Horse racing glossary: racing terms from A to Z

Which racing terms run from A to B?

Public racing records and results from Britain and Ireland.

Several of these terms turn up on every racecard. BF sits beside a horse's name when it was beaten as favourite last time, the letter b in the headgear column means blinkers, and a bumper in a horse's form tells you it began in National Hunt flat races before jumping.

• above 1.00 means a group won more often than its prices suggested
• Accumulator: a single bet on several selections in different races, all of which must win for a return
• All-weather: racing on a synthetic surface such as Polytrack or Tapeta, raced on all year round
• Allowance: weight taken off a horse's burden, such as an apprentice's claim or the allowance fillies get in some races
• Ante-post: a bet struck before the final declarations, often weeks ahead, usually lost if the horse does not run
• Apprentice: a young Flat jockey who can claim a weight allowance until reaching set numbers of winners
• Back: to bet on a horse to win; on an exchange, the opposite of lay
• Beaten favourite (BF): a racecard mark for a horse that started favourite last time and was beaten
• Betfair SP: the exchange starting price, worked out at the off by matching bets placed at SP on Betfair
• BHA: the British Horseracing Authority, which regulates racing in Britain
• Black type: bold print in a sales catalogue for horses that won or placed in Group, Grade or Listed races
• Blinkers (b): headgear with cups that block a horse's rear and side vision to help it concentrate
• Brought down (B): fell because another horse fell or stumbled in its path
• Bumper: a National Hunt flat race with no obstacles, run under jumps rules for young horses before they go hurdling

Which racing terms run from C to D?

The C to D terms cover course and distance marks, race types such as claimers and conditions races, the parts of a pedigree and the margins and marks that appear on results.

C, D and CD are among the most read marks on a card.

• C: a racecard mark for a horse that has won at today's course before
• CD: a racecard mark for a horse that has won over today's course and distance, also written C and D
• Chase: a jumps race over fences, also called a steeplechase
• Cheekpieces (p): sheepskin strips on the side of the bridle that partly limit a horse's rear vision
• Claiming race: a race where any runner can be claimed, or bought, for a set price after the race
• Class: the grade of a British race, from Class 1 at the top downwards, set by prize money and ratings
• Clerk of the course: the official who runs a racecourse on race day and issues the going reports
• Co-favourite (CF): one of three or more horses sharing the shortest price
• Colt: an ungelded male horse aged four or younger
• Conditional jockey: the jumps equivalent of an apprentice, able to claim a weight allowance
• Conditions race: a race where weights follow age, sex and previous wins rather than official ratings
• D: a racecard mark for a horse that has won over today's distance before
• Dam: a horse's mother
• Damsire: the sire of a horse's dam, its maternal grandfather
• Dead heat: two or more horses finishing level on the photo; win stakes are split between them
• Declared: confirmed as a runner at the declaration stage, two days before racing in Britain and Ireland
• Dist: short for a distance, a margin of more than 30 lengths; British judges have recorded margins up to 200 lengths since 2018
• Draw: the starting stall a Flat horse is given, allocated at random once runners are declared
• Drifter: a horse whose price lengthens in the betting before the off

Which racing terms run from E to G?

The E to G terms run from each way, evens and exchange through fell, filly and form figures to going, GoingStick and Group races.

Form figures are the densest code on a card. Numbers are finishing positions, 0 means unplaced outside the first nine, a hyphen separates seasons, and letters record what went wrong over jumps. Reading them right to left starts with the most recent run.

• Each way: two equal bets, one for the horse to win and one for it to place at a fraction of the odds
• Entire: a male horse that has not been gelded
• Evens: odds of 1/1, where a winning stake is doubled
• Exchange: a betting platform where people back and lay against each other instead of against a bookmaker
• Favourite (F): the horse with the shortest price in the betting; JF marks a joint favourite
• Fell (F): a form figure for a horse that fell during a jumps race
• Filly: a female horse aged four or younger
• First-time headgear: headgear worn for the first time, shown on the card with a 1 after the code, such as b1
• Flat: racing without obstacles, run on turf and all-weather tracks
• Form figures: the string of recent finishing positions printed beside a horse's name, most recent on the right
• Furlong: an eighth of a mile, 220 yards or about 201 metres
• Gelding (g): a castrated male horse
• Going: the official description of the ground, from firm to heavy on turf
• GoingStick: a device pushed into the turf that gives a numerical reading of how firm or soft it is
• Grade: the top level of jumps races, Grade 1 highest, then Grade 2 and Grade 3
• Group: the top level of Flat races, Group 1 highest, then Group 2 and Group 3

Which racing terms run from H to L?

The H to L terms cover handicaps and the handicapper, headgear and hoods, race comments such as held up, hung left and keen, and the margins head and length.

Race comments turn a finishing position into a story. A horse that was keen and hung left may have run better than sixth suggests, while one that was held up and not given a clear run may have had more to give. Reading the comment alongside the form figure is the fastest way to spot a run worth noting.

• Handicap: a race where weights are set from official ratings so that, in theory, every runner has an equal chance
• Handicapper: the official who sets and reviews each horse's official rating
• Head: a winning margin of about the length of a horse's head
• Headgear: equipment such as blinkers, visor, hood, cheekpieces or tongue tie, shown by codes on the card
• Held up: ridden towards the rear early in the race to save energy for a late run
• Hood (h): a cover over the ears that muffles noise and helps a keen horse settle
• Hung left: drifted to its left under pressure instead of running straight; hung right is the opposite
• Hurdle: a jumps race over hurdles, smaller and more flexible obstacles than fences
• In-running: anything that happens while the race is being run, including exchange betting after the off
• Joint favourite (JF): one of two horses sharing the shortest price
• Juvenile: a two-year-old on the Flat; over hurdles, a three-year-old in the season it turns four on 1 January
• Keen: racing too freely and fighting the jockey, which wastes energy
• Lay: to bet on an exchange that a horse will not win
• Length: a winning margin of roughly the length of a horse
• Listed race: a race one step below Group or Grade 3 that still earns black type
• Level stake: the same stake on every run, used to measure profit and loss fairly
• LTO: last time out, meaning the horse's most recent run

Which racing terms run from M to O?

The M to O terms run from made all, maiden and mare through neck, non-runner and nose to novice, nursery, official rating and overround.

Official rating is the most important number in this group for handicaps. A horse's OR sets the weight it carries, so a horse rated 80 carries more than one rated 70 in the same race, and a rise after a win can make the next race harder. Novice and maiden are about experience rather than ability, and mean different things on the Flat and over jumps.

• Made all: led from the start and stayed in front to the finish
• Maiden: a horse that has not yet won a race; a maiden race is restricted to such horses
• Mare: a female horse aged five or older
• National Hunt: jumps racing, over hurdles and fences, plus bumpers
• Neck: a winning margin of about the length of a horse's neck
• Non-runner (NR): a declared horse withdrawn before the race
• Non-runner no bet: a bookmaker concession that refunds ante-post stakes on horses that do not run
• Nose: the smallest official winning margin
• Not clear run: held up by traffic at a key stage of the race
• Novice: over jumps, a horse that had not won a race of that type before the season began; Flat novice races are for maidens and winners of one or two races
• Nursery: a Flat handicap for two-year-olds
• Objection: a complaint by a jockey or trainer against another runner, heard by the stewards
• Odds-on: a price shorter than evens, where the stake is bigger than the possible profit
• Official rating (OR): the handicapper's measure of a horse's ability in pounds, used to set handicap weights
• Overround: the amount by which a book's implied chances add up to more than one, the bookmaker's margin
• Owner: the person or group who owns a horse and registers its racing colours

Which racing terms run from P to R?

The P to R terms cover pacemakers, the Pattern, penalties and photo finishes, place betting and the Placepot, point-to-points, ratings and Rule 4 deductions.

Penalties and Rule 4 catch out many newcomers. A penalty adds weight to a horse that has won since the race was framed, so a horse can carry more than its rating suggests. Rule 4 reduces the winnings on bets already struck when a runner is withdrawn late, on a sliding scale set by the withdrawn horse's price.

• Pacemaker: a runner used to set a strong gallop, usually for a stablemate
• Pattern: the programme of Group races on the Flat, overseen internationally
• Penalty: extra weight a horse must carry for a win since the weights were set or the race conditions were written
• Photo finish: the camera image at the winning post used to decide close finishes
• Place: to finish in the paid places for each-way or place bets, which depend on field size and race type
• Placepot: a Tote bet to find a placed horse in each of the first six races at a meeting
• Point-to-point: amateur jumps racing over fences, a common starting point for future chasers
• Pulled up (P): a form figure for a horse its jockey stopped before the finish
• Rating: a number measuring a horse's ability, most often its official rating
• Rig: a male horse with one or both testicles undescended
• Rule 4: a deduction from the winnings on bets struck before a late withdrawal, scaled by the withdrawn horse's price

Which racing terms run from S to T?

The S to T terms run from selling races, short head and silks through starting price, steamer and stewards' enquiry to tongue tie, Tote and trip.

Weights are shown in stones and pounds, so 9-7 means nine stone seven pounds, or 133 pounds.

• Selling race: a race after which the winner is offered for sale at auction
• Short head: a winning margin smaller than a head and larger than a nose
• Silks: the jockey's jacket and cap in the owner's registered racing colours
• Sire: a horse's father
• Slowly away: left behind when the stalls opened or the tape rose
• Starting price (SP): the official price of each horse at the off, used to settle most bets
• Stalls: the gates that Flat races start from
• Stayed on: kept up its effort or finished strongly through the closing stages
• Stayer: a horse suited by long distances
• Steamer: a horse whose price shortens sharply before the off
• Stewards' enquiry: an inquiry by the raceday officials into possible interference or a rules breach
• Stone: 14 pounds; weights are shown in stones and pounds, such as 9-7
• Strike rate: wins divided by runs, the same as win %
• Supplement: a late entry fee paid to add a horse to a big race it was not entered for
• Tissue: an early set of prices compiled before a betting market forms
• Tongue tie (t): a strap that holds the tongue in place to help a horse breathe
• Tote: pool betting, where winning bets share the pool after deductions
• Trip: the distance of a race

Which racing terms run from U to Z?

The U to Z terms cover under starter's orders, unseated rider and visors through walkover, weighed in and weight for age to yard, yearling and yielding.

Weighed in is the moment a result becomes official for betting. Until the announcement, a stewards' enquiry or an objection can still change the placings, which is why bookmakers wait for it before paying out on a close finish.

• Under starter's orders: the moment runners come under the starter's control, after which a horse counts as a runner
• Unseated rider (U): a form figure for a horse whose jockey fell off without the horse falling
• Visor (v): blinkers with a slit in each cup that allows some side vision
• Void race: a race declared void by the officials, with bets on it refunded
• Walkover: a race with only one runner, which must still pass the winning post to win
• Weakened: lost ground in the closing stages after being in contention
• Weighed in: the announcement that the placed jockeys have weighed in correctly and the result stands for betting
• Weight for age: the scale of weight younger horses receive from older ones in races open to both
• Well in: running off a rating below what recent form suggests it deserves
• Yard: a trainer's stable
• Yearling: a horse in the calendar year after it was foaled
• Yielding: Irish going between good and soft

Keep reading