Form & performance
Form Line
A form line is the string of characters summarising a horse's recent starts, with the most recent placing at the right-hand end in Australian form guides. Digits are finishing positions, 0 means tenth or worse, and letters carry specific meanings — x for a spell, f for fell, and so on. The line is the starting point of form study, but it says nothing about class, tempo or the ground those runs came on.
In use
A line reading 1-3x2-1 shows a spell between the third and second placings.