Racing Jargon Defined

Each industry has buzzwords and slang of its own. We're just like every other industry in that way, but in very few other ways. Every so often I am reminded that in order for new fans to be educated and understand what talk about without thinking, we have to extend our lingo to them all! This is not a complete list by any stretch but it is a beginning place, and I welcome all suggestions to add to this list.

Age: All thoroughbreds in the Northern Hemisphere celebrate their birthdays on January 1st, regardless of when the foal actually was born. Therefore, it is generally thought better to have a horse foaled closer to the first of the year has a few months growth on other foals born later. A May or June foal is 'giving away' 5 or 6 months to a foal born in January or February.

Apprentice: A jockey who is just beginning his/her career and is required to carry less weight than a journeyman (more experienced) jockey. Also called a "bug" rider due to the one or two asterisks printed after the apprentice's name which appear to be be bugs. One asterisk means the rider gets 5-7 lbs less and the second asterisk means 10 lbs off, with the bug starting at ** (10 lbs off). When a rider wins a certain number of races he gets lowered to the 5 lb weight (as he/she is getting more experienced). He must then win X races before moving onto journeyman status. It is often confusing, but each state where the initial application was made for apprentice riders have their own rules, even though the rider can ride anywhere he chooses.

Babies: Usually referred to any two year old racehorses. Sometimes referred to a three year old especially if they've never trained at the track.

Bleeder: A horse that ruptures tiny capillaries in his lungs or trachea causing the blood to be seen either by visual or microscopic exam. Horses that are known bleeders are allowed to be medicated no sooner than 4-6 hours prerace with Lasix or Salix to control the blood and keep them from bleeding. A horse that bleeds can easily choke on the blood, thereby not being able to breathe efficiently.

Blinkers: The fabric designed to be worn on the face of the racehorse, equipped with sturdy plastic cups behind the eyes that force the horse to focus ahead of him instead of behind him. Without blinkers, a horse can see approximately 180 degrees with each eye. Blinkers are usually held in place by velcro or snaps that hold under the jawbone. They are slipped under the side cheek leathers of the bridle to prevent air trapping, and there are holes in the top for their ears. The colors are usually the same as one or more of the silk colors.

Blow out: This is what a light workout is called. A trainer would instruct the rider to "Break off at the 1/2 (mile pole) and blow out a quarter." That would translate to start galloping faster at the 1/2 and 'ask the horse for some more' in the final 1/4 mile. Not intended to be a timed workout. See next word.

Break Off: When a pony rider leading a racehorse or exercise rider heads towards a particular furlong pole at a normal gallop and then releases the horse in prep for a work. "Break off at the 7/8 pole" would be a phrase you would hear a trainer say.

Breeze: Pretty much the same as a blow out, although breezing is a tad faster and is usually timed and horse is identified to the clocker for an official published work.

Bounce: A horse coming off one or two good races, and especially if the distance or company changes, is likely to throw in a bad race.

Claim or claming race: Not all horses are created equal so there are set 'ranks' at each circuit track where the goal is to group similarly talented horses together without having to put undue stress on a horse by making them run with proven stakes or allowance horses. Claiming means a particular price level, obviously the cheaper the claiming price, the cheaper company (or talent). A claiming horse is therefore available for 'purchase' at any time prior to a set time prior to the race, usually about 10-15 minutes. A licensed owner is required to have the claiming price plus sales tax, if any, on hold in the bookkeepers office with a claim slip properly filled out in order to secure the 'purchase' of the horse. The horse cannot run back for the same price within 30 days of the claim date, he must run for minimum of 25% higher than the price tag. For instance, if the horse was claimed for $4000 he must run for $5000 minimum until that 30 days window has passed. Some trainers have very good luck at the 'claiming box' and are known for turning horses around, some horses are claimed several races in a row or back and forth from the same trainers. Depending on the circuit, a horse can run for $2500 up to $100,000 claiming.

Clocker: A person hired by a racetrack who keeps official workout times of each horse in the morning workouts and who may also keep a hand timed record of each race during performances in case of malfunctioning electronic equipment. Many 'private clockers' are also hired by racing stables and persons wishing to keep an eye out for promising young horses to purchase or horses to wager on.

Colt: An ungelded or "entire" male equine less than five years old. Beginning at age five, he is considered a horse if still left intact (with testicles). Some people refer to all foals as colts, regardless of gender, but with consideration only to the racing form and official program a colt is a male unaltered equine.

Company: The horse(s) a horse works or runs with is considered "company." If you hear a trainer say he needs company for a horse going 5/8, it means he's looking for a work partner for that horse working five eighths of a mile. If a person says "This horse has been chasing better company." it means that the horse has faced tougher competition.

Condition Book: The published races offered in book form by the racing secretary of a given track, several weeks in advance, to allow training up to a particular race. Races are written for ability, claiming price, gender, distance, allowances, 'conditions', stakes, handicaps, etc. A 'condition' is a word used for the description of a race whereby only particular horses are eligible. Example: Purse $31,200. For accredited Oklahoma bred maiden fillies and mares, three, four and five years old. One mile 70 yards. Three year olds 119 lbs. Older 122 lbs.

Dam: A foal's female parent. When you hear the term "she's out of Polly Parrot", the person is referring to the female parent giving birth to a foal. A foal is only considered a full or half sibling if the foal is out of the same mare. Mares generally birth one foal and carry that foal for 11 months. Since stallions can breed to 100 or more mares a year, they are important of course but not considered as strongly as the mare lineage.

Dogs: Sawhorse-type structure that are utilized to lean against the inside rail on days where the track is muddy or it's raining, to prevent horses from working down on the rail, making it deeper than it should be. Workout times that are "around dogs" and approximate the same times as a rail workout are a much better work.

Draw: The finalization of race entries. Post positions are drawn by pulling "pills" or numbers out of a tumbler for fairness. When any number is drawn, it is for post position and then the name of the horse is drawn with it.

Entry: (1) Any horse entered in a race (2) A 'coupled' ownership of more than one horse in the same race requiring the horses to be grouped together for wagering purposes. This varies from state to state. You will see these horses listed in the program as 1 and 1A, or 2 and 2B etc. They do not necessarily correspond with their drawn post positions.

Filly: A female foal under five years of age. At age five, she is considered a mare.

Foal: A filly or colt in the first year of life. A weanling filly or colt is a foal who has been removed from nursing (weaned) from its mother. It is also referred to in the past tense as 'foaled' meaning was birthed from a particular mare. It is a weanling until it turns a year old on January 1.

Fraction: This is referred to points in a race timed by the quarter mile via the stopwatch. For instance: A six furlong set of fractions could include 22.3, 46.1, 101.2 for a final time of 1:12.00. Each 1/4 mile fraction tells the story of the pace of the race. On a very fast racetrack, these fractions wouldn't be considered very fast at all, but would set up a front runner to steal a race.

Furlong: One eighth of a mile. These are always painted green and white horizontal or circular stripes around a vertical marking pole. One eighth of a mile is also 220 yards or 660 feet.

Exotics: Any bet other than a win, place or show. Exactas, trifectas, Pick 4, Pick 6 etc are exotics, which cost little to play initially and the potential for big price payoffs are high.

Gelding: A male horse who has had his testicles removed. A gelding is almost always much more compliant and quiet once his hormones are eliminated. It usually makes a horse very gentle. Gelding is a cheaper procedure and more often done procedure than spaying a female horse, although it is being peformed more and more frequently.

Horse: With regards to gender, a horse is an intact male five years old and older. Any equine is also called a horse. Example: Dk B or Brn H, 2002. A dark bay or brown horse (intact male) foaled in 2002.

Hotwalker: In some circles a hotwalker is a person who receives the horse back from its training regime, holds it while it gets bathed, then walks it and waters it for a period of time (as the trainer dictates) usually 45 minutes to an hour each. In other circles, a hotwalker is a mechanical metal device that has a motor attached in the middle, which drives a 4-arm 'walker' that you clip horses onto for cooling out and exercise. They are separated an equal length apart and cannot come in contact with each other. A snap attaches at the halter for easy on/off of the horses. The better classed racetracks have few mechanical hotwalkers, if any.

Jog (trot): A jog is a two-beat gait that a horse performs where diagonal front and hind legs move in unison. A horse can slow jog on a training day, which will usually be in reverse direction of the racetrack in order to keep him/her in control. A trot has different speeds as well, from slow to very fast. The Standardbred horses trot races instead of galloping or running. The trot is a natural speed gait for a Standardbred, whereas the gallop is not.

Leads (as in, changing leads): Horses have a four beat canter and gallop. In slow motion you can see that when the left front leg reaches out furthest in the stride, so does the left hind leg in its rotation of limbs. Changing leads are important in a horse race. When you see a horse leading in the stretch and suddenly appearing to be shortening its stride, it's often because the horse hasn't switched leads yet. Horses have to be taught that initially by the rider, when to switch. A smart, professional racehorse does it with little encouragement. The best analogy I've ever heard for how to describe lead changing is this: Consider when we used to carry luggage through the airport. We would ever so often switch the bag to the other arm to give the carrying arm a break, and it would feel as if you had renewed strength until it was time to switch back again, and you could carry it further.

Length: A measurement equalling the approximate length of a horse's body horizontally from nose to tail (8-10 feet) to denote a distance between horses at the finish line. Measurements also include portions of a length such as nose, head, neck, 1/2, 3/4 of a length.

Maiden: A horse that has never won a recognized race, regardless of gender.

Morning Line: Each track has a person who is the 'handicapper' for the track, and sometimes it is also the person who is the race announcer. Otherwise there is a person employed as the Odds or Morning Line Maker. It is his/her job to handicap each race and set the morning line odds for each horse in each race, to give bettors a realistic view of how each race SHOULD stack up. Often a horse will be 20 or 30-1 on the morning line and when the horses get to the paddock you'll find he's 9/5. This is simply because someone early on has bet enough money for the opening odds to be severely impacted. It usually is a temporary shift.

Outrider: The man or woman in charge of morning training on the track and at the races. The outider is mounted on a horse that is used to catch loose or wayward horses, jockeys in trouble, or to help settle one down that might be on the edge of throwing a fit or becoming scared and unmanagemable. The outrider is responsible for approving or disapproving applications for exercise riders and pony riders. They are racing officials and can fine people for not following rules. Outriders during the races are responsible for getting the field of horses to the gate on time, catching loose horses, helping aid with one in case of injury.

Overnight: The printed list of horses entered up to 72 hours prior to post. Entries are taken in the mornings at the racing office either in person or by phone. They are then printed in order that they will run complete with position, horse name, jockey weight and jockey name, all on one page for convenience.

Paddock: The enclosure where the racehorses are saddled by a valet and trainer or assistant trainer.

Pole: The painted black/white, red/white, green/white markers that note the distance from the finish line. For instance, the quarter pole is red/white and it marks a quarter mile (440 yds or 1320 feet) from the finish.

Pony: The horse ridden next to the racehorse in the post parade or back and forth from the barn with horses in training in an effort to maintain the calmness of the racehorse, and to save the strength of the jockey. A pony can be of any breed and geldings are used because of their demeanor. Also called Stable Pony.

Post Parade: Presenting the line up of a race to the grandstand on their way from saddling paddock to starting gate (or post).

Post Position: The first slot in the starting gate is the #1 position, closest to the rail. Most racetracks use a 12 horse starting gate, some use up to a 14 horse. Each stall is numbered from the inside post to outside.

Purse (money): The total monetary amount being distributed after a race to the owners of the top five positions. Winner gets 60%, with 20% to second, 11% to third, 6% to fourth and 3% to fifth. Each track might vary slightly from this formula. These days, most horses get at least a minimum starting fee back to the owners to help cover some expenses. For instance all horses at Remington Park Thoroughbred meet receive $75 regardless of where they finish behind fifth place.

Rate: A horse that will allow the rider to control his position easily so that the jockey can decide if the pace is too quick or slow thereby adjusting his position in order to win.

Receiving Barn: The barn allocated by the racing association where live racing is held, to monitor the arrival of the horses for each race. There are time frames that you have to arrive with the entered horse which can be subject to scratch or fine if late or no show.

Saddle Towel (number cloth): In Northern America, all post positions are the same colors from track to track. The colors posted on the tote board are the same as the saddle towels for easy identification. 1) Red, 2)White, 3)Blue, 4)Yellow, 5)Green, 6) Black, 7)Orange, 8)Pink, 9)Turquoise, 10)Purple, 11)Gray, 12)Lime, 13)Brown, 14)Maroon, 15)Khaki, 16)Copen Blue, 17)Navy, 18)Forest Green, 19)Moonstone, 20)Fuschia. Generally the only time you'll see more than 14 horses is in the Kentucky Derby.

Scratch: To withdraw a horse from a race, either 48 or 24 hours before post time, or a late scratch just up to post time. A veterinarian scratch is given due to injury, flipping in the gate, or lameness. A steward's scratch is given because of a variety of issued such as licensure of owner or trainer, ineligible horse, failure to have required works, or gate approval etc.

Silks: The colors worn by the jockey representing the color scheme chosen by the owner of a horse. Sometimes the trainer has his own silks that he uses in which case an owner doesn't need to provide any. Some tracks use "house silks" in which the silks match the colors of the saddle towels (and post positions) and are owned by the racetrack.

Sire: A foal's male parent. When a person says "This horse is 'by' so and so" they are referring to the sire.

Starter: The person who holds the push button starting device that opens the starting gate for racing or morning training. He is responisble for approving first time race horses, as well as 'schooling' of horses that have acted up prior or been scratched because of a flip, poor or delayed start. Much training is involved in getting a horse used to a starting gate and then asked to jump out and start running when the gates open. Assistant starters are the extra men positioned at the starting gate to lead horses into gate, close doors behind the horses, help straighten out a figety horse, rescue a jockey who's horse has reared up and dislodged the rider.

Stirrups or Irons: The metal or aluminum devices attached to leather straps that the jockeys or exercise riders put their feet into. The straps are ajustable in length to accommodate the different riders.

Tack: The leather or nylon equipment that a horse wears to train which include saddle, pad, towel, bit and bridle, girth, noseband, figure 8, tongue tie, martingale or rings. The minimum are bit, bridle, saddle and girth.

Test Barn: The barn that any post-race testing is done. It is staffed by a State employed Veterinarian and assistants. They acquire blood and/or urine samples to send to the state approved labs to detect any non-accepted medications or overages of legal medications. Samples are signed, dated, bar coded and stored in refrigerants throughout processing, and there is a definite chain of custody involved in handling of these samples.

Tongue Tie: A strip of cotton fabric about 12-18" long designed to wrap once around a horses's tongue and tied beneath chin in an effort to keep them from playing with their tongues and preventing them getting it over the bit, which makes a horse very hard to control. Also it prevents a horse from "swallowing" their tongue. This is in actuality, not possible because their tongues are attached underneath like ours are, but doesn't allow it to clog up the esophagus by flopping around or being played with. A tongue tie is applied after being thoroughly wetted.

Two-minute Lick: A fast gallop but not quite at working speed. It takes two minutes to gallop one mile. Top horses can run a mile in 1.34-35 depending on the track.

Washy or washed out: A horse who is sweating prior to race and/or during post parade. Usually nervous and obviously so, but some horses can be washy and not exhibit any anxiety. Important to gamblers if horse is suddenly washy and has never been, or the reverse.

Weight: The pounds required by any racehorse to carry to the gate and for the full race. The weight is compiled by the rider, his equipment and saddle. Often times a rider must also use lead weights to make up the difference between the stated weight and his own. There are pocketed saddle pads used that hold lead weights in place. You might hear a trainer say "Make sure you get the bug" meaning when entering, remember to claim the weight allowance.

Workout: The timed morning (or training) workout recorded by clockers and published in the official racing form and/or track program. A workout is termed differently than normal training, in which a horse is merely exercising at a non-timed rate either galloping, jogging or ponying.