Horse Racing Glossary

Horse race betting is one of the oldest forms of sports gambling still in existence today. Therefore, it should come as little surprise that there is an entire A-Z of unique terms and phrases associated with the sport of Kings. If you’re a novice, let our horse racing glossary guide you around the parade ring so you can avoid Steward’s inquiry when you next have a punt at the bookies.

Horse Racing Betting Terms From A-Z

Jargon Buster & Glossary

• Abandoned: A race which has been cancelled. Normally as a result of poor weather.
• Accumulator: A bet involving more than one horse from different races in which each selection must-win for the punter to receive a payout.
• Across the board: An equal-sized bet on the same horse to win, place, and show.
• Age: How old the horse is.
• Allowance: A weight concession for horses given to novice jockeys to offset their inexperience.
• All-weather: An artificial/synthetic track which is open for racing all year regardless of weather conditions.
• Ante-post: A bet which is made prior to race day and the final declarations.
• Apprentice: The name that is given to trainee jockeys who are working with trainers to gain experience.
• Banker: A term often used to describe the horse that is most probable to win. Many punters believe this is their dead cert.
• Bar: Where the horses with the longest odds on a betting forecast are found. 20/1 Bar means all horses from that point have odds of 20/1 or greater.
• Betting ring: the part of a racecourse where the on-track bookmakers conduct their business.
• Blinkers: A piece of headgear worn by the horse to narrow its field of vision. Used on horses that get distracted by others around them.
• Bloodstock: A term used to talk about a horse’s bloodline so people know who its ancestors are/were.
• Board prices: The odds given by official on-track bookmakers.
• Boxed bet: Often called a ‘boxed trifecta’, this a bet where the punter chooses three horses and they can finish in any order (1st, 2nd or 3rd) for the bet to win.
• Boxed in: A phrase used during a race to identify a horse that has other horses in front and to the side so it has nowhere to move to.
• Burlington Bertie: Bookie lingo for a horse priced at 100/30.
• Canadian: A system bet consists of five selections and is made up of 10 doubles and 10 trebles, plus 5 four-fold accumulators and 1 five-fold accumulator. Total of 26 bets.
• Card: A quick term used to speak about a specific meeting or race.
• Carpet: Bookie lingo for odds of 3/1.
• Chase: A race which is run over fences.
• Classics: Refers to five specific flat races held in the UK: the Derby, Oaks, St Leger, 1,000 Guineas and 2,000 Guineas.
• Clerk of the Course: Name given to the person in charge of the day’s racing at a specific course.
• Colours: Usually, jockeys will wear certain colours which are associated with the stable/owner they are riding for.
• Colt: A horse four years or younger that is yet to be castrated.
• Conditional jockey: The name given to an apprentice jockey (or jockey of that level of experience) who is given permission to jump.
• Co-favourites: The betting title given to two or more horses that have the joint lowest betting odds.
• Connections: Name for the people (trainer, owner, etc) that are connected with a horse.
• Course specialist: A horse that has won, set a good time or performed well (on multiple occasions) on a specific track.
• Dam: The mother of a horse.
• Dead Heat: Involves two or more horses crossing the line at the same time.
• Double: A bet of two selections from separate races. Both horses need to win for the bet to payout.
• Declared: Notification from the trainer which tells the relevant authorities that his/her horse intends to run in a certain race.
• Draw: The number on the stall where a horse begins the race (flat only).
• Drifting: Betting odds that are getting longer because the horse is unfancied.
• Each way: A two-part bet covering the win and the place.
• Even money: Betting term for a horse that is priced at 1/1, so the punters wins an equal amount to the sum bet.
• Exacta: Also known as a forecast. This is a bet where you pick two horses in the same race. One must finish first and the other second in the correct order.
• Favourite: The horse with the lowest betting odds.
• Filly: Name given to a female horse that is four years or younger.
• Form: Refers to a horse’s previous race history.
• Furlong: This simply means ⅛ of a mile.
• Gelding: A castrated male horse.
• Going: This term refers to the condition underfoot on the racetrack.
• Goliath: An eight selection, 247 separate system bet.
• Group Race: the highest level of horse races, which feature the best horses.
• Handful: Bookie lingo for a horse priced at 5/1.
• Handicap: type of race in which horses can carry different weights to even things out.
• Handicapper: The person in charge of deciding the handicap weights for horses.
• Hurdles: The obstacles used in a hurdle race. These are not as tall as fences.
• Lucky 15: a kind of bet. It consists of 15 bets over four different selections. It has four singles, six doubles, four trebles and a fourfold accumulator.
• Joint Favourites: Same as co-favourite (above).
• Jump racing: Refers to a race over fences or hurdles.
• Juvenile: A two-year-old.
• Maiden: Name used for a horse that is yet to win.
• Monkey: Cockney slang for £500
• Nap: A tipsters’ best bet of the day. The one he/she thinks has the best chance of winning.
• National Hunt: Another name for races over jumps.
• Nursery: A handicapped race for two-year-olds and below.
• Objection: Relates to a jockey making a formal complaint about another jockey.
• Odds on: When the price is below evens. Therefore, your winnings are less than the amount bet.
• Off the Bridle: Means that a horse is not travelling well during the race.
• Open ditch: A fence or hurdle with a ditch in front (before the jump).
• Outsider: A horse that is unfancied to win.
• Pacemaker: The horse(s) that set the race pace early on, usually as a tactic to help a stable companion.
• Paddock: Part of the racecourse where the horses parade around before their race.
• Photo finish: The photo taken at the end of a race to determine the winner if impossible to judge with the naked eye.
• Plate: The name for the racing shoes worn by horses.
• Racecard: The card listing the day’s races, runners and riders.
• Rule 4: The rule which is used if a horse withdraws close to the start time which doesn’t allow bookies to adjust their odds.
• Roof: Bookie lingo for odds of 4/1.
• Selling race: After the race, the winner is sold off at auction.
• Sire: Father of a horse.
• Sprinter: Name for a horse that completes in race flats of 6 furlongs or less.
• Starting price: Each horse’s odds just as the race begins.
• Steward’s inquiry: This is when the race stewards check a race for an offence which may have altered the outcome.
• Thoroughbred: The type of horses which are most commonly used for horse racing.
• Tic tac: Hand signals used by on-track bookmakers to signal odds to punters and each other.
• Trixie: A system bet made up of three selections and four separate bets (3 doubles and 1 treble).
• Under starter orders: The seconds before the gun goes off and the race starts.
• Xis: Bookie lingo for odds of 6/1.
• Yearling: Name given to a horse under 1 year old on January 1st.