A night at the greyhound racing is a fun thing to do. Get together with friends, have a few drinks and maybe have a bite to eat watching those cute dogs chase the bunny, or rather what they think a bunny is. An integral part of your night will be choosing a dog to support the races. Just a little net for fun and maybe a little return. But there is so much information on the career card that it can be confusing to the uninitiated. To help you get the hang of it, here’s a quick rundown of what you’re presented with on the career card.

The breed card contains all sorts of useful information and recent forms (last six appearances for each dog) to help you make your selections. It may seem a bit daunting at first, although it’s not hard to get used to.

The main type (or bold) is reasonably simple. Reading from left to right, it usually has the trap number the greyhound will start from, the owner, the trainer, and a summary of the number of races the greyhound has run, won, or placed in. Below this you have the dog’s form for its last six runs. This is what you want to poll to help pick the winners. With that in mind, this is the usual kind of information that the typical UK greyhound racing card will show you for each dog in the race. Date of the last execution

Distance: The distance to be covered in the race expressed in meters. For 280,500, 660 as appropriate.

Trap Number: The number of the trap from which the dog must start the race. The dog will wear a race jacket with the corresponding number to help you identify it during the race.

Time to First Split – This is the time (in seconds) the dog traveled from the starting traps to, typically, the first corner of the race. For example, 4:57 means the dog ran into the first division in just over four and a half seconds. An indicator of how fast the animal moves away from the traps.

Race Position: This is expressed as a series of numbers to reflect the dog’s position during each of its previous six races. For example, 5631 would mean the dog started slowly and then sped up to move up to third place and eventually win. Conversely, 1246 would indicate that the animal started off brilliantly but didn’t have the speed to hold it back.

Final position: Self-explanatory. The position the greyhound finished in the race. Expressed as a number between 1 and 6.

Distance traveled (or gained in case you won the race): This is expressed as a whole number or a fraction if applicable. For example, 4th 3 means the dog came in fourth and was hit by three bodies. Or 1st 2 ¼ means the dog won by two and a quarter lengths.

Winning Dog (or dog in second place if the dog won): This will display the name of the dog that won your greyhound’s last race or if your greyhound won, then the name of the dog it beat.

Comments on how the dog ran: The abbreviations used here are intended to give a snapshot of the run. Most race cards give definitions of the abbreviations so you can follow along. For example crowded2 means the greyhound ran into some trouble in turn two and had no room or a bumpy start means the dog was hit by an opponent coming out of the traps.

Winning Time: Self-explanatory. The time recorded by the winning greyhound.

Course adjustment in hundredths of a second: Winning times are adjusted according to prevailing track conditions. A plus sign means the gear is fast, while a minus sign means the gear is slow; for example, it could be a wet track after rain.

Weight: The weight of the greyhound in kilograms. All greyhounds are weighed at the track to ensure there are no discrepancies between declared weight and actual weight on race day. It is important to compare to previous race weights for consistency.

Starting Price: The price at which the winning greyhound was returned for betting purposes. If it was a trial run, it will show the number of dogs in the trial. For example, T3 would be a three-dog trial).

Career Degree: Means the level of the career. For example, A2, A4, etc. The lower the number, the higher the breed grade.

Calculated time: the winning time after applying any adjustments. An asterisk shows the greyhound’s recent best time. Also look up the fastest time recently recorded among all greyhounds in the race over the distance. This is known as the “weather dog”.

You now have a brief explanation of what all those letters and numbers mean and an understanding of how to read a greyhound racing card. With a little practice you will become fluent and able to “read” a run. Part of the fun is using the information to form your opinion on which greyhound will win, debating it with your friends and then seeing who is right.