Grade
The class of a greyhound race, indicating quality of the field. A1 is the highest grade; D-class races feature less competitive dogs. Open races and handicaps have their own codes.
The grade of a race tells you the class of competition. UK racing uses a letter+number system:
- A1, A2, A3 … — top-class races; A1 is the highest standard at each track.
- D, D1, D2 … — D-grade races, with lower-class runners.
- OR — Open race, typically by invitation or by qualifying time; the strongest dogs.
- HP — Handicap race, where dogs start from staggered traps (or yardage) according to ability.
- S, T, INT, IV — schooling/trial/invitation variants.
Grade affects predictability. Open races usually have a more skill-dispersed field — the model often discriminates well. D-class racing tends to be more chaotic, and our live data shows that across 211 D-grade picks, win rate was about 26% vs the global ~28%. Open races so far have been ~35% win rate (smaller sample, ~68 picks).
When you compare two dogs' form, grade context matters: a 1st in A3 is more impressive than a 1st in D2 at the same track.