Frequently Asked Questions

1. Create a free account — no credit card required
2. Browse the Toteboard to see today's race cards
3. View a sample form to see our ratings in action
4. Read our 10 Basic Handicapping Tips for strategies on using the forms

No — WinningPonies is a handicapping service, not a wagering platform. We provide the analysis and ratings; you place your bets through a licensed ADW (advance deposit wagering) platform like TwinSpires, FanDuel Racing, TVG, or Xpressbet, or at your local track window or OTB.

Think of us as your race-day cheat sheet: buy the E-Z Win® Form for the card you want to play, use the tier rankings and the Calculator to build your tickets, then place those wagers on the platform of your choice.

Big 'Uns are notable exotic wager payouts where the winning combination lined up with our tier rankings. They're generated automatically by the system and showcase real results — Exactas, Trifectas, Superfectas, Pick 3s, Pick 4s, and more — where playing the tiers would have produced a winning ticket.

You can browse recent Big 'Uns on the Toteboard or see a track's full history on its track page.

Horstradamus®, our proprietary rating engine, analyzes dozens of factors including past performance, speed figures, class levels, workout quality, surface preferences, and track condition adjustments.

Dirt races have two overall ratings. The first (shown in aqua) is based on the horse's most recent applicable dirt race. A + next to this rating means the horse has a reason to improve off that race; ++ means there are multiple reasons to expect improvement. The second rating (shown in purple) is a composite that analyzes up to four recent races and takes the median. The average of these two numbers determines the horse's ranking.

These ratings are length-based — a horse rated 55 is three lengths (about 3/5 of a second) better than a horse rated 52.

Turf racesadd a third rating: the Turf Class rating, shown first in parentheses. This evaluates how “classy” a horse is based on the quality and results of its previous turf races. We've found this to be the most important factor in turf racing, so horses are primarily tiered by class rating, with the other two ratings used as a tiebreaker within each tier.

You can also review individual past performance ratings in the leftmost column of each horse's PP list. The race used for the aqua rating is highlighted in aqua, and the races used for the composite are highlighted in purple— a quick way to see if a horse is trending up or down.

We don't recommend specific wagers because every handicapper has different preferences, bankrolls, and risk tolerances. Instead, we rank horses from best to worst and group them into color-coded performance tiers. Horses in the top tier (dark green) are the strongest contenders and are close in ability, while each successive tier represents a step down.

We recommend building your wagers around these tiers. The Big 'Uns on our site are chosen automatically by the system based on the tiers themselves.

For a detailed strategy, check out our blog post on how to effectively bet Superfectas — the approach works for Trifectas as well.

Free (Grandstand) members can see forms for today plus the next 2 days. Clubhouse and Winner's Circle subscribers get Early Access— forms are available up to 7 days in advance, as soon as the track releases final entries.

Check the Toteboard to see what's available. Locked date tabs indicate days available with a premium subscription.

There are two ways to print:

• Print button — Click the Print button in the race selector bar (or press Ctrl+P / Cmd+P). This opens our print dialog where you can select one or more races. The printed form includes ratings, tier rankings, horse stats, connections, workouts, and past performances in a clean landscape layout optimized for paper. If you have a premium subscription with the Race & Horse Notes feature, your notes are included too — race notes appear as a preamble page, and horse notes are printed on each horse's card.
• Browser print — If you use File → Print from your browser menu, the current race view will print in a basic format. For the best results with past performances included, use the Print button instead.

Tip: Use Select Allin the print dialog to print the entire card at once — great for taking to the track.

• Tier 1 (Dark Green) — Top picks with the best chance of hitting the board
• Tier 2 (Light Green) — Strong contenders for exotic wagers
• Tier 3 (Yellow-Green) — Competitive horses for multi-leg bets
• Tier 4 (Yellow) — Longer shots with upset potential
• Tier 5 (Orange) — Horses facing tough competition
• Unrated (Grey) — Insufficient data to generate a rating (see below)

An Unrated (Grey)horse is one where Horstradamus® doesn't have enough applicable past performance data to generate a reliable rating. This typically happens with first-time starters (debut runners), horses shipping in from tracks we don't cover, or horses returning from a long layoff with no recent races to analyze.

Unrated does not mean “bad horse.”Some of the biggest payouts come when an unrated horse wins at a price. The grey tier simply means the system can't rank them with the same confidence as rated horses.

What to do with grey horses:

• First-time starters— Check the trainer's debut win rate and the horse's workout pattern. A hot trainer with a bullet work is worth a look.
• Shippers & returners— Look at their past performances manually in the PP section of the form. You may spot useful form even if the system couldn't rate them.
• For exotic wagers— In races with only 1–2 rated Tier 1 horses and several greys, consider spreading to include a grey or two — especially in multi-race wagers where one upset leg can dramatically boost the payout.
• For win/place bets— Sticking with rated horses is generally safer unless you have a strong read on the unrated runner.

Bottom line: don't automatically exclude grey horses, but don't blindly include them either. Use the PP data and your own judgment to decide.

Yes — this is one of the most powerful features of the E-Z Win® Form. On live race days, the form automatically picks up real-time track condition and surface changes and updates the ratings accordingly. If it starts raining and the track goes from Fast to Muddy, or if a turf race comes off the grass, the ratings recalculate to reflect each horse's ability on that surface and condition.

When a race comes off the turf, the rankings can shift dramatically — horses that excel on turf often struggle on dirt, while dirt specialists who were afterthoughts on turf can suddenly become contenders.

You don't need to do anything — just keep the form open and it stays current. You can also use the Surface and Condition selectors to manually preview “what if” scenarios before conditions officially change.

The E-Z Win® Form updates automatically when horses are scratched — scratched horses are removed and the remaining horses keep their relative rankings and tiers. You don't need to repurchase the form.

For multi-race wagers (Pick 3, Pick 4, etc.), if your selected horse scratches your wagering platform will typically substitute the post-time favorite. Check with your specific platform (TwinSpires, FanDuel, etc.) for their scratch rules.

Multi-race wagers are where the tier system really shines. The general strategy is to use fewer horses in races with a clear top tier and spread wider in competitive races:

• Races with 1–2 Tier 1 horses — These are your “singles” or “A” legs. Use just the top-tier horse(s) to keep ticket cost down.
• Wide-open races (3+ in Tier 1, or Tier 1 and 2 close together) — Spread to include Tier 1 and Tier 2 horses. These are your “spread” legs.
• Consider a Tier 3 or 4 “bomb” — In one or two legs, adding a longer shot at a price can turn a modest payout into a huge one.

Clubhouse and Winner's Circle members can use the Spread Tickets calculator to build their ticket — classify horses into A (top picks), B (contenders), and C (longshots) for each leg, set multipliers to control coverage, and it generates an optimized set of tickets that concentrates your money on the most likely outcomes while still covering enough to catch a price.

For a detailed walkthrough, see our blog post on how to effectively bet Superfectas — the same tier-based thinking applies to all exotic and multi-race wagers.

The E-Z Win Calculator is available to Clubhouse and Winner's Circle members and has two tools in one:

• Cost Calculator— Instantly shows the dollar cost of any exotic wager (Exacta, Trifecta, Superfecta, Super High 5) with support for Straight, Box, Key Box, and Key Wheel strategies. Pick your horses, set a base bet, and see the total before you commit.
• Spread Tickets— Builds optimized multi-race tickets (Daily Double through Pick 6). Classify horses in each leg as A (top picks), B (contenders), or C (longshots), set multipliers to control coverage depth, and it generates a ticket set that concentrates your money on the most likely outcomes while still covering enough to catch a price.

When used from the E-Z Win® Form, the calculator auto-loads horse names and tier ratings from the race card — no retyping needed.

PonyWatch is your personal horse racing watchlist. Follow horses, tracks, jockeys, and trainers and get email alerts when they're entered to run or post results. You can also subscribe to carryover alerts, Big 'Un payout alerts, and new blog post notifications.

Free accounts can watch up to 5 horses with daily digest emails. Premium subscribers (Clubhouse and Winner's Circle) get unlimited watches, all entity types, custom filters, and immediate email alerts.

Click the star iconnext to any horse's name on an E-Z Win® Form or results page. The star turns gold to confirm the horse is on your watchlist. Click again to remove it.

Premium subscribers can also watch jockeys and trainers — look for the star icons next to their names on E-Z Win® Forms and results pages. Track watches can be added from the PonyWatch dashboard.

• Entry alerts — Get notified when a watched horse, jockey, or trainer is entered in a race
• Result alerts — Find out how they finished
• Track alerts — Get notified when E-Z Win® Forms are available for your favorite tracks, immediately or in a daily digest (premium)
• Carryover alerts — Know when pools carry over before race day
• Big 'Un alerts — Get notified about our big exotic payouts
• Blog alerts — New blog post notifications

Free (Grandstand)— Watch up to 5 horses with entry and result alerts delivered in a daily digest email. You also get carryover, Big 'Un, and blog alerts.

Premium (Clubhouse / Winner's Circle)— Unlimited horse watches, plus tracks, jockeys, and trainers. Set custom filters by surface, distance, class, and specific tracks. Choose between daily digest or immediate email alerts for horse and track watches.

Compare plans to see all premium features.

Daily digest(default) — One email each morning at 6:00 AM ET with all your alerts from the previous day, organized by type and track.

Immediate(premium, horse and track watches) — Alerts sent within 15 minutes during racing hours (10 AM – 11 PM ET). Carryover, Big 'Un, jockey, trainer, and blog alerts are always included in the daily digest.

Log in and visit your Billing page. Click Edit, then use the red × to remove your existing card and re-add it with the updated information.

Expired card?The same process applies — delete the expired card and add it again with the new expiration date.