In the beginning, the jockey and weight question are most definitely tied!
Regardless of how it displays. When you enter a horse into a race it is assigned a "weight" which is a handicap. Literally, in real life. In short: one horse may be clearly better, but this is known, so to make the race more fair you make that one carry a heavier load. In theory, Frankel or Zenyatta won't win if they have to run with an aircraft carrier strapped (and creatively balanced)
on top of them! Different races have different rules on how they assign the weight carried.The best way to just see it, since you can enter and remove a horse without penalty while still on the declare for race screen:
- enter the horse in a "graded feature" race non-handicap and see it is not based on rating, but on gender and if it has graded wins (it shouldn't if you are starting)
- enter the horse in a selling race and see the weight assigned
- enter the horse in a "handicap" and see the weight is a factor of it's rating compared to others
- enter the horse in a "handicap" of a different rating and see that
The weight carried combines with race conditions and the horse's stats to give you your race result in the simulation. In looking for races, it is a good idea to look for ones where your horse carries less weight. But only if the race is one it might win.
The jockeys as you noticed also have weights. When you enter a race, note the weight assigned to your horse for that race. Make sure the jockey's weight is at or under that number, in whatever system used.