--- title: "ORC +/-: how the handicapper has… — RatingTheRaces Support" description: "ORC +/- adds up how far the handicapper has moved the marks of a race's runners since, a quick read on whether that race has worked out strong or weak." url: https://ratingtheraces.com/understanding-the-ratings/orc-plus-minus/ date_modified: "2026-09-14" --- [Help Centre](https://ratingtheraces.com/support/) / [Understanding the Ratings](https://ratingtheraces.com/understanding-the-ratings/) /ORC +/-: how the handicapper has rated a race's runners since # ORC +/-: how the handicapper has rated a race's runners since Concept premium / professional new The handicapper reassesses every horse after it runs. ORC +/- totals those moves for a whole field, so you can see whether a race has since been rated as better or worse than it looked. When a race turns out to be strong, its runners go on to win and the handicapper puts their marks up. When it was weak, their marks come down. **ORC +/-** on a horse's history page adds all of that up for you, race by race. ## What it measures For each runner in that race, take its **official mark today** and subtract the mark it **ran off** that day. ORC +/- adds those moves together, in pounds. - **A positive figure, filled green**: the handicapper has **raised** the field overall. The horses from that race have been rated up since, a sign it was a strong race. - **A negative figure, filled red**: the field has been **dropped** overall, a sign the race was weaker than it looked. - **No fill**: the rises and falls cancel out. ## Like for like Marks are compared **code for code**, because Flat, All-Weather, hurdles and chases are separate handicap ladders: a Flat race uses each runner's current Flat mark, a hurdle its hurdle mark, and so on. A runner that ran unrated that day, or has no mark in that code now, is left out. A bumper has no official marks, so it has no figure. ## Only once the handicapper has looked again A runner only counts once it has a **new mark** since that race: it has run again in that code, or the handicapper has published a fresh assessment of it. Straight after a race nobody has been reassessed, so the cell stays blank rather than showing a misleading 0, and it fills in as the field is re-marked. It also stays blank for old races whose runners have all retired. ## Excl: the same figure without this horse Next to it, **ORC +/- (Excl)** does the same sum with the horse whose history you're reading **left out**, so only the other runners' moves count. If this horse has gone on to win and shot up 15lb, the normal figure carries those pounds; the Excl figure shows whether the rest of the field has been rated up too. It stays blank until at least one of the other runners has a new mark. [![ORC +/- beside ORC +/- (Excl) on a horse's history: one race reads +3 with its Excl cell blank](https://ratingtheraces.com/help/orc-plus-minus/1-history-excl.webp)](#zoom-help-orc-plus-minus-1-history-excl) [![ORC +/- beside ORC +/- (Excl) on a horse's history: one race reads +3 with its Excl cell blank](https://ratingtheraces.com/help/orc-plus-minus/1-history-excl.webp)](#close) In the example above, the race showing **+3** has a blank **(Excl)** cell. The only runner from it the handicapper has reassessed so far is the horse itself, so the whole +3 is its own rise, not the field's. ## Hover for every runner Hover the cell for the full picture: the total in pounds, how many of the runners could be compared, and each runner with the mark it ran off, its mark now and the change. Hover an **(Excl)** cell for the same card without this horse. [![The ORC +/- hover: flat marks, +7lb since with 16 of 16 runners compared, then each runner's mark then, mark now and change](https://ratingtheraces.com/help/orc-plus-minus/0-orc-hover.webp)](#zoom-help-orc-plus-minus-0-orc-hover) [![The ORC +/- hover: flat marks, +7lb since with 16 of 16 runners compared, then each runner's mark then, mark now and change](https://ratingtheraces.com/help/orc-plus-minus/0-orc-hover.webp)](#close) ## Reading it with the other columns ORC +/- is the handicapper's view of a race; [Race Win SR and Race Place SR](https://ratingtheraces.com/understanding-the-ratings/race-win-place-sr/) are the results. When both point the same way, a green ORC and a strong win rate, you can trust that the race has worked out. For how an individual horse's own mark has moved, see [Official ratings and mark moves](https://ratingtheraces.com/understanding-the-ratings/mark-moves/), and to see exactly who beat it in each race, [Beaten By / Beating](https://ratingtheraces.com/understanding-the-ratings/beaten-by-beating/). ORC +/- is on horse history pages for Premium and Professional members; on a Free account it shows a padlock. The figures refresh as each history page is rebuilt, so they keep up as the field is re-marked. Was this article helpful? ### Related articles [ ### What do the R figures (R1 to R10) mean? R figures are RatingTheRaces calculated performance figures for each run, R1 is the most recent outing, working back through R2 to R10 for older form. ](https://ratingtheraces.com/understanding-the-ratings/r-figures/)[ ### What do AV3, AV10 and their ranks mean? 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