An initial handicap mark will often be the best performance figure that a horse has achieved in (what will usually be) three qualifying runs.
If a horse has a performance figure of 70 on each of its first three races, then it will probably be given a handicap rating of 70. An initial handicap rating is not usually higher than the best performance figure to date and it could be lower if the horse has been below form recently or absent through injury.
It might also be a lower figure if we have doubts about the reliability of that highest performance figure (perhaps due to how that race has initially worked out) or if we think the horse might have been flattered by the result (for example, in a slowly run race).
Sometimes we can allot a horse a handicap rating before it has run three times. In this and in other ways, there are differences between the qualification procedures for Flat and Jump racing, outlined in the sections below
