Reading the Pre-Race Brief
When the Pre-Race Brief fires, its seven sections, confidence ratings, and how to use it in your trading process.
What is the Pre-Race Brief?
The Pre-Race Brief is an automated structural analysis of each race market, generated by Claude Opus approximately 3 minutes before the scheduled off. It is designed to give you a concentrated, structured view of the trading environment at the point when the market is typically approaching its most active pre-race phase.
The Brief appears automatically in the AI Intelligence panel (or the AI tab on mobile) for the race you currently have open. You can also access all Briefs for today's card at /trading/signals.
When it fires
The Pre-Race Brief fires at approximately T-3 minutes (3 minutes before the scheduled off). It is triggered by the market's own internal clock, not by any action on your part. If you open a race after its Brief has been generated, the most recent Brief is displayed with a timestamp.
If the race starts significantly late, the Brief will have been generated 3 minutes before the scheduled off — not before the actual start. This is normal. Read the Brief alongside the Liquidity Interpreter's continuous notes to account for any late changes.
The seven sections
Race Profile
A brief characterisation of the race type, field size, and typical market behaviour expected for this class of race. Provides structural context before the price analysis begins.
Liquidity
An assessment of total matched volume at the time of generation, the distribution of liquidity across the field (concentrated in favourites vs spread across the field), and whether liquidity levels are typical or anomalous for this race type and time window.
Volatility
A read on recent price movement — whether prices have been stable, trending, or subject to sharp spikes. High volatility in the pre-race window often indicates either genuine information arriving in the market or large-order activity creating temporary distortions.
Trading Environment
A qualitative characterisation of how the market feels to trade at this moment: whether the spread is tight or wide, whether the order book is deep or thin, whether it favours scalping, swing trading, or neither.
Watch List
Specific runners flagged for structural reasons — unusual price behaviour, disproportionate liquidity accumulation, or order book imbalances that stand out from the rest of the field. This is not a selection; it is a list of runners worth monitoring for structural interest.
Risk Flags
Potential hazards identified in the current market state: suspended price activity, very thin liquidity, unusually wide spreads, or any structural characteristic that suggests elevated risk for pre-race trading.
Verdict
A summary confidence rating and overall characterisation of the market's suitability for pre-race trading. Ratings range from Low to High confidence. A low-confidence verdict suggests the market structure is unclear or anomalous; a high-confidence verdict suggests the Brief's characterisation of the market is based on clear, stable signals.
How to use the Brief
The Pre-Race Brief is a structured read, not a trading instruction. Use it as a checklist: does your own observation of the market align with what the Brief describes? If the Brief flags thin liquidity in the Watch List section and you notice the same, that is confirmation. If the Brief describes a stable, high-liquidity environment but the ladder looks erratic to you, trust your direct observation and treat the discrepancy as a reason for caution.
The Verdict confidence rating tells you how coherent and stable the Brief's signals are — it does not predict trade outcome.