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Going in Horse Racing Explained: From Heavy to Firm and Standard to Slow
What the official going descriptions mean, how the clerk of the course calls the ground, and why a change from good to soft can turn a racecard upside down.
By Horse.bet Team · Updated 23 October 2026
The basics
What Going Means in British Horse Racing
Going is racing's word for the state of the ground. It describes how much give there is in the turf, or how quickly an artificial surface is riding, and it is one of the first things a trainer checks before declaring a horse. It should be one of the first things a punter checks too.
In Britain the official going is called by the clerk of the course, the official responsible for the track on raceday. The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) sets the rules: which words may be used, when the going has to be published and what must accompany it, from GoingStick readings to recent watering. The description tells you what the ground was like when it was last inspected. The BHA's instructions to racecourses are explicit that it is not a forecast of what the going will be.
It matters because horses are not machines. Some have a high, rounded action that copes with ground that cuts up and gets sticky; others skim across a fast surface and labour when they sink in. A horse who wins on good to firm at Goodwood in high summer can run well below that level on soft ground in November, and the form book is full of results that only make sense once you look at the going column.
The ground also shapes the race itself. On soft and heavy going horses run much more slowly, stamina counts for more and a stiff finish such as Cheltenham's becomes a severe test. On fast ground the pace tends to hold up and speed is at a premium.
The official scale
The Seven Official Turf Going Descriptions
The BHA limits turf going to seven descriptions. From firmest to softest:
Going
What it means
Where you tend to see it
Hard
Bone-dry ground with no give. Over jumps, ground without enough moisture to race safely is reported as Hard (unraceable).
Rare: prolonged summer droughts
Firm
Very dry, fast ground.
Flat meetings in hot, dry spells
Good to Firm
Quick ground with a little give. The BHA asks Flat courses to aim for it.
Much of the summer Flat season
Good
The middle of the scale, suiting the widest range of horses. Jump courses are asked to aim for it.
Spring and autumn; well-watered summer tracks
Good to Soft
Mostly good ground holding a fair amount of moisture.
Autumn and winter; wet spells on the Flat
Soft
Wet ground in which horses sink in and run markedly slower.
The heart of the jumps season
Heavy
Saturated, deeply testing ground.
Midwinter, after prolonged rain
When the ground is not uniform, the clerk adds a qualifier in brackets. The BHA's own example is Good to Firm (Firm in places), which means significant parts of the track are firmer than the majority. The going report has to convey those differences, so the words in brackets are part of the description rather than a footnote.
Irish racing uses one extra word, yielding, which corresponds to good to soft in Britain. You will see it in the form of Irish-trained runners at Cheltenham, Aintree and Royal Ascot.
The going printed on a racecard is the description at the last inspection. Check it again on the morning of the race, and again before the off if rain is falling.
Synthetic surfaces
All-Weather Going: From Fast to Standard to Slow
All-weather racing in Britain is run on artificial surfaces, and the BHA uses a separate five-step scale for them: Fast, Standard to Fast, Standard, Standard to Slow and Slow. Standard is the norm. Weather still has an effect, because temperature and moisture change how a synthetic surface rides, but the swings are far smaller than on turf.
Britain has six all-weather tracks on two types of surface:
Polytrack is a wax-coated sand mixture; Tapeta is a different synthetic blend. The practical point for punters is that surface preference is real. A horse's record on Polytrack does not guarantee it will act on Tapeta, and neither tells you much about how it will handle soft turf. Treat all-weather form as its own book, split by course and surface.
Racecourses are also required to keep records of rainfall, temperature, irrigation and moisture content on their all-weather tracks, and to maintain the surface to the manufacturer's recommendations. A description of Standard to Slow after a cold, wet spell is not unusual, and it can blunt the finishing speed of horses who need a fast surface.
Measuring the ground
GoingStick Readings and How the Clerk Calls the Ground
For most of racing's history the going was called by a clerk walking the course and pushing a boot heel or a walking stick into the turf. That judgement still drives the official description, but it has been backed by the GoingStick, an electro-mechanical probe developed by TurfTrax with Cranfield University and the Jockey Club. It was introduced at 15 courses from December 2003 and its use has been mandatory on British racecourses since 2007.
The stick measures two things: penetration, the force needed to push the probe into the ground, and shear, the energy needed to pull the handle back to 45 degrees. The result is a single figure on a scale from 0 to 15, where the lower the number, the softer the ground. Most British readings fall between 5 and 10.
Racecourses must publish a GoingStick reading on the morning of declarations and on each raceday, so the going report shows the description followed by the number. The two are separate measures. The BHA's analysis of readings from 2008 to 2013 produced these averages, and it warns that they are not an official scale and should not be used to judge the going at any individual course:
Official going
Average Flat reading
Average jumps reading
Heavy
5.7
5.2
Soft
6.4
6.0
Good to Soft
7.1
6.8
Good
7.9
7.7
Good to Firm
8.6
8.7
Firm
9.9
10.0
The best way to use a GoingStick figure is against the same course's history. Soil, drainage and grass cover differ from track to track, so a reading that means good ground at one course can mean something softer at another.
From the form book
On the opening day of the 2024 Cheltenham Festival, after heavy overnight rain, the official going was Soft, Heavy in places, with a morning GoingStick reading of 3.7, which the Racing Post reported as the lowest on record for a Cheltenham raceday.
After the first two races the description was changed to Heavy, Soft in places. The Horseracing Bettors Forum complained that the times of those opening races had already pointed to exceptionally testing ground. The lesson for punters: when race times and the official description disagree, trust the clock.
Rain, irrigation and raceday
Watering, Going Reports and Raceday Changes
Racecourses do not simply accept the weather. In dry spells they water, or irrigate, to keep the ground safe and within their target range. The BHA asks Flat courses to aim for good to firm ground, and jump courses to aim for good ground and nothing firmer than good to firm.
Watering has to be declared. If significant watering has taken place in the previous 72 hours, the description carries it in brackets: Good to Firm (Watering) while irrigation is under way, or Good to Firm (watered) once it is complete. Recent rainfall and any movement of the running rail must be published too, because a moved rail changes the distance of a race.
Going reports follow a fixed timetable. From the day before entries close right through to raceday, updates must be provided by 16:30 on weekdays and by 13:00 at weekends and on bank holidays, even when nothing has changed. A change on raceday itself has to be notified to the media, and changes during the afternoon are passed to the judge and the clerk of the scales and published on the BHA's going app.
At the extremes the ground stops racing altogether. Frost, snow or waterlogging can leave the going unassessable, in which case the report gives the last assessable state and the date it was taken. Over jumps, a meeting must be abandoned if the ground is hard and unfit to race, whatever the forecast says, which is why summer jumps fixtures and frosty winter cards both live under the threat of an early-morning inspection. Our UK fixture calendar shows what is scheduled.
Betting on the ground
How the Going Changes Form, Prices and Non-Runners
The going column is where form reading starts. Every runner on our today's racecards has a record on different types of ground, and the question is simple: has this horse shown its best form on ground like today's? Our guides to reading a racecard and the form guide show where to find it.
Worked example (illustrative)
Take a hypothetical five-year-old with this turf record: Good to Firm, 2 wins from 4 runs; Good, 1 win from 5; Good to Soft, 0 from 3; Soft, 0 from 2.
On Good to Firm he is on his favoured ground. If overnight rain turns it Soft, his record says he has not won in five runs on ground softer than good. A price of 4/1 (5.0) taken earlier in the week was struck on a different race.
A change in the ground also produces non-runners. When it turns against them, trainers take horses out, and withdrawals after the market has formed can trigger Rule 4 deductions on winning bets struck at fixed prices. Our Rule 4 guide explains the deduction table.
Prices follow the ground. A soft-ground specialist can shorten sharply after a wet night, while a horse who needs fast going drifts. Best Odds Guaranteed protects you if you take a morning price and the starting price is bigger, and backing a horse early when its ground is coming is a long-standing angle.
On turf the going can also change which part of the track rides fastest. In big fields on straight courses, runners often split into groups, and if one side has had more rain or more water, a draw bias can switch from one day to the next. Watch the first races on the card and the results before relying on yesterday's draw figures.
Before you bet
A Going Checklist for Punters
Check the official going and the GoingStick reading on the morning of the race, and again before the off.
Read the qualifier in brackets: (Soft in places) or (Watering) is part of the description.
Compare each runner's best form with today's ground, and read Irish yielding as good to soft.
On the all-weather, check course and surface form separately; Polytrack and Tapeta are not interchangeable.
Watch the early race times. If they are slow for the description, assume the ground is softer than advertised.
Expect non-runners after a significant change, and allow for Rule 4 on early-price bets.
Set a budget before the first race. Betting is for over-18s, and free, confidential help is available from GambleAware.org.
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Questions
Frequently asked questions
What does good to soft mean in horse racing?
Good to soft is the fifth of the seven official turf going descriptions in Britain: mostly good ground that is holding a fair amount of moisture. It sits between good and soft and is common in autumn and winter. In Irish racing the equivalent is yielding.
Who decides the going at a racecourse?
The clerk of the course. He or she inspects the track, takes GoingStick readings and publishes the official description under rules set by the BHA, including fixed deadlines for going updates and a requirement to report any change on raceday.
What is a GoingStick reading?
A number from 0 to 15 produced by a probe that measures how hard it is to push into the ground and pull back. Lower numbers mean softer ground, and most British readings fall between 5 and 10. The figure is published alongside the official description, but it is course-specific and is not a direct translation of it.
What does Standard to Slow mean on the all-weather?
All-weather tracks have their own five-step scale: Fast, Standard to Fast, Standard, Standard to Slow and Slow. Standard to Slow means the surface is riding a little slower than normal, often after cold or wet weather, which can blunt the finishing speed of horses who need a quick surface.
What does 'in places' mean in a going description?
It means significant parts of the course differ from the main description. Good to Firm (Firm in places), for example, tells you most of the track is good to firm but some sections are firmer. The BHA requires going reports to convey those differences.
Why do racecourses water the ground?
To keep it safe and within their target range in dry weather. Flat courses aim for good to firm and jump courses for good. Significant watering in the previous 72 hours has to be shown in the going description, for example Good to Firm (Watering).
What is the best going for horse racing?
There is no single best going; it depends on the horse. Good ground suits the widest range of runners, which is why jump courses aim for it, but some horses only show their best on soft or heavy and others need it fast. Check each runner's record on the day's ground.
