We have been creating UK & Ireland racing results in our traditional Duo (2 file) CSV format, as they lend themselves for onward use with databases. As an alternative style, which people find preferable, there is a demand for our data to be published in a single CSV of racing results.
We have come up with a version we are calling Single File Format, not original but exactly. Not a very original name, but it saves any confusion that these are a Single CSV of Racing Results. These are released for downloading on a weekly basis.
Not only do we update the results data weekly, but we have a back catalogue of previous years, going back to 2016, in this Single File Format. Visit the Past Racing Results page to see how simple is it is to obtain such a vast wealth of historical data.
The RacingFormBook Access database we publish is of a similar in respect of the columns of data that house the results. Therefore this format of the results can be used by you to carry out update of the database. It will also contains all results going back to January 2016.
Here is a Sample of the SFF file to download , see the ReadMe note included.
If you have read the pages explaining the Duo – Enhanced – 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 endeavour to answer any direct questions.
The naming of the files follows this standard. SFF_ddmmm-ddmmmyy.csv
As an example for a weekly file it will be similar to SFF_28Apr-04May25.csv, which is Monday 28th April to Sunday 4th May 2025 results.
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.
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
The above is an overview of the details of the construction of Single Format horse racing CSV data files. Hopefully this is self explanatory, however if you are a newcomer and need any further explanation. Please reach out and use the contact page which will email the questions you may have.
Here are details about obtaining the SFF results data files. These files are available on a weekly update basis as an included service when you become a Subscribing Member. However we do provide back copies of previous years results to everyone.
To Subscribe just go to the Membership Options Page shortcut will allow you to join RacingFormBook and receive all the services.
Obtain previous years from our Past Results Data page will enable you to have a comprehensive amount of data to work with. Our fees are very reasonable the amount of information that is made available.
Obviously once you have the information, it is possible to carry out all manner of queries against it. There is a useful tool with Microsoft Excel which is known as Power Query. If you use an older version of Excel that does not contain it, then download PQ from here.
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.