Horse Racing is one of the only sports in the world where it’s important you understand the terminology because if you don’t, you might find that you’re completely lost. Over the hundreds of years that horse racing has been around there has been a long list of terms used around the tracks. In order to ensure that you’ll be able to understand what is going on at the tracks or online you should read our list of terms.
The terms above will cover most aspects of horse racing including betting terms. I haven’t included some of the more general terms because they are not really used. If you ever come across a term that you can’t find the definition for, just ask us and we’ll send you the definition.
Throughout the history of horse racing, there have been proposals as to how better to start a race. A commonly used starting system for horse races was devised in the mid nineteenth century by Admiral Rous, a steward of the Jockey Club and public handicapper. A starter, standing alongside the jockeys and horses, dropped his flag to signal the start. An assistant some 100 yards down the course raised a second flag to indicate false starts.
An official starter might be well paid, but his duties were very demanding. Early in the twentieth century, he was supported by perhaps a single assistant who primed the spring-barrier, as well as the clerk of the course. In the present day there are many attendants to steady runners from super-structured barrier stalls.
The inventor of the electric starting gate for horse racing is credited to Clay Puett, who was a rider and starter at various tracks in the American West. Puett's device replaced other starting methods which often failed to produce a fair start, with extra judges employed to catch horses who got a jump on the rest of the field.
Description: Bugle call to bring the horse to the starting gate. The starting gates open, a bell rings, and the horses are out and running.
Appendix II: Six Simple Steps to Picking a Winner{5}
The pictures of the form below will be used to help explain a racing form and assist in selecting a horse to bet on.
Step 1: Recency
Recency refers to the dates a horse raced recently. A horse racing at regular and consistent intervals is probably fit and prepared. Conversely, a horse that has gone extended periods of time without a race may be coming off an injury or sickness and may not be in tip-top condition.
Step 2: Beyer Speed Figures
This is considered to be a powerful tool in helping select a winner. It measures how fast a horse can run, taking into account how fast the surface was on a given day. The higher the Beyer Speed Figure number, the faster the horse.
Step 3: Probable Race Odds
The probable race odds are calculated by the amount of money bet on each horse in each race. The "favorite" is the horse that has had the most money wagered on it to win, while the "long-shots" have had the least money wagered on them.
Odds, like 4-1 for example, mean that for every dollar wagered, you'll get a $4 profit (if your horse wins). A "$2 to win" bet on a 4-1 horse will get you a $10 return (an $8 profit plus your original $2 investment).
When you see a green box around a horse's odds, it denotes that the racetrack is predicting the horse will be the favorite for the race—the horse who the public thinks is most likely to win, but whose payout will be the lowest if it does!
Step 4: Career Box
This information has been simplified to include the total number of starts, wins, and second and third place finishes under the following easy to understand categories:
1. Lifetime - includes every race that the horse has run during its entire career.
2. At this Distance - includes only races on that surface; either all turf races at that distance, or all main track races (dirt and synthetic combined). (All races are four furlongs long.)
3. At this Track - includes every race that the horse has run on the surface at the specific track that it is competing at today.
4. This year - includes every race run during this calendar year.
Step 5: Where did he finish last race?
The "finish" area of the past performance shows a horse's three most recent race results. This is a good indicator that the horse is competitive and will likely live up to its previous races.
Step 6: Running Styles in DRF EasyForm
The EasyForm provides running style information to give a sense of where they are typically positioned in a race. Here are the various running types displayed in EasyForm:
Frontrunner - A horse who uses his speed early to run on the lead.
Near the front runner - A horse who typically likes to be positioned near the frontrunner, so that if the frontrunner tires, he has an easier path to victory.
Middle of the pack - A horse who typically runs somewhere near the middle of the field for the first part of the race and tries to make a run to the lead in the second half of the race.
Comes from behind - A horse who typically reserves his energy through the early and middle stages of a race and tries to use a late burst of speed to run past the tiring horses in front.
Versatile - A horse who has shown the ability to succeed while using different running styles in different races.
Uncompetitive - A horse who hasn’t established a successful running style in his previous races.
Appendix III: Report on the Abuse of Horses in Racing{6}
Horses can be described as weighing at least 1,000 pounds, have legs supported by ankles the size of a human’s, and are forced to run around dirt tracks at speeds of more than 30 miles per hour while carrying people on their backs. Racehorses are the victims of a multibillion-dollar industry that is rife with drug abuse, injuries, and race fixing. Many of these racing horses end up in a slaughterhouse.
A New York Daily News reporter once remarked, “The thoroughbred race horse is a genetic mistake. It runs too fast, its frame is too large, and its legs are far too small. As long as mankind demands that it run at high speeds under stressful conditions, horses will die at racetracks.”
Racehorses can cost millions of dollars and are often purchased by syndicates, which may be composed of thousands of members. Because of so many trainers, handlers, veterinarians, and jockeys involved, a horse is rarely able to develop any kind of bond with one person or even with other horses. They are constantly traveling, so few horses are able to call one place “home.”
Horses begin training or are already racing when their skeletal systems are still growing and are unprepared to handle the pressures of running on a hard track at high speeds. Between 700 and 800 racehorses are injured and die every year. Horses do not handle surgery well, and many have to be euthanized in order to save further veterinary fees and other expenses for horses who will never race again.
Given the huge investment that owning a horse requires, reported one Kentucky newspaper, “simply sending one to pasture, injured or not, is not an option all owners are willing to consider.” Care for a single horse can cost as much as $50,000 per year. It’s far cheaper to sell the horse to a slaughterhouse.
Many racehorses become addicted to drugs when trainers and even veterinarians try to keep them on the track when they shouldn’t be racing.
A former Churchill Downs public relations director stated: “With so much money on the line, people will do anything to make their horses run faster.”
In a commentary on the racing industry, a reporter for the Philadelphia Daily News remarked, “It is not something they talk about much in their advertising, but horses die in this sport all the time—every day, every single day.”
Help phase out this exploitative “sport.” Refuse to patronize existing tracks, work to ensure that racing regulations are reformed and enforced, lobby against the construction of new tracks, and educate your friends and family members about the tragic lives that racehorses lead.