Glossary of racing terms A-F

Not sure about the lingo?

Don't know the difference between a bridle and a brood mare? A farrier to a steward?

Here’s an A to Z guide to give you a better understanding of all those racing terms:

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A

Acceptor

A horse that has been declared by the owner or trainer to run in a race.

All clear

Also known as 'correct weight'. Horses are given specific weights to carry depending on the type of race they are in (handicap, welter, weight-for-age, etc). The weight allocated can be based on the age, sex, and/or experience of each horse.

The riders of the first five horses past the post have to be weighed in after each race to ensure that they carried the allotted weight. The weight carried includes the jockey, gear (saddle, etc) and any lead that is required to make up that weight.

Protests must be lodged by riders before "correct weight" is announced by the Course Broadcaster. This is announced after the Stewards have indicated that the weights carried were correct and that there is no protest.

Also ran

A horse that ran in a race but did not earn prize money for that run.

Anti-rearing bit

Commonly called a "rearing bit". This is a circular-shaped bit with three rings and a dip at the top used when leading horses. The dipped section goes inside the mouth, and the rest of the bit lies under the jaw. The bit is attached to the head collar.

Racehorses on racecourses must be led with bits in their mouths (with a head collar with a rearing bit or a bridle) for safety.

Apprentice

Junior jockey normally aged under 21. Apprentices are given weight allowances, or claims, depending on the number of races they have won.

Apprentices must have a minimum of five winning rides before being eligible to ride in the metropolitan area and they must have permission to ride in jumping races.

Apprentice allowance

A reduction in the weight to be carried by a horse if it is ridden by an apprentice jockey. Often called a "claim".

In the Victorian metropolitan area, apprentices who have ridden less than 20 winners claim 3 kg; more than 20 but less than 40 claim 2 kg; and more than 40 but less than 60 claim 1.5 kg. When apprentices have ridden more than 60 winners there is no claim permitted in the metropolitan area. In a number of specified races, including most group and listed races, apprentice riders cannot claim.

In the country, apprentices who have ridden less than 20 winners claim 3 kg; more than 20 but less than 50 claim 2 kg; and more than 50 but less than 80 claim 1.5 kg. When apprentices have ridden more than 80 winners there is no claim permitted in the country. This includes all races.

Australian Stud Book

Registry of thoroughbreds, maintained in each country where thoroughbreds are raced. In Australia the Australian Stud Book is administered by the Australian Jockey Club in Sydney and is jointly owned by the Victoria Racing Club.

B

Bandages

These are used for support, or for protection against injury, when horses are exercised, transported or during a race.

Barriers

A set of gates used to keep horses in line before the start of a race. Each horse has a barrier allocated in the barrier draw for the race.

Binoculars

An instrument used to magnify images at a distance. Used by race callers to see horses during a race.

Bit

A bar (usually made of stainless steel) which sits in the horse's mouth and is attached to the bridle. It is attached to the reins, jockeys use the reins and bit to steer and control the horse by applying pressure to the reins.

Bit lifting device

This is generally fitted to keep the bit high and stable in the horse's mouth.

Sometimes trainers fit the device for horses that have a tendency to get their tongue over the bit or to distract the horse so that the horse focuses on the device and rider rather than become distracted.

Bleeder

A horse that suffers from bleeding (exercise-induced pulmonary haemorrhage). It occurs when the lungs of horses pre-disposed to bleeding are under pressure which causes small capillaries that surround the lungs' air sacs to rupture so that the lungs bleed. The horse will bleed from the nostrils. The first time a horse bleeds it is banned from racing for three months. If it bleeds in a race after that, the horse is banned for life as it could be dangerous to other competitors.

Blinkers

Used to limit a horse's vision to prevent the horse from reacting to incidents during a race and to generally improve concentration. They can be used on one or both eyes.

Bridle

The equipment used on the horse's head, it includes the bit and the reins and is usually made of leather or PVC.

Broken-down

When a horse has a serious injury that will prevent it racing (temporarily or permanently), usually of the legs.

Brood mare

A female horse used to produce foals.

C

Checked

When a horse's path is blocked, causing it to change stride, slow down or change direction.

Cheekers

Rubber attachments to a bridle to prevent the bit slipping through a horse's mouth.

Classic

A championship race for horses (usually of the same age group) at set weights.

Classifications/Ratings

A system used to compare top class horses between countries and years. A handicapping panel assesses horses that have finished in the first six in a Group 1 race, or the first four in a Group 2 or 3 race and allocate weights for those horses in the categories of sprint, middle-distance, intermediate and staying.

Clerk of the Course

The Clerks of the Course assemble the horses in a race into numerical order in the saddling paddock and then escort the horses to the mounting yard. The Clerks of the Course also escort the winning horse back to the mounting yard at the completion of the race. It is traditional that the clerks’ horses are grey in colour but it is not essential. The Clerks themselves wear traditional ‘pink’ riding jackets and need to be accomplished riders.

Colour

Three are six horse colours acceptable to the Australian Stud Book, these are bay, black, brown, chestnut, grey and white; and six combined colours are allowable, these are bay/brown, brown/black, grey/bay, grey/black, grey/brown and grey/chestnut.

  • Black: Black hairs are general throughout the body coat, limbs, mane and tail. Hairs of other colours are not present but white hairs may be present as markings, flecking or ticking.
  • Bay: The colour of the body coat may vary from a dull red brown to a yellow brown, approaching chestnut. The mane and tail are always black, as are the points, that is the lower parts of the legs, the muzzle and the tips of the ears.
  • Brown: Black hairs are general throughout the body coat, limbs, mane and tail, but brown hairs are present on the muzzle, the eyelids and often on the flanks. The descriptions "bay or brown" and "brown or black" are acceptable for horses which may be difficult to describe precisely.
  • Chesnut: The colour of the body coat and limbs may vary from a light washy yellow, through golden and reddish shades to a dark liver. The mane and tail may be darker or lighter than the body coat, while the lighter coloured chestnuts can have a flaxen mane and tail.
  • Grey: The body coat consists of an uneven mixture of chestnut or brown or black hairs and white hairs. The horse's coat does not contain grey hair. The foal has coloured hair at birth but with increasing age white hairs replace the coloured hairs to produce an appearance of grey. The white hairs usually appear first on the face and eventually the whole coat can appear white. The transitional stages between the coloured coat and the white coat can be described as grey-chestnut, grey-bay, grey-brown or grey-black. The mane, tail and points of a young grey horse contain a higher proportion of coloured hairs than the body coat.
  • White: This colour is not well defined in the thoroughbred and is very rare. The foals are born white, or predominantly white. Coloured hairs may be present on the poll, ears, or the tail. Tufts or patches of coloured hair may be present on the body. Some white horses have blue eyes.

Colours

The colours (silks) worn by the jockey in a race. These must be registered and are usually those of the Trainer or Owner/s of each horse.

Colt

An entire male horse under four years of age, not yet fully mature. From four years, known as a horse, entire or stallion.

Conditions

The eligibility requirements for horses to run in a particular race.

Country course

A course other than a metropolitan course.

D

Dam

The mother of a horse.

Dead heat

When two or more horses tie for any placing.

Derby

A championship classic stakes event for three-year-old racehorses, named after the Derby Stakes first run in England in 1780.

Document of description

Also known as a passport. This document is supposed to accompany every thoroughbred and includes identification and ownership information for the horse. The Stewards check these for every horse at every race meeting.

E

Each-way

A bet which consists of two wagers. The first is for the selection to win and the second is for the selection to be placed (come in the first two, three or four, depending on how many horses there are in the race).

Even time

Also known as "evens" – a galloper running 200 m in 15 seconds in training workouts. Under race conditions the average time for 200 m is 12 seconds.

F

Farrier

A person who tends to the feet of horses.

Favourite

A horse that has the most support in a given race is called the favourite.

Filly

A female horse under four years of age, not yet fully mature. From four years, known as a mare.

Flying race

A sprint race generally of less than 1,200 metres (eg. a flying welter).

Forecast

A bet that involves correctly predicting the 1st and 2nd past the post in a race. This bet can be reversed - this is referred to as a Reverse Forecast, or reverse exacta with the tote.

Form

The past performances used to give an indication of a horse’s chance.

Furlong

A distance measure of races until the introduction of metrics in 1972. A furlong is 220 yards (1/8th of a mile), which is about 200 m. Formerly races over a mile were also referred to as eight furlong races, whereas since 1972 they are over 1,600m.