First-Time Blinkers, Cheekpieces and Wind Ops: Do They Work? (The Stats)

Home › Form Guide › First-Time Blinkers

By The Guv'nor · Last updated October 2026

First time blinkers means a horse is wearing blinkers in a race for the first time, shown as b1 on the racecard. In a full season of UK and Irish racing (1 October 2025 to 30 September 2026), 1,572 first-time blinkered runners won 154 races (9.8%), about 15% more than their starting prices said they should.

Rather than repeat the old saying, I counted. Below: every type of headgear, the second and third time, wind ops and the trainers who use changes most.

What headgear does: blinkers, visors, cheekpieces, hoods and tongue ties

Headgear is kit a trainer adds to help a horse concentrate, settle or breathe. Racecards show it as a small letter next to the horse's weight, and a 1 after the letter means first time.

The descriptions follow The Jockey Club's racing glossary and the Racing Post's jargon buster. So why do horses wear blinkers? To cut out distractions and make the horse concentrate, typically one that's been looking about or not putting it all in. A tongue tie is a breathing aid rather than a concentration aid, and it sometimes goes on at the same time as a wind operation: 149 of the 1,148 first runs after a wind op in my data also had a first-time tongue tie. For the rest of the racecard letters, see my horse racing abbreviations A-Z and how to read horse racing form.

First-time blinkers and other headgear: strike rate and ROI

The data is every UK and Irish race result on Sporting Life from 1 October 2025 to 30 September 2026: 12,988 races and 119,310 runners. Sporting Life counts how many times each horse has worn each piece of kit, and a count of one is the "1" on the card. I matched 99.99% of runners to their Betfair SP from Betfair's published win-market price files.

Three things jump out. First, horses in new headgear win less often than the average runner (9.3% against 10.9%), because they tend to be bigger prices: the median first-time blinkered runner went off at 12/1 against 10/1 for everyone. Strike rate on its own tells you nothing here.

Second, against the price, first-time blinkers and visors were the standouts, both around 15% better than expected. Blinkers were close to break-even at SP, when backing every runner blind lost 26.2%. The BSP figure (+35.3%) leans on some big winners, but taking out the biggest (Pave The Way, BSP 82.4 at Kempton on 14 January 2026) still leaves +30.1%, and both halves of the season came out above 1.10 on A/E.

Third, first-time hoods were poor (0.88), and cheekpieces, the most common change, were priced about right (0.98).

Flat or jumps?

Blinkers held up under both codes. The first-time hood on the Flat was the worst row in that table: 48 winners from 850 runs (5.6%). By age the differences were small, with A/E for any first-time kit running from 0.94 (Flat 3yo, 2,423 runs) to 1.09 (Flat 4yo and older, 2,669 runs).

Where it really split was race type and price. First-time blinkers in handicaps scored 1.20 (1,241 runs) against 0.98 in non-handicaps (331 runs). And the short ones were overbet: first-time blinkered runners under 4/1 won 43 of 189 (22.8%) for an A/E of 0.85, while those at 4/1 or bigger scored 1.33 from 1,383 runs. Across all runners it went the other way (1.05 under 4/1, 0.95 at 4/1 or bigger), which is the usual favourite-longshot bias I cover in value betting in horse racing.

Second and third time: does the effect last?

A/E by how many times the horse has worn the kit (runners in brackets).

The edge is a first-time thing. Second-time blinkers dropped to 0.89 and lost 21.2% at BSP (920 runs). My read: a horse that runs well in b1 gets its price cut next time, and the market overreacts. If that's right, the kit hasn't stopped working; the value has gone. Second-time tongue ties showed the same drop (0.88).

Wind operations: the first run back

A wind op is surgery to help a horse breathe properly in a race. Since 19 January 2018 British racecards have been able to show when a horse is having its first run since wind surgery, after the BHA brought in the declaration. The operations covered are tie back, hobday, epiglottic entrapment surgery, tie forward and soft palate cautery. The marker appears for the first run after surgery only, applies to horses that have raced before, and doesn't say which operation it was. Racing Post shows it as W1 (and W2 for the second run).

Sporting Life's data carried the flag for British races only (none of the 2,730 Irish races had one), so these figures are Britain only: 10,083 races, 85,718 runners. The "second run" is the horse's next run in the same data window (2 of the 925 came in Ireland).

So does a wind op work straight away? Not as a bet. First time back, the 1,148 runners won slightly less than their prices implied and lost 8.5% at BSP, so whatever the surgery did was already in the price. The second run was better (12.8%, A/E 1.06), led by hurdlers at 1.20 from 398 runs, but that's one season, and the bumper rows are too small to read.

Which trainers get the most from a change

These are the ten trainers with the most first-time headgear runners (any kit) in the season. Small samples and hindsight, so read them as a guide to who uses changes, not a system.

James Owen stood out: 21.2% with a change against 15.7% for all his runners, an A/E of 1.64. Further down the list, Olly Murphy (18 from 65, A/E 1.60) and William Haggas (17 from 73, A/E 1.45) did the same. Gavin Cromwell (0.70) and Gordon Elliott (0.87) were at the other end. John & Thady Gosden's first-time runners won only 9 of 58 (15.5%) against 25.9% overall, but at A/E 1.00 the market had them about right. For the bigger picture on yards, see my top horse racing trainers page.

How I use equipment changes

Look, a b1 on the card isn't a bet on its own. I'm essentially a statistics/maths geek, so the only question is whether the change has made the horse more likely to win than its odds say. On these numbers that was most often true of first-time blinkers in handicaps at 4/1 or bigger (A/E 1.35 from 1,114 runs). Wind ops were the other way round: the short-priced W1 runners were about fair (1.03 from 213), and those at 4/1 or bigger were overbet (0.86 from 935).

That suits me. I'm after profit month to month, not a high win rate, and I like outsiders. But more than 90% of first-time blinkered runners lost, so following the angle takes strict points staking (see my horse racing betting strategy). Understanding that losers are a thing is the key to being a winner longer term. If I'm unsure about one, I skip it.

If I am honest, this is one season of results, and an edge this size can shrink once enough people chase it. I'll rerun these numbers each autumn. For where headgear fits in the rest of my form study, see how to pick a winner, and before you build a system on one angle, read horse racing betting systems.

Headgear and wind op questions

What does first time blinkers mean?

The horse is wearing blinkers in a race for the first time in its career. Racecards show it as b1 next to the weight. You'll see the same 1 for other kit, such as p1 for first-time cheekpieces or t1 for a first-time tongue tie.

Do first time cheekpieces work?

In my 2025/26 data they were priced about right: 327 winners from 3,543 runs (9.2%), an A/E of 0.98, and a loss of 9.0% at BSP. They help some horses, but the market already allows for it.

What is a tongue tie in horse racing?

A strap that ties the horse's tongue down so it can't get over the bit or block the airway. It's shown as t on the racecard. First-time tongue ties had an A/E of 1.07 from 2,614 runs, though almost all of the BSP profit came from one winner at a BSP of 160.

What does wind op mean in horse racing?

The horse has had breathing surgery since its last run, such as a tie back or hobday. In Britain the racecard flags the first run afterwards (W1 on the Racing Post).

More in this guide

• How to read horse racing form: a racecard explained
• Horse racing abbreviations A-Z
• Horse racing handicaps explained
• Top horse racing trainers by the numbers
• How to pick a winner: my form-study checklist