What It Means
A class code is the racing secretary's shorthand for who was allowed to enter. It is printed on the program without a key, because the horsemen reading it already know the grammar. FMNW200PS 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 |
| PS | per start: the money ceiling is an average for each start rather than a season total |
The figure 200 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 FMNW200PS was carded 98 times for the pace (98), carrying purses from $1,800 to $2,500. The first appearance in this record is May 7, 2002 and the last is Nov 26, 2010, 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
Was FMNW200PS raced at the trot or the pace?
Only at the pace — all 98 races.
What did FMNW200PS pay?
Purses of $1,800 to $2,500. 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 FMNW200PS last appear on a card?
2010-11-26, having first appeared on 2002-05-07. Both dates come from the surviving documents for those days.
What does the class code FMNW200PS 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 PS — per start: the money ceiling is an average for each start rather than a season total.
How often was FMNW200PS carded?
98 races in the recovered record, 2002-05-07 to 2010-11-26. That is a count of surviving charts and entry sheets, so it is a floor rather than a total.