What is RPR? Racing Post Rating explained

RPR in one sentence

RPR is a single number (typically 0–200) that estimates the merit of an individual performance — adjusted for class, weight carried, beaten distance and the opposition.

How RPR is calculated

Racing Post handicappers start from the race result and work out what each horse needed to achieve to finish where it did. The key inputs:

• Race class and prize money — better races attract better horses
• Beaten distances — converted to pounds using a standard scale (roughly 1 length = 2lb at a mile)
• Weight carried — heavier weight = better performance for the same result
• Going adjustments — soft ground inflates beaten distances

The winner's RPR anchors the race; every other horse is rated relative to that benchmark.

RPR scale at a glance

• 140+ — Group/Graded class horses
• 110–140 — Listed and decent handicappers
• 80–110 — Mid-grade handicaps (most UK racing)
• Below 80 — Bottom-tier handicaps and slow maidens

RPR vs OR (Official Rating)

OR is the BHA handicapper's number used to assign weights. RPR is Racing Post's independent view of actual performance. They usually align but can diverge: a horse "above its mark" tends to have RPRs higher than its OR.

RPR vs Topspeed

Topspeed (TS) is the time-based rating from Racing Post. RPR is form-based (beaten distances + class). Smart punters look at both — a horse with high RPR but low TS may have won a slowly-run race, and vice versa.

Using RPR to find value

1. Look at a horse's best recent RPR in similar conditions (going, distance, class).
2. Compare to the par RPR needed to win today's race.
3. If the horse's best RPR comfortably exceeds par, it has a real chance.
4. Cross-check the bookmaker price against a tissue — if the price is too big for the implied chance, you have value.

Where RPR fits in our model

Our tissue model uses RPR as one of several inputs alongside Topspeed, class par, pace, trainer/jockey form and going adjustments. No single rating is the whole picture, but RPR is the strongest single signal for UK/Irish form.

→ See today's RPR-driven value selections in the Scanner