditions set out by the racing secretary that each race is assigned. The vast majority of races you bet on will have some kind handicap element so it's important you understand how this will effect the horse.

It would be easy to think that a horse carrying extra weight compared to another would be at a huge disadvantage, this is not necessarily the case. A horse is a large and powerful animal and carrying a few extra pounds in most cases shouldn't make a huge difference to a horses performance. If for example the top weighted horse is carrying 130lb's of weight and the bottom weighted horse is carrying 126lb's then this is not a great deal of difference and weight is probably not going to be a major factor in which horse wins this race. If however, there is a 15lb difference between top and bottom weight then obviously this is something that needs to be factored in when picking your horse.

The distance of a race will also make a difference where weight is concerned. If the horse is having to run for a long distance then the amount of extra weight they are carrying will become more of a factor the longer a race is. Imagine you walk home carrying a 5lb box in your arms and you live 200m away, this wouldn't be a problem. If however you lived 2km away, by the time you got home your arms would be killing you.

Another example where your knowledge of weight can be used is if you get two horses running together who have faced each other before. Suppose in the last race one horse beat the other by a nose and they carried the same weight. If in the next race the horse who won last time is now carrying 5lbs more weight you can assume there is a good chance it will be beaten this time round.

Some horses are affected by weight more than others. You will see some horses who seem to win whatever weight they carry, whereas others seem to only be able to perform when burdened by an amount below a certain weight. This is you can work out by studying their past performances.

To summarise, weight is not necessarily a big factor. I it is not the most important thing to consider when researching a race. A great horse can usually win whatever weight they carry. It's up to you to find which horses these are and bet on them even when it would appear they are heavily handicapped. This way you can snag some big winners.