People & roles
Handicapper
The handicapper is the racing authority official who assigns each horse an official rating and allocates weights in handicap races, aiming to bring the field together at the finish. Ratings move after every start, rising with a strong performance and easing after poor ones. Because benchmark race eligibility follows the rating, the handicapper effectively controls which class of race a horse can contest.
In use
A three-length win lifted the rating five points and pushed him out of benchmark grade.