Explaining RacingFormBook Single CSV of Racing Results
We have been providing UK & Ireland racing results in our traditional Duo (2 file) CSV format, as they lend themselves for onward use with databases. However, judging by the queries we have received it is evident that there is a demand for our data to be published in a single CSV of racing results.
Where possible we have always tried to accommodate requests. This was one of them. We have come up with a version we are calling Single File Format. Nothing very original but its saves any confusion that these are a Single CSV of Racing Results. Our intention was to release these on a weekly basis, but now we have added a midweek update to benefit our subscribers.
Not only will we update the results data twice weekly, but we have a back catalogue of previous years in this Single File Format. Visit the Past Racing Results page to see how simple is it is to obtain a large amount of historical data.
Unlike the Duo Format version we will not be producing a Basic or Free version of the Single File Format. You can read more about our Basic files here.
We have also released the Single File Format results as an Access database to compliment this format. It will also contains all results going back to January 2016.
Here is a Sample of the SFF file to download. The CSV should be imported with applications like Excel, or view it with a text editor.
Single CSV of Racing Results File Makeup
If you have read the pages explaining the Duo – Enhanced or Basic – format files then the summary of the fields or columns the Single File Format CSV files contain will be familiar. The following notes are split into two sections with accompanying screenshot for each one. If there are any questions that you may have then please ask away by using this Contact Us link and I will endeavor to answer any direct questions.
File Naming Standardisation
As we use in all files our naming follows this standard. To keep each days and weeks files unique, they are are prefixed using the following:-
- yy (year)
- mm (month)
- dd (day)
As an example the January 1st 2020 would see the file named 200101.csv. For a weekly file it will be similar to 200101-06.csv, which is Jan 1st to 6th 2020 . The naming convention assists with sorting and listing by newest date first, as in highest number first.
SFF.CSV Columns Part 1
We detail the following field or columns as shown in the image above.
ID This is the unique RFB reference for each individual race
Course The racecourse the race took place at
RaceDate Date that the event took place on
RaceTime Time the race was scheduled to start
Race The race title as seen on a racecard as a race description
Type The race type c = chase h = hurdle b = NHFlat & blank = a normal Flat race
Class Currently this is the class allocated as a figure from 1 – 7, with 1 being the top class races and 7 the lower class ones
AgeLimit Single or a range of restrictions for a race, where the race conditions are set by the age of the horses
Prize The currency value to the winner of the event. This is by the local currency, Pound for the UK, Euro for Ireland
Ran Number of horses that took part and competed in a race
Distance The distance in Miles, Furlongs, Yards that the runners raced over
Yards The distance in Yards that the runners raced over
Going The ground that race was run over
Limit Any race that was restricted to a specific ‘Official’ handicap range or upper limit
WinTime The recorded time that a race took to run
Seconds The recorded time shown in seconds
This basically are the columns of information which represent the race information and next in Part 2 the data about each horse are then given.
SFF.CSV Columns Part 2
We detail the following field or columns as shown in the image below.
FPos Finishing position for each runner
DistBtn The finishing distance behind the horse which was immediately in front of them
TotalBtn The total finishing distance behind the winning horse
CardNo When shown the racecard number for each horse
HorseName The racehorse name and (country of breeding)
Draw If starting stalls used, the one a horse started in
SP Starting Price expressed as a decimal figure. i.e. 6/4 = 1.5
Age How old the horse was at the time of the race
Stone The weight in stones part carried by the horse the 9 in 9-7
Lbs The weight in pounds part carried by the horse the 7 in 9-7
WeightLBS Weight carried as total pounds
Favs Used to denote the Favorite & second Favorite in the betting
Aid Any aids that the horse wore such as blinkers and if for a first time
Jockey Name of the Jockey riding the horse
Trainer Name of the Trainer of the horse
Allow Any weight allowance the jockey was entitled to claim
Or The Official handicappers rating
Comments Descriptive details on how the horse ran
Part 2 has just detailed each field or column of information regarding each horse which participated in a race
Obtaining Single Format Files and Summary
That was the overview details of our additional Single Format horse racing CSV data files and here are details about obtaining them.
These files are available on a weekly update basis as an included service to our Subscribers. However we will provide back copies of previous years results to everyone.
Clicking this Membership Options Page shortcut will allow you subscribe to RacingFormBook services or register at the website.
Obtain previous years from our Past Results Data page to have a comprehensive amount of data to work with. Our fees are very reasonable in making this type of information available.
Once you have the information in a database it is possible to carry out all manner of queries against it. There will be a number of blogs being released to show examples on interrogating the results database. There is a useful tool with Microsoft Excel (older versions)which is known as Power Query, download from here. It is now part of Excel and was renamed to Get and Transform, further information here.
Our mission
To further anyone’s ambition to use the information, whether this is as a point of reference, a repository for their ratings or to enable the research into racing systems.
Our offer
- Horse racing results CSV data files
- Provide Horse Racing Databases
- Formbook Builder Application
- Results data going back to the start of 2016