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UK Horse Racing Terms And Phrases
We all go through a time when we know very little or nothing at
all about some things and we find ourselves in the dark when
confronted by certain terms or phrases that we can't easily make
sense of. One such area that this can be true is in horse racing
and people who haven't been to a race before might find
themselves hearing certain phrases that might leave them
scratching their heads in bemusement. Knowing what some horse
racing terms in the UK may mean can help a person grasp what is
going on faster and find themselves understanding what is going
on if they are armed with a few choice phrases that are commonly
used in these events.
One of the terms you may find funny or confusing are the
prefixes used before the names of amateur riders. Depending on
an amateur rider's status when it comes to how long they have
been riding, you may see a Mr., Captain or even a Mrs. Prefix on
race cards. A horse that is “backward” is actually a horse that
still needs to mature or is not considered fit enough to
compete. A “Dam” is not a barrier that holds water back but is
actually what a horse's mother is called while a “Gelding” is a
horse that has been castrated.
There are a lot of terms you can learn online with a little
search. You can get yourself acquainted with certain horse race
betting terms like “Evens” where your previous bet of £10 earns
you the same amount when you win. When you say “accumulator”,
you are actually referring to a previous win being placed on
another bet and when you say “odds on”, you are actually winning
less than your original bet, like a £4 bet may win you only £2.
There are also betting terms like “monkey” which is a term used
for a £500 bet, a “pony” which is not meant to mean a small
horse but is actually a £25 bet or “jolly” which is a term used
when you are betting on the horse that is favoured to win or has
the lowest odds.
Aside from these betting terms, there are also course and race
terms that may easily confuse the neophyte race spectator. Terms
like “furlong”, which is a unit of measurement used on
racetracks and is equivalent to one-eighth mile or 220 yards, is
commonly heard here along with “paddock” which is the place
where horses are paraded before and after a race or a win.
Another term you might hear when it comes to race tracks is the
term “going” which means the condition the track is in. “Going”
reports can state that a track is Heavy, soft, firm, good or
somewhere in between.
Horses' ages are also subjected to similar race jargon. When you
say that a horse is a “juvenile”, it means the horse is
approximately 2 years old. A “colt” or a “filly” is a male or a
female horse respectively that is four years old. A “mare” is a
5 year old female horse and a “yearling” is a horse of any
gender that is a year old.
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