What It Means
A class code is the racing secretary's shorthand for who was allowed to enter. It is printed in the program with no explanation, because the horsemen reading it already know the grammar. FMNW250PS 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 250 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 FMNW250PS was carded 13 times for the pace (13), carrying purses from $2,200 to $2,600. The first appearance in this record is Jun 3, 2002 and the last is Apr 17, 2004, 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 FMNW250PS carded?
13 races in the recovered record, 2002-06-03 to 2004-04-17. That is a count of surviving charts and entry sheets, so it is a floor rather than a total.
Was FMNW250PS raced at the trot or the pace?
Only at the pace — all 13 races.
What did FMNW250PS pay?
Purses of $2,200 to $2,600. 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 FMNW250PS last appear on a card?
2004-04-17, having first appeared on 2002-06-03. Both dates come from the surviving documents for those days.
What does the class code FMNW250PS 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.