A gear change in horse racing is equipment added to or taken off a horse since its last start: blinkers going on for the first time, a tongue tie coming off, a lugging bit being tried. Every item must be listed in Racing Australia's National Equipment Register, and under AR 206 of the Australian Rules of Racing the Stewards must approve the change before acceptance time, so it is public before race day.
A change tells you the stable is trying to fix something. It does not tell you whether the fix works, so it earns a small, deliberate adjustment to your price unless a trial in the gear, the stewards' report or the horse's own past runs give you more to go on.
What the common gear does
The National Equipment Register (the 1 February 2024 version, still current when checked on 7 October 2026) is the official horse racing gear list. It names every approved item and the conditions for fitting it, and it says nothing about whether an item works. The items you meet most often:
| Gear | What the register allows | What the stable is usually after |
|---|---|---|
| Blinkers | Open cups no wider than 6cm under the bridle; a one-cup blinker needs its side named at acceptance | Focus: Racing Victoria's glossary says blinkers limit a horse's vision so it is not distracted by what is around it |
| Visors | Blinkers with up to half of each cup cut away | The same idea, with more of the view left open |
| Winkers | Lambs' wool strips on the cheek straps, up to 270mm long, never worn with blinkers | A milder narrowing of the view |
| Pacifiers | Strong mesh eye covers; banned in jumps races | Shielding the eyes from dirt kicked back |
| Tongue tie | Leather or rubber at least 15mm wide, or lycra or neoprene at least 50mm wide, round the tongue and lower jaw, fitted no more than 30 minutes before the race | Keeping the tongue from flipping over the bit, which Racing Australia's 2020 policy release links to easier breathing and the rider keeping control |
| Lugging bit | The register's lugging group, such as the ring, crescendo and controller bits | Steering a horse that lugs, veering in towards the rail or out away from it |
| Ear muffs | Wetsuit, vinyl or cloth; red pre-race muffs come off before the horse is loaded | Dulling noise |
| Ear plugs | Approved types only; the horse must trial in them first, and they stay in for the whole race | Shutting out more noise than muffs |
| Nose roll | Lambs' wool across the nose, no higher than halfway between the nostrils and the eyes | Keeping attention off things just ahead, such as shadows |
| Barrier aids | A blindfold, stallion chain, dually headcollar or barrier blanket | Loading quietly; the horse must first satisfy the starter, or a person the Stewards authorise, with the aid before acceptance time |
One condition matters for young horses: a two-year-old or unraced horse must trial in a blinkers or winkers and nose roll combination before it can race in one.
How a gear change is printed on the form
Racing Australia's free fields give each meeting a Gear Changes page and a current gear page showing what every runner will wear, such as Blinkers ON or Nil. On Ballarat's Gear Changes page for 9 October 2026 (checked 7 October 2026), entries read like "Blinkers FIRST TIME, Winkers OFF FIRST TIME" and "Blinkers AGAIN, Nose Roll OFF FIRST TIME". The pages print no legend, so read the words as written:
| Wording | What it says | What to check before you price it |
|---|---|---|
| FIRST TIME | The horse has not raced in this item before | Why it was fitted, and any trial since |
| AGAIN | It has raced in this item before, and it is going back on | How it ran the last time it wore it |
| OFF FIRST TIME | An item it has worn since it was fitted is coming off for the first time | Whether the problem it was fitted for has gone |
| OFF AGAIN | It has had this item taken off before, and it is coming off again | How it ran without it last time |
The current gear page shows today's gear only, with no history. To judge AGAIN or OFF AGAIN you need what the horse wore at each past start, which the free gear pages do not keep. How to read a form guide shows where the gear field sits among the rest of a runner's entry, and horse racing form abbreviations decodes the other shorthand.
The same lists carry shoeing changes, such as "Concussion Plates (Front) AGAIN" at Ballarat, and the register requires the Stewards' approval for therapeutic or non-standard plates. A new plate type is a reason to read the stewards' reports for a foot problem. A horse gelded since its last start shows as "Gelded", as on Cranbourne's list for the same date (checked 7 October 2026).
When gear changes are published, and what can still move
AR 206(2) sets the deadline: the Stewards' permission before acceptance time, when the field is confirmed. Under AR 206(3), approved gear then stays on, without variation, in later races unless the Stewards approve a change before acceptance time for one of them. Taking gear off needs approval just as putting it on does.
The gear list is settled when the field is. After that, changes go through the Stewards:
- Once the rider has weighed out, nothing the rider weighed out in, such as the saddle or a breastplate, may be added, removed or changed without their permission (AR 185).
- They can order off gear that is not approved, or that they think unsuitable, unsafe or ineffective (AR 20(g)).
- On a track they consider unsuitable, the register lets them order closed blinkers or pacifiers off, or swap closed blinkers for open ones.
Read the stewards' report from the last start too. AR 105(2) requires the trainer to report gear lost or broken in a race straight after it, so gear that broke or came off can explain a poor run. The report can also explain a new item: a horse that lugged in or got its tongue over the bit.
First-time blinkers: reading the evidence
The form shows only that first-time blinkers are going on. You can find out why, and whether anything suggests they help:
- The reason. A stewards' comment that the horse looked about or raced greenly fits blinkers; a horse that over-raced early may race even keener in them.
- Any trial since the change. In NSW a horse trialling for permission to start must carry the gear it will race in, unless the Stewards authorise otherwise (Racing NSW Local Rule 41(2)). Barrier trials explains what a trial can show.
- Its own history. AGAIN means there is a past run in the gear to read.
- The market. The change has been public since acceptances, so check the horse racing flucs before adding your own adjustment.
Measure the effect on your own records
If you want a number for first-time blinkers, build it rather than borrow it. Record each first-time blinkers runner's price and result over a season, and add up 1 / price for the expected wins, using exchange prices or prices with the margin taken out. With illustrative figures:
| Step | Illustrative figure |
|---|---|
| First-time blinkers runners | 400 |
| Expected wins from their prices | 52.0 |
| Actual wins | 49 |
| Actual / expected | 49 / 52 = 0.94 |
| Ordinary luck: at most the square root of 400 x 0.13 x 0.87, where 0.13 = 52 / 400 (less when prices differ) | about 6.7 wins |
| Range that fits no effect at all: 52 - 2 x 6.7 to 52 + 2 x 6.7 | about 39 to 65 wins |
In this made-up sample the runners won a little less often than their prices said, well inside ordinary luck. Even 400 runners cannot show a small effect, which is why sample size in betting matters before you trust any gear statistic.
Worked example: adjusting a price for a gear change
Runner 7, its prices and every judgement below are illustrative. Before you weigh the gear, you frame it at 11%, a fair price of 1 / 0.11 = $9.09. It races in blinkers FIRST TIME, and its last stewards' report says it looked about in the straight. Rather than add a flat amount, weigh what the blinkers could do:
| What the blinkers do | Your weight | Chance if so | Share of the blend |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fix the distraction | 30% | 18% | 0.30 x 0.18 = 5.40% |
| Make no real difference | 55% | 11% | 0.55 x 0.11 = 6.05% |
| Make it race too keenly | 15% | 7% | 0.15 x 0.07 = 1.05% |
| Blend | 100% | 12.50%, a fair price of 1 / 0.125 = $8.00 |
The gear moves your fair price from $9.09 to $8.00, not to the 1 / 0.18 = $5.56 you would get by assuming the blinkers work. Bookmaker A's $9.00 is 9.00 / 8.00 - 1 = 12.5% above your price, and Bookmaker B's $7.50 is 7.50 / 8.00 - 1 = 6.3% below it. The value at $9.00 comes from the gear adjustment alone, as expected value per $10 = 10 x (chance x 9.00 - 1) shows:
| If the truth is | Expected value of $10 at $9.00 |
|---|---|
| The blinkers work (18%) | 10 x (0.18 x 9.00 - 1) = +$6.20 |
| No difference (11%) | 10 x (0.11 x 9.00 - 1) = -$0.10 |
| Too keen (7%) | 10 x (0.07 x 9.00 - 1) = -$3.70 |
| Your blend (12.5%) | 10 x (0.125 x 9.00 - 1) = +$1.25 |
Two checks come before the bet. First, say the price opened at $12.00 and was cut to $9.00 after acceptances. The market has then moved from 1 / 12.00 = 8.3% to 1 / 9.00 = 11.1% on the same news. Make sure your 11% came from your own read of the form, not the post-acceptance price, or the blinkers are counted twice. Second, the 30% weight on the fix should rest on something you can name, such as the stewards' comment or a trial in the blinkers.
Risk: Betting involves risk. The weights in a blend are your judgement, and even at 12.5% Runner 7 loses 87.5% of the time. There is no guarantee of profit; see responsible gambling for limits and support.
Mistakes people make with gear changes
- Treating first-time gear as a sure improvement. Pricing Runner 7 at 18% ($5.56) makes $7.50 look like a 35% overlay (0.18 x 7.50 - 1 = 0.35). On the blend, that bet is worth 10 x (0.125 x 7.50 - 1) = -$0.63 per $10.
- Reading OFF as bad news. Gear can come off because the problem has gone or because the item did not help, so treat it as neutral until you know which.
- Skipping the barrier aids. A blindfold or barrier blanket going on points to trouble loading or standing in the barrier, and a higher risk of a slow start.
Gear changes in harness racing differ
Harness racing has its own rules and its own gear, so none of the thoroughbred rule numbers above apply. Pacers can race in hopples, the straps that help hold the pacing gait. A thoroughbred's ear plugs must stay in for the whole race, while a harness driver can pull removable ones, which are on Harness Racing Australia's Approved Gear List. Harness Racing Australia says its gear changes become available the day before the meeting (checked 7 October 2026). How to read harness form covers what each harness change can signal, and harness racing betting the code as a whole.
Where B337 fits
B337 is not a form guide or ratings tool, so whether first-time blinkers are worth a point and a half of chance is your call. The Terminal shows the market's side: prices from 40+ bookmakers across racing and sports beside Betfair back and lay. Its price history (flucs) shows how each price has moved. Prices are read on a repeating cycle, not tick by tick, so confirm a price with your bookmaker before you bet.
A free account opens a limited view of the Terminal with live odds; Betfair prices start with Terminal View. Betfair is a trade mark of its owner, and B337 is not affiliated with it. For free and confidential support call 1800 858 858 or visit gamblinghelponline.org.au.
Risk: Betting involves risk. New gear can make a horse race worse as well as better, and a runner whose price is cut on the news can still finish well back. See responsible gambling for limits and support.