Handicapping, in games and sports, is a practice of giving advantage by scoring compensation or any other kind of advantage given to participants for equalizing the chances of winning the race. The word handicapping also refers to different kinds of methods through which the advantage is calculated. A more experienced player is handicapped so that a less experienced player can participate in the sport but at the same time the fairness of the sport is maintained. Handicapping is an important part of horse racing and it takes place in this sport very frequently.

Handicapping in Horse Racing

In horse racing horses carry lead weights during the race, which handicap’s the speed of the horse. Such kind of race is also known as a “Handicap”. These weights add to the jockey’s weight, giving the horse his assigned impost. The jockeys have pockets in their saddle pads which are known as lead pads to carry the lead weights. Different weights are assigned to different jockeys by the racing secretary, which are based on various factors such as performance and distance. Admiral Rous, who was a steward of a jockey club, introduced the weight for age scale, on the basis of which handicapping is commonly done.