To read greyhound form, start with today's box and grade, then the dog's record and best time at today's track and distance, its recent runs, splits and comments, and its weight. Each state's controlling body publishes fields and form, and on Greyhound Racing NSW's thedogs.com.au the form string reads oldest to newest, left to right, so a dog showing 3421 won its last start (checked 8 October 2026).
Every figure in a greyhound form guide measures a race already run, so the read is about which figures fit today's race: the same track and distance, a similar grade, a run without trouble. A dog with no runs at today's track and distance, or only trials, has form that says less, so weigh it lightly or leave the race alone.
The top of the entry: box, grade and the dog itself
The first lines describe today's race and the dog:
| Field | What it shows | What to do with it |
|---|---|---|
| Box | The starting box, 1 on the rail out to 8, with a matching rug number | Read it against the dog's run style |
| Rug 9 or 10 | A reserve, which runs only if a starter is scratched and then jumps from that dog's box (GAR rule 85) | Price it only once scratchings close |
| Grade | The class of today's race | A new grade means new company |
| Running trait | How quickly it begins and where it races | A first hint at who leads into the first turn |
| Colour and sex | For example Black D for a black dog, with B for a bitch | Identification |
| Whelped | Date of birth | Age decides masters and veterans races |
| Sire and dam | Father and mother | Breeding, worth most when a dog has few runs of its own |
The running trait has its own codes. Greyhound Racing NSW's legend (checked 8 October 2026) pairs two letters. The first is the running trait: E, G, F, S or R for excellent, good, fair, slow or risky. The second is the starting attribute: R, M, S or W for railer, middle, straight or wide runner, so ER marks an excellent railer. A railer drawn in box 8 or a wide runner in box 1 has to cross the field; the greyhound box draw shows how to measure a box at a track and distance.
Career, track and distance record, and best time
Record lines give starts, then wins, seconds and thirds. With an illustrative career line of 24: 5-4-3:
- win rate = wins / starts = 5 / 24 = 20.8%;
- place rate = (wins + seconds + thirds) / starts = (5 + 4 + 3) / 24 = 50.0%.
Greyhound Racing NSW's form pages count wins inside the place rate, so a dog shown at 10% and 40% has won one start in ten and finished first, second or third in four in ten.
The track and distance record, often written T/D, matters more than the career line, because it counts only runs over today's course. With an illustrative T/D line of 9: 2-2-1, the dog has 2 wins from 9 runs, a win rate of 2 / 9 = 22.2%. One more win would make it 3 / 10 = 30.0%, which shows how much a short record moves with every run.
Beside it sits the dog's best time at the track and distance, and often its best first split there. A dog with no time there shows NBT, for no best time. Best times only compare with other times at the same track and distance, as greyhound sectional times explains, so read a dog's best win times at other tracks as a record of where it has won, not as speed you can set against today's field.
A box history table counts starts, wins and places from each box. A dog with most of its wins from box 1 or 2 that is drawn wide today is a question for the speed map.
Recent runs: placings, splits and comments
The form string is the dog's recent finishing positions in one line; Greyhound Racing NSW's fields show the last four. A letter replaces a placing when the dog did not finish normally, and those fields print F for a fall, so a string such as 362F ends with a fall at the last start.
Each past run then gets its own line. Layouts differ, but most carry these fields:
- the date, track, distance and grade;
- the box it started from and its weight;
- its finishing position, the field size and the margin in lengths;
- its own time and the winner's time;
- its first split, often with the race's fastest first split beside it;
- its positions in running at set points in the race, which vary by publisher: on Greyhound Racing Victoria's FastTrack the last figure need not match the placing;
- its starting price, and the winner's name, or the second's when it won;
- a short comment, compressed from the stewards' report.
Worked: decoding one form line
Example: A made-up form line in a common layout: 2nd/8, Box 6, 30.4kg, Track A 515m, 12/09/26, Grade 5, 30.02 (W 29.88), Mgn 2.00, 1st Sec 5.46 (race 5.30), PIR 542, SP $6.50, ckd 1st turn.
| Field | Reads as | Check or calculation |
|---|---|---|
| 2nd/8 | Second of eight runners | |
| Box 6 | Started from box 6 | Compare with today's box |
| 30.4kg | Weighed 30.4 kilograms | If this was its last race or satisfactory trial, today's weight must sit within 1.0 kilogram of it, or 2.0 after 28 days without either |
| Track A 515m, 12/09/26 | Track, distance and date | Times compare directly only at today's track and distance |
| Grade 5 | The grade of that race | Is today's race the same grade? |
| 30.02 (W 29.88) | Its time, then the winner's | 29.88 + 2.00 x 0.07 = 30.02, so the time and margin agree |
| Mgn 2.00 | Beaten 2 lengths | |
| 1st Sec 5.46 (race 5.30) | Its first split, then the quickest in the race | 5.46 - 5.30 = 0.16 seconds, about 2.3 lengths behind at the first timing point |
| PIR 542 | In this made-up layout, 5th at the first timing point, 4th at the second, 2nd at the finish | It made ground all the way |
| SP $6.50 | Starting price | An implied chance of 1 / 6.50 = 15.4% |
| ckd 1st turn | Checked at the first turn | The time includes the check |
Now the read. Taking the first split from the finish, the dog ran the rest of the race in 30.02 - 5.46 = 24.56 seconds. If the winner was the dog that led at the first point in 5.30, the winner's equivalent was 29.88 - 5.30 = 24.58.
After a middling start and a check, this dog covered the rest of the trip 0.02 seconds quicker than the winner. Its early pace and the check, not its finish, cost it the race, but one line is a sample of one: read the dog's other runs before you form a view.
Race comments and interference codes
Comments condense the stewards' report into short codes, and each form guide prints its own key. The wording falls into four groups:
| What the comment describes | Typical wording | How to treat the run |
|---|---|---|
| The start | quick to begin, slow to begin, turned in the boxes | A slow start makes the first split understate early speed |
| Interference | checked, crowded, bumped, squeezed, collided | The time measures the trouble, not the dog |
| Its running line | railed, raced wide, shifted out | Evidence of its run style |
| A run that went wrong | fell, pulled up, tailed off | Leave the time out of any comparison |
Greyhound Racing Victoria's glossary defines a check as interference that may cost a dog momentum and time, and its results print the stewards' comments under each race. Its grading guidelines, effective 5 August 2026, give four alpha results in place of a placing:
- B: the dog stayed or turned in the boxes, ran last and took no competitive part;
- F: it fell in a racing incident and failed to finish, or finished more than 16 lengths behind the second-last dog after falling;
- T: it tailed off, 16 lengths or more behind the second-last runner;
- P: it pulled up, staying upright but failing to finish for a reason other than a fall.
Greyhound form abbreviations decoded
| Abbreviation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| T/D or TD | Track and distance |
| R/T | Running trait, printed with the starting attribute as a two-letter code such as ER |
| 1st Sec | First sectional, the time to the first timing point |
| WIN or WT | Winning time, the time the winner of that race ran |
| BON | Best of night: the best time run over the same distance at that meeting |
| PIR | Positions in running |
| Mgn | Margin, in lengths |
| WGT | Weight, in kilograms |
| SP | Starting price |
| P/M | Prize money |
| NBT | No best time at the track and distance |
| SCR | Scratched |
| PBD | Preferred box draw, a nominated starting trait approved by the stewards |
The last three come from Greyhound Racing NSW's legend. Greyhound Racing SA's key on its dog statistics pages gives BON as the best time of the night and WT as the winning time (both checked 8 October 2026). Race comment codes also vary between publishers, so check the key your own form guide prints for anything else.
Weight changes and what they can signal
A greyhound carries no weight, so the figure in its form is its own body weight, taken at kennelling. Under the Greyhounds Australasia Rules, effective 1 January 2026:
- the dog is weighed without lead or collar but with its racing muzzle, to the nearest 0.1 kilogram, and the Stewards publish each weight before the race (rule 100);
- if it weighs more than 1.0 kilogram above or below its weight at its last race or satisfactory trial, it cannot run, unless it has had no race or satisfactory trial for 28 days, when the Stewards must permit a variation of up to 2.0 kilograms (rule 101);
- a dog stopped for weight cannot race for at least 10 days, and its trainer commits an offence (rule 101);
- a trainer wanting more than 2.0 kilograms of variation after 28 days must have the dog run a satisfactory weight trial before nominating it (rule 102).
The band runs from whichever came last, the race or the satisfactory trial. With illustrative weights, a dog raced at 31.2 kilograms and ran a satisfactory trial at 31.9 a week later, so within 28 days of that trial its band is 31.9 - 1.0 = 30.9 to 31.9 + 1.0 = 32.9 kilograms. At 30.8 it is stopped, although 31.2 - 30.8 = 0.4 kilograms is well inside 1.0 kilogram of its last race weight. A dog withdrawn at kennelling for its weight becomes a late scratching, and greyhound betting rules covers what that does to bets.
Inside those limits, a change can signal a change in condition, such as a dog back from a break heavier than it raced, or a slow drift across several runs. Check it against the dog's own record. With illustrative weights, a dog ran its three best times at 30.3, 30.5 and 30.4 kilograms and weighs in today at 31.3, which is 31.3 - 30.5 = 0.8 kilograms above the top of its best band. That is a question to weigh with its recent times and comments, not a verdict.
Mistakes people make reading greyhound form
- Reading the string backwards. 8421 on Greyhound Racing NSW's layout is a dog improving to a win; read the other way it looks like a dog sliding to eighth.
- Comparing best times across tracks. Greyhound Racing Victoria's Tier 3 time standards over 425m are 24.3 seconds at Bendigo and 24.4 at Traralgon, (24.4 - 24.3) / 0.07 = about 1.4 lengths apart over the same trip, so measured against them a 24.4 at Traralgon is no slower a run than a 24.3 at Bendigo.
- Taking the place rate as places only. A 50% place rate with a 20.8% win rate means 29.2% of starts ended second or third, not 50%.
- Missing a grade change. A Grade 5 winner stepping up meets quicker dogs, and the greyhound grading system shows how each state moves dogs.
- Rating a checked or crowded run as a clean one, or a trial as a race.
Where B337 fits after the form read
The form read is yours: B337 does not rate dogs or pick winners. Once you have priced a race from the form, the Terminal shows where the market stands, with greyhound prices from bookmakers side by side, exchange back and lay prices, flucs, closing lines and EV overlays.
Counting racing and sports together, it compares 40+ bookmakers, and a given dog race may be priced by only some of them. Its prices are read on a repeating cycle rather than tick by tick, so confirm the price with your bookmaker before you bet. A free account opens a limited view of the Terminal with live odds, and greyhound racing betting covers the bets that follow a form read.
Risk: Betting involves risk. Form is a record of races already run, and past results are no guarantee of future results: a careful read can still price a dog wrongly, and a well-read runner can still lose. There is no guarantee of profit. For free and confidential support call 1800 858 858 or visit gamblinghelponline.org.au, and see responsible gambling.