Example 4: Finding LUCKY LAD and using the Watchlist

We managed to capture this example from a true Formgridian who showed us how and why he added LUCKY LAD to his Watchlist.

His first look at LUCKY LAD was in this colt's first race on 4 March 2023.

The Formgridian studying form comes across this result in preparation for the race on the 25th when LUCKY LAD will be running.

(Note: When you study this tutorial this race will have run already, but when our intrepid Formgridian was studing, this race was still in the future.)

He sees that this is a juvinile race with 2 year olds running in it. A horse this young and doing well is a very good sign. LUCKY LAD didn’t win by far but he did win. In particular he beat MAX THE MAGICIAN who came out to win on 21 March.

This "coming out to win" is known as the formline.

Not a strong formline (yet) but a winner has come out of this race. Even more important, the horse coming out to win is still also only a juvenile.

Looking deeper, Sean Tarry, the trainer, is a current top trainer and he puts on his horse a top jockey in the form of Richard Fourie. So, only using Formgrids info, the Formgridian studying this result asks, "why?" The trainer knows something about LUCKY LAD that we don't yet since this is his first run. We also see from the betting that LUCKY LAD was favoured by the punters as well.

But there is still more information:

Look at the breeding (by holding your mouse over LUCKY LAD's name. The sire is non other than Gimmethegreenlight (AUS). Go deeper and this is a very successful sire.

(Note: you can drill down and discover this for yourself – all on Formgridian.)

So, the Formgridian now knows that LUCKY LAD is a good horse.

But wait, there’s still more…

Click the LBH and you will get this:

Now this is only a partial screen print as the screen shows another 35 horses. One is a bit lucky here to get so much information but look how high up LUCKY LAD is. At 2 years old he is beating older horses and horses in much stronger races. Plus, he is only just over 4 lengths off more mature and good horses. So the Formgridian now knows he has a good horse that will do well in future races as this horse matures.

So going back to the results page he adds LUCKY LAD to his Watchlist.

So on the 5th race on 25 March, the Formgridian now knows that LUCKY LAD will do well. He may not win but a place is pretty much assured. Because if you look closely, he is running against other 2 year olds. He probably would not fair as well against older horses in a Grade 3 race. But the data is right there on Formgrids for you to see.

(Now it is up to you how you want to place your bet. But the right bet should earn you something.)

So, look what happens:

LUCKY LAD comes out to win at little better than 3 to 1.

AMBER ROCK came close but the rest of the field was 5 lengths behind. One now adds AMBER ROCK to the one’s Watchlist. This filly is clearly another good horse that will do well as she matures.

This is one way to use Formgrids. Happy studying!

Also available as a PDF file: How_to_use_Formgrids-an_actual_example.pdf