Timeform; Melbourne Cup Carnival, Magic Millions 2022 and more!

Thanks to the curiosity of the eccentric genius Phil Bull in 1948, a man who I'm sure we would all choose in the dinner go-to activity, 'name four people you'd like to take to dinner', we have an international metric available with the founding objective; to establish a mathematical link to a horse's performance - the Timeform Rating.

What is a Timeform Rating? It's afforded to a horse based on the calculation of the time-value of a certain performance taking into account the layout of the track, weather, prevailing track surface, with the calculation of the Rating based on Admiral Rous's Weight-For-Age scale (more about this to come).

The Timeform rating also took into account the age of the horse and the time of the year, this meant that the performances, regardless of age, were of equal merit.

Like the Pattern, an international language for Black Type racing ensuring pedigrees from around the world can be interpreted and of equal merit, a Timeform Rating holds the same objective of being able to assess a horse's performance through a standardised calculation.

Similarly, Admiral Rous's Weight-For-Age principle was devised by the handicapper of the English Jockey Club in 1850 to create a relationship between age and maturity expressed in weight terms, a principle utilised globally for races such as the G1 Cox Plate, G1 July Cup, G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, G1 Japan Cup and more.

The WFA Scale has changed considerably since its inception, however, the principle remains consistent; to provide an allowance to younger horses given their physical immaturity so that they can compete ‘equally’ with fully mature horses over various distances and at different times of the year.