What It Means
A class code is the racing secretary's shorthand for who was allowed to enter. It is set down in the program unexplained, because the horsemen reading it already know the grammar. FMNW1000CL breaks into parts, and each part narrows the field a little further.
| Part | What it does |
|---|---|
| FM | restricted to fillies and mares, so no horses or geldings may enter |
| NW | non-winners: a ceiling on what a horse may already have won and still stay eligible |
| CL | claiming: every starter may be bought for the stated price shortly after the race |
The figure 1000 in the code is the money threshold itself. Read together with the letters above, it is what separates a horse that may enter from one that has won too much to be eligible any longer.
In the programs held here FMNW1000CL was carded 3 times for the pace (3), carrying purses from $2,000. The first appearance in this record is May 28, 2013 and the last is Jul 16, 2013, which gives a rough sense of how long the racing office kept the condition in rotation.
Conditions like this one are the machinery that keeps a small meeting competitive. Rather than grading horses by an official rating, the secretary writes an eligibility sentence and lets the entries sort themselves out. A card at a regional track therefore carries far more distinct class codes than an outsider would ever expect to find.
Race Days Carrying This Condition
Questions about this condition
How often was FMNW1000CL carded?
3 races in the recovered record, 2013-05-28 to 2013-07-16. That is a count of surviving charts and entry sheets, so it is a floor rather than a total.
Was FMNW1000CL raced at the trot or the pace?
Only at the pace — all 3 races.
What did FMNW1000CL pay?
Purses of $2,000. Purse is the money on offer for the race, split by finishing position, and it is the most reliable indicator of where a condition sat relative to the rest of the card.
When did FMNW1000CL last appear on a card?
2013-07-16, having first appeared on 2013-05-28. Both dates come from the surviving documents for those days.
What does the class code FMNW1000CL mean?
It is a set of eligibility conditions, not a grade. Read in parts: FM — restricted to fillies and mares, so no horses or geldings may enter, NW — non-winners: a ceiling on what a horse may already have won and still stay eligible and CL — claiming: every starter may be bought for the stated price shortly after the race.