RACING has a language all of its own and some of it can at first seem quite confusing.
But with a little help you’ll be a dab hand in no time at all.
Times Newspapers LtdLine of Bookmakers at Cheltenham Photograph for The Times by Marc Aspland[/caption]
Here, Sun Racing guides you through some of the more common terms you’ll hear and explains what they mean.
We’ve also thrown in a couple rarer ones too, so you can impress your mates.
Racing jargon buster – A-Z of key terms
Allowance – a deduction in the weight a horse carries in a race, usually as a result of the jockey’s claim, the horse’s sex or age.
Ante-post – a bet placed more than 48 hours before a race. Hugely popular for Cheltenham Festival. Bookies often offer bigger odds but you usually don’t get your money back if your horse doesn’t run.
Bumper – like the Champion Bumper at Cheltenham Festival. This is a Flat race (no hurdles or fences) but for jumps horses, used to give them experience.
Chase – a steeplechase, a race run over fences. A horse who runs over fences is called a ‘chaser’.
Classic – the five big Flat races of the season: the 2000 Guineas, 1000 Guineas, Epsom Derby, Epsom Oaks and St Leger.
Colt – an uncastrated male horse aged four or younger.
Connections – the horse’s owners.
Dam – the mother of a horse.
Dead-heat – a tie between horses who cannot be split.
Declared – when a trainer formally says a horse will run in a race. Declarations generally take place 48 hours before a race.
Fences – the larger obstacles jumped in a chase.
Filly – a female horse four or younger.
Furlong – races are measured in miles and furlongs. The shortest race is over five furlongs. A furlong is an eighth of a mile, or 220 yards.
Gelding – a castrated male horse
Going – the condition of the course. The going could be, for example, good for firmer ground or heavy when it has rained a lot.
Good thing – racing term for a horse considered a ‘banker’, in other words, unbeatable.
Graded/Group races – the highest quality of racing. They are called Graded races over jumps and Group races on the Flat. Grade/Group 1s are the very best races for the best horses.
Handicap – another way of saying the official rating a horse has been given. If a horse wins a race you can expect its rating to go up. If it has a long losing sequence it will come down.
Handicap races – the majority of races will be handicaps. Horses will carry different weights in these races based on their ability. The better horses carry more weight.
Handicapper – the person who decides the official rating of a horse.
Hurdles – the smaller obstacles jumped in a National Hunt race.
Juvenile – a two-year-old horse.
Mare – an adult female horse. A broodmare is used for breeding.
Nap – the best bet of the day. It comes from the card game Napoleon and denotes your best hand.
National Hunt – the official name for jumps racing.
Non-runner – a horse withdrawn from a race for which it had been declared.
Novice – the name given to and a type of race for horses in their first season in that code of racing e.g. a novice hurdler will be in their first season racing over hurdles.
Parade ring – area of the track where horses are paraded before a race.
Plot job – some trainers will work the handicap system to benefit their horse. For example, a trainer may know their horse is better than the rating they have been given, and hold them back to run at the perfect time.
Pulled up – when a horse fails to finish a race after being brought to a halt by their jockey.
Silks – an owner’s colours and used to describe the top a jockey wears.
Sire – the father of a horse. A stallion is a male used at stud for breeding.
Steward’s enquiry – the dreaded bing-bong. A steward’s enquiry is called after a race and is often used to determine if a result should or shouldn’t stand.
Under starter’s orders – when the starter brings the horses into line to start. For betting purposes, this is used as the official start of a race.
Weighed in – a race result is only final once all jockeys have weighed in. The weighing in procedure ensures the horse carried the right amount of weight in a race. Jockeys are weighed before and after a race.
Yard – another word for an owner’s stables.
Yearling – a horse between the age of one and two.
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