Handicap race

A handicap race in horse racing is a race in which horses carry different weights, allocated by the handicapper. A better horse will carry a heavier weight, to give him or her a disadvantage when racing against slower horses. The handicapper's goal in assigning handicap weights is to enable all the horses to finish together (in a dead heat).

Horse racing

The skill in betting on a handicap race lies in guessing which horse can overcome his or her handicap. Although most handicap races are run for older, less valuable horses, this is not true in all cases; some great races are handicaps, such as the Grand National steeplechase in England and the Melbourne Cup in Australia. In the United States over 30 handicap races are classified as Grade I, the top level of the North American grading system. Handicaps are less common in harness racing, where handicapping is by increased distance rather than increased weight.

Other sports

Handicap races are also common in clubs which encourage all levels of participants, such as swimming or in cycling clubs, or which allow participants with a variety of standards of equipment, such as some forms of car or yacht racing. In this case, the winner on elapsed time may differ from the winner when the times have been adjusted for the different competitors' handicaps.