A greyhound speed map is a forecast of where each dog will be when the field reaches the first turn, built from its early speed, its box and its run style. Early speed comes from first splits at the track and distance, and the map tells you who will probably lead, who will be crossed or caught wide, and which prices your forecast disagrees with.
Small gaps count. The Greyhounds Australasia Rules (GAR) deem 0.07 seconds of electronic race time to be one length (rule 113). On that scale a dog 0.06 seconds slower to the first timing point is 0.06 / 0.07 = about 0.9 lengths behind. Some punters call the same forecast a greyhound pace map, and the greyhound racing betting hub shows where it sits among the other form factors.
Early speed from first splits
A first split is a dog's time from the boxes to the track's first timing point, and FastTrack, the results service of Greyhound Racing Victoria (GRV), prints one for every runner (checked October 2026).
Read greyhound early speed as a typical first split, not a best one:
- Compare splits only at the same track and distance, because each start's first timing point covers its own stretch of track.
- Use the median of the dog's last three to five clean runs there, and keep its best split as a ceiling.
- Leave out runs where it was slow away, checked or crowded before the timing point, because the split then records the interference, not the dog's pace.
- Convert each gap to lengths: lengths behind = (split - fastest split) / 0.07.
- Give a dog with no split at the track and distance, such as a first starter there, a rough estimate and a wider range of outcomes, not a confident number.
Greyhound sectional times sets first splits beside run home times and finishing times.
Mapping the first turn with box and run style
With early speed ranked, put each dog on the track:
- Line the dogs up at their boxes, box 1 on the rail.
- Move each one forward by its early speed, so a dog 2 lengths slower than the quickest sits 2 lengths back.
- Bend each path by run style: railers angle in, wide runners angle out and middle runners go straight, as greyhound run styles describes.
- Mark every crossing, where one dog's path runs across another's. A dog that has to cross needs to be clearly quicker than the dogs it crosses, or it races wide of them or gets checked.
- Name the likely leader, the realistic alternatives and the dogs likely to be trapped, then give each first-turn scenario a probability.
Who will lead is usually the quickest beginner whose path is clear, which is not always the dog with the fastest split.
Worked: an eight-dog speed map
Example: A hypothetical race, not a real one: eight dogs at Track A over 515m, each with the median first split of its recent clean runs there.
| Box | Run style | First split | Behind the fastest | Map at the first turn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Railer | 5.42 | 0.11 seconds, 1.57 lengths | Holds the rail unless box 3 crosses it |
| 2 | Middle runner | 5.55 | 0.24 seconds, 3.43 lengths | Crossed by box 3, settles behind the leaders |
| 3 | Railer | 5.31 | Fastest | Wants the rail, with boxes 1 and 2 to cross |
| 4 | Middle runner | 5.48 | 0.17 seconds, 2.43 lengths | Midfield on a clear line |
| 5 | Wide runner | 5.36 | 0.05 seconds, 0.71 lengths | Quick and heading out, so it leads the outside |
| 6 | Middle runner | 5.60 | 0.29 seconds, 4.14 lengths | Slowest away and caught behind |
| 7 | Railer | 5.39 | 0.08 seconds, 1.14 lengths | Heading in as box 5 heads out, so their paths cross |
| 8 | Wide runner | 5.51 | 0.20 seconds, 2.86 lengths | Clear run outside, a few lengths back |
Working for box 1: (5.42 - 5.31) / 0.07 = 1.57 lengths behind the fastest.
The fastest beginner, box 3, is a railer with two dogs to cross, but box 1 is only 1.57 lengths slower and already on the rail. Box 5, just 0.71 lengths slower than box 3, is a wide runner heading the other way, into the path of box 7, a railer heading in. That leaves three first-turn scenarios, with probabilities that are your own judgement:
| Scenario | Probability | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| S1: box 3 crosses and leads | 45% | Box 3 clears box 1 to lead on the rail, box 5 leads the outside, box 7 is checked |
| S2: box 1 holds the rail | 35% | Box 1 leads, box 3 sits on its outside, box 5 races wide |
| S3: the inside dogs bump | 20% | Boxes 1 and 3 touch, box 5 leads out wide, box 7 slips through inside |
Why the leader into the first turn matters so much
The leader is the one dog racing in clear air.
The rules keep the lure 5 to 8 metres ahead of the leading dog unless a controlling body publishes otherwise (GAR rule 109), so the leader chases the lure while the rest chase each other. Every check behind it costs time: a check of 0.23 seconds is 0.23 / 0.07 = about 3.3 lengths. The leader also takes the line it wants into the bend, which for a railer on the rail is the shortest way round.
How much leading is worth differs by track and distance, so measure it rather than borrow a figure. At one track and distance, count the races where the dog first at the first point in its positions in running (PIR, printed in official results such as FastTrack's) went on to win. Then check on replays that this first point matches the first turn there.
Example: Hypothetical tally, not a measured figure. In 300 races the dog first at the first recorded point won 117, so 117 / 300 = 39.0%, against an even share of 12.5% in a full field. Its standard error is the square root of (0.39 x 0.61 / 300) = 0.0282, so two standard errors either side gives 33.4% to 44.6%.
Part of that record belongs to the dog, not the position, because better dogs tend to lead more often. To separate the two, compare dogs with themselves: say one dog led in 40 of its runs and won 18 (45%), and won 9 of the 60 it did not lead (15%). The same dog won three times as often when it led.
Using the map in a price
Turn the scenarios into one chance per dog: chance = the sum over the scenarios of (scenario probability x the dog's chance in that scenario). Each scenario column adds to 100%, so the weighted column does too.
| Box | S1 (45%) | S2 (35%) | S3 (20%) | Weighted chance | Fair price | Bookmaker A (illustrative) | Edge = price / fair - 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10% | 38% | 12% | 20.2% | $4.95 | $4.80 | -3.0% |
| 2 | 4% | 4% | 5% | 4.2% | $23.81 | $21.00 | -11.8% |
| 3 | 42% | 18% | 14% | 28.0% | $3.57 | $2.90 | -18.8% |
| 4 | 9% | 9% | 12% | 9.6% | $10.42 | $8.00 | -23.2% |
| 5 | 17% | 15% | 32% | 19.3% | $5.18 | $6.50 | +25.5% |
| 6 | 3% | 3% | 4% | 3.2% | $31.25 | $26.00 | -16.8% |
| 7 | 8% | 6% | 10% | 7.7% | $12.99 | $7.00 | -46.1% |
| 8 | 7% | 7% | 11% | 7.8% | $12.82 | $13.00 | +1.4% |
Working for box 5: 0.45 x 17 + 0.35 x 15 + 0.20 x 32 = 7.65 + 5.25 + 6.40 = 19.30%, a fair price of 1 / 0.193 = $5.18, and 6.50 / 5.18 - 1 = 25.5%.
Bookmaker A's prices add to 1 / 4.80 + 1 / 21.00 + 1 / 2.90 + 1 / 8.00 + 1 / 6.50 + 1 / 26.00 + 1 / 7.00 + 1 / 13.00 = 113.8%.
The map's big disagreement is box 5: the market's $6.50 implies 1 / 6.50 = 15.4%, while the map makes it 19.3%, because in the scramble it is the likeliest leader. Box 7 is the reverse: $7.00 implies 1 / 7.00 = 14.3%, against the map's 7.7%, because its path runs into box 5's.
On $20, box 5's expected value is 20 x (0.193 x 6.50 - 1) = $5.09, an average over many such bets rather than what one race returns. Put your own stake and chance into the expected value calculator to rerun it. Greyhound trifecta strategy builds exotic tickets on a mapped leader.
Risk: Betting involves risk. Every number in the map is your estimate, the scenario weights included, and at 19.3% box 5 is still beaten in about 81 races out of 100. See responsible gambling for limits and support.
When a speed map breaks down
- A late scratching empties a box, so redraw the map: the dogs beside the gap now have room.
- A reserve comes in at the appointed scratching time, a different dog with its own splits in the scratched dog's box.
- A dog misses the start. The map assumes clean jumps, and one slow away changes the shape for everyone near it.
- A dog has never raced the track and distance, so it has no split to compare. With two or more like that, the map is guesswork, so pass on the race.
- On a straight track there is no first turn, so map who leads early and which dogs drift across the track.
- In a preferential box draw race the styles are already sorted from rail to outside (GRV local rule 54A), so there are fewer crossings and early speed decides more.
Mistakes that make a speed map expensive
- Using splits from another track or distance, or a dog's best split in place of its typical one.
- Treating the likeliest leader as certain. Price box 3 from S1 alone and it is 42%, a fair 1 / 0.42 = $2.38, so $2.90 looks like a 2.90 / 2.38 - 1 = 21.8% edge. Weighted over the three scenarios it is 28.0%, and the same $2.90 is 18.8% below fair.
- Ignoring the crossings. Box 7 has the third-fastest split, which looks like a top-three chance until its path meets box 5's.
- Never checking the map. Record whether your mapped leader led: if dogs you gave a 75% chance to lead only led 55 times in 100, your scenario weights are too confident.
Where B337 fits
Drawing the map is your job: B337 compares prices and does not rate dogs.
The Terminal's racing board sets the prices of the bookmakers covering the race side by side on each dog, next to exchange back and lay prices and EV overlays. The overlays estimate each price's value against the exchange market, and they are estimates, not forecasts. The Terminal carries 40+ bookmakers across racing and sports and reads their prices in cycles rather than tick by tick, so confirm the price with the bookmaker before you place a bet. A free account opens a limited view of the Terminal with live odds.
Risk: Betting involves risk. A map that disagrees with the market is a reason to look closer, not proof of value, and EV overlays can be wrong. See responsible gambling for limits and support.