{{use dmy dates, date=October 2022 Weight for Age (WFA) is a term in thoroughbred horse racing which is one of the conditions for a race.

History

The principle of WFA was developed by Admiral Rous, a handicapper with the English

Jockey Club The Jockey Club is the largest commercial horse racing organisation in the United Kingdom. It owns 15 of Britain's famous racecourses, including Aintree, Cheltenham, Epsom Downs and both the Rowley Mile and July Course in Newmarket, amo ...

. Rous experimented with weights until he arrived at a relationship between age and maturity, expressed in terms of weight. His original scale has undergone only minor alterations since his work in the 1860s.

Description

Weight for age means that a horse will carry a set weight in accordance with the Weight for Age Scale. This weight varies depending on the horse's age, its sex, the race distance and the month of the year. Weight for age races are usually Group 1 races, races of the highest quality. It is a form of

handicapping Handicapping, in sport and games, is the practice of assigning advantage through scoring compensation or other advantage given to different contestants to equalize the chances of winning. The word also applies to the various methods by which th ...

for

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

, but within the horse racing industry is not referred to as handicap, which is reserved for more general handicapping. WFA is a method of trying to equal out the physical progress which the average thoroughbred racehorse makes as it matures. The thoroughbred matures extremely quickly compared to the human being. By the age of two the horse has achieved 95% of its mature height and weight, and by the end of its third year it will be fully mature. To allow for this variation in maturity in the context of racing, it is necessary to express it as a function of the weight a horse will carry in a race. It is also necessary to take into account the race distance because stamina comes with maturity, and younger horses are at a greater disadvantage the farther they have to run. If no allowance was made, a mature older horse would always beat a younger one.

Top WFA races

Australia

Australian Cup The Australian Cup is a Victoria Racing Club Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race for horses three years old and older, held under Weight for Age conditions, over a distance of 2000 metres, at Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne, Australia in March du ...

* The BMW Stakes * Cox Plate *

The Everest The Everest is an Australian Turf Club Weight for Age Thoroughbred horse race run over 1,200 metres on turf at Randwick Racecourse in Sydney, Australia. Run for the first time in 2017 as a Special Conditions class since it is not yet eligible for ...

* Queen Elizabeth Stakes (ATC) * Queen's Cup in its early days (later changed to Group 3)

France

* Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe

Ireland

* Irish Champion Stakes *

Irish St. Leger The Irish St Leger is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 1 mile and 6 furlongs (2,816 metres), and it i ...

Japan

* Japan Cup

New Zealand

* New Zealand International Stakes * Spring Classic (formerly the Kelt Capital Stakes)

South Africa

* Queen's Plate * Horse Chestnut Stakes * Metropolitan Stakes * Premier's Champion Challenge * Paddock Stakes * Majorca Stakes * Champions Cup * Gold Challenge

United Kingdom

* Diamond Jubilee Stakes *

Eclipse Stakes The Eclipse Stakes is a Group races, Group 1 Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Sandown P ...

July Cup The July Cup is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run on the July Course at Newmarket over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres ...

* Sussex Stakes * King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes * International Stakes * Nunthorpe Stakes * Sprint Cup * Queen Elizabeth II Stakes *

Champion Stakes The Champion Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 1 mile and 2 furlong ...

United States

* Breeders' Cup Classic *

Breeders' Cup Turf The Breeders' Cup Turf is a Weight for Age Thoroughbred horse race on turf for three-year-olds and up. It is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships. The race's current ...

* Breeders' Cup Mile * Breeders' Cup Sprint * Jockey Club Gold Cup * Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Stakes

Uruguay

Gran Premio José Pedro Ramírez The Gran Premio José Pedro Ramírez is a Group I flat race for three-year-olds and up, run over a distance of 2400 metres every January 6 in Hipódromo Nacional de Maroñas racetrack in Montevideo, Uruguay. It is considered the most important ho ...

* Gran Premio Pedro Piñeyrúa * Gran Premio Ciudad de Montevideo

Sources

Australian Rules of Racing

Horse racing