What do these mean?

[Actor]

"Alw ----s"
"Alw 10600n1x"
"Alw 10600n2l"
"Alw 10600n3y"
"Alw 15000nc"
"Alw 5000s"

I'm guessing that "Alw 10600n2l" means non-winners of two races lifetime for purses of $10600. Or perhaps it means non-winners of two races lifetime with total lifetime earnings of not more than $10600.

Likewise "n3y" means non-winners of three this year, but the others have me baffled.

[Tom]

"Alw ----s"
"Alw 10600n1x" NW 1 except......non winners of an allowance race
"Alw 10600n2l"
"Alw 10600n3y"
"Alw 15000nc" No conditions - open allowance
"Alw 5000s" Starter Allowance

I'm guessing that "Alw 10600n2l" means non-winners of two races lifetime for purses of $10600. Or perhaps it means non-winners of two races lifetime with total lifetime earnings of not more than $10600.

Likewise "n3y" means non-winners of three this year, but the others have me baffled.

The 10600 is the purse for the race, as is the 15000.

[Steve 'StatMan']

Alw5000s - Starter Allowance, where the horse had to have run for a claiming (claimer, mdn claimer) for $5,000 or less within a certain time period (usually 1 or 2 years).

[tbwinner]

"Alw ----s"
"Alw 10600n1x"
"Alw 10600n2l"
"Alw 10600n3y"
"Alw 15000nc"
"Alw 5000s"

I'm guessing that "Alw 10600n2l" means non-winners of two races lifetime for purses of $10600. Or perhaps it means non-winners of two races lifetime with total lifetime earnings of not more than $10600.

Likewise "n3y" means non-winners of three this year, but the others have me baffled.

n = non winners of
# = number of races
x = EXCEPT (usually maiden or claiming)
l = lifetime

Example
Alw 50000nw3xmc is an $50,000 Purse Allowance for non-winners of 3 except maiden or claiming races (so basically this is a NW4 lifetime)

Alw 50000nw6m is a $50,000 Purse Allowance race for non-winners of a race in 6 months.

Str 5000 is a Starter Allowance for a purse amount (in the detailed conditions) for starting at a claiming price of $5,000 or less in the past one or two years (depending on the detailed conditions).

[Overlay]

Alw 50000nw3xmc is an $50,000 Purse Allowance for non-winners of 3 except maiden or claiming races (so basically this is a NW4 lifetime).

To me, all that condition means is that the horse has not yet won three allowance (or higher) races. The condition places no limit on the number of previous claiming or lifetime races that the horse may have won.

[Steve 'StatMan']

Alw---s - Starter Allowance, but no minimum past claiming price specified. Sometimes this is for all who have started at any claiming price during a specific time frame. Sometimes it doesn't involve past claiming races, but instead having started during the current meet (meet end bring out your non-winners at the meet for one last chance vs similar non-winners at meet.)

[tbwinner]

To me, all that condition means is that the horse has not yet won three allowance (or higher) races. The condition places no limit on the number of previous claiming or lifetime races that the horse may have won.

Yes, you're absolutely right my mistake. Usually all allowance races (outside of starter) have no limits on previous claiming races.

[Sham]

Likewise "n3y" means non-winners of three this year,...
I believe that's usually carded as non-winners of three in the past year

[iwearpurple]

This thread is another example of why it is hard to get new players into this game. You need a Doctorate degree in racing form to understand the conditions of a race, and generally how to read the forum. And don't try to get any help from a customer relations desk at a racetrack, because they know less than the original poster.

[rastajenk]

This thread illustrates a part of the game that I think has escaped much scrutiny, and that is the avalanche of information that is out there.

Once upon a time, you didn't get all that condition information. You got ALW; then you started getting ALW8000, a purse amount. Then you got the hieroglyphics you're getting now. Seen a harness program recently? It's even worse. If you were a chart-keeper back in the day, you had the whole story, and it was an edge over those that didn't. (I remember making my own code for "other than maiden, claiming, optional, or starter:" mcos, or mucous. So in my mind I read, non-winner of 1 mucous.)

Of course, they used to not include speed ratings in pp's. Now you get speed, pace, performance, power, and other numbers, and the ones who used to generate their own have lost that edge.

Now you get trainer records and ROI's at different distances, surfaces, off claims, off layoffs, and in different phases of the moon. (Or so it seems.)

And a ton of other stuff.

In other threads, many other threads, there are discussions about an optimum level of takeout. Do you ever wonder if there's an optimum level of information a program or Form should have, and if that level might have been surpassed?

You can look at it a couple ways: less information would be less intimidating to rookie horseplayers, who a) might do just as well early on with just the basics, and b) might be more interested in doing the hard work if they do start to get hooked; and also less info would prop up the notion that you can win at this game if you're already hooked and know where to find the subtleties that give you an edge.

I'm not suggesting information should be withheld in order to make the game tougher. If you want to know the distance of the run-up or the wind speed or the relative humidity, there should be sources for that kind of stuff. Just not in the running lines. You want it, you go find it. But why clobber the casual fan with all that's out there? It's all presented as if it's all equally important, and it's not, and I think it makes it harder to sell the game to new people.

Just some of my thoughts; feel free to agree or disagree.

Purple, I admire your brevity; you beat me to it.

[Overlay]

This thread illustrates a part of the game that I think has escaped much scrutiny, and that is the avalanche of information that is out there.

Whether for an experienced player or a newbie, I think that it all boils down to the Pareto principle -- separating out the "significant few" from the "trivial many". Sure, the information is there, but some of it is redundant, some of it doesn't make a meaningful contribution to distinguishing the various horses in a field from one another, and some of it doesn't justify the value of the time required to track it in light of the incremental pari-mutuel benefit derived. And that's especially true if you're using the information solely to narrow a race down to the one horse most likely to win through a process of elimination, rather than as part of a full-field, value-oriented perspective.

[elhelmete]

This thread is another example of why it is hard to get new players into this game. You need a Doctorate degree in racing form to understand the conditions of a race, and generally how to read the forum. And don't try to get any help from a customer relations desk at a racetrack, because they know less than the original poster.

Every so often I'll take a race and go through each horse to see how he qualified for the condition. Sometimes I just can't figure a horse, especially when the condition is full of "ORs".

[Steve 'StatMan']

This thread is another example of why it is hard to get new players into this game. You need a Doctorate degree in racing form to understand the conditions of a race, and generally how to read the forum. And don't try to get any help from a customer relations desk at a racetrack, because they know less than the original poster.

Could go back to the good old-bad old days, and just list them all as 'Allowance.' But I do share your concern in many other ways. We need other people to like the game, not show them our scars and proudly ask them if they like to work hard at their play. (That should come if & when they like the game and want to do better.)