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. NW300PSCD breaks into parts, and each part narrows the field a little further.
| Part | What it does |
|---|---|
| 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 300 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 NW300PSCD was carded 8 times for the pace (8), carrying purses from $2,500. The first appearance in this record is Oct 15, 2001 and the last is Nov 13, 2001, 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 NW300PSCD carded?
8 races in the recovered record, 2001-10-15 to 2001-11-13. That is a count of surviving charts and entry sheets, so it is a floor rather than a total.
Was NW300PSCD raced at the trot or the pace?
Only at the pace — all 8 races.
What did NW300PSCD pay?
Purses of $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 NW300PSCD last appear on a card?
2001-11-13, having first appeared on 2001-10-15. Both dates come from the surviving documents for those days.
What does the class code NW300PSCD mean?
It is a set of eligibility conditions, not a grade. Read in parts: 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.