Horse racing is a billion dollar industry which is extremely popular throughout the world. Whether you just enjoy watching the races or you’re an avid punter betting on every race, knowing horse racing terminology makes it easier and it’s a lot more fun when you pick the winner.
These are a few tips and terms used in horse racing terminology that may help you pick more winners.
Favorites
Favorites are the horses that odds-makers or bookmakers feel have the best chance of winning the race. The favorites in any race have the lowest odds when betting. Although favorites may seem to be the best option, many times they are not. The fact is favorites only win one of every three races. Whether you bet for or against the favorite it is important to look at the facts and look at the horses long term history.
Tracks
Racetracks play an important roll in racing because horses perform differently on the various styles of tracks. For example some horses perform better on a turf track as opposed to a hard surface track and vise-verse. A term you will often find in horse racing is bias, which means that the winner was in or near the lead in the home stretch. Most races are won by one of the first six horses on the home stretch, so figure out which horses in a race will hold these positions and this will increase your odds of picking a winner.
Speed Maps
Speed maps are picks or projections of the position that each horse is likely to be in the running of a race. You will find these at many of the Online Racebooks used to place your bets and they can also be purchased from tipsters.
Tipsters
Tipsters are those people who make a living picking winning horses for you. Some of these guys have a good system for picking the winners and others just want your money. As with anything it is important to check the tipsters out closely before opting into their service. If you utilize the information reputable race-books offer you before placing your bets, you will have as much success as the average tipster.
Barriers
Barriers are the starting place for each horse in a race. In Australian racing this is found in guides in brackets after the horses name and in North America this number is on the horses saddle blanket. Barriers are important because they can determine the horses position in the race and their final outcome. Where a horse begins the race can greatly affect their performance in a race.
Form Guides
Form guides will tell you how a horse has preformed in previous races. The best guides will offer you a wide variety of information on a horse including their wins and loses as well as the finishing times of their races.
Times
Times must be considered but other factors in combination will affect this statistic. These include the starting position, the track and how they performed in these variables in the past. When comparing horses times, the rule of thumb is that 1 second equals six lengths.
Weight
Horses are handicapped is by the amount of weight that they will carry in a race. Should the jockey be lighter than the handicap rating weights are added to saddlebags to equal the odds. In many races jockeys are weighed before and after the race to ensure proper weight was carried by each horse.
Stewards
Stewards are those who ensure fair play in horse racing. Their purpose is to ensure that jockeys and all those involved with a race horse follow the rules. This ensures that every horse and team is given a fair shot at winning.
Protests
Should an incident occur in a race which may be illegal in terms of the rules of racing, then those connected to a horse involved can lodge a protest. At this point the parties involved will give evidence to the Steward and video footage of the race is reviewed. The steward will then give his decision and has the power to change finishing positions or disqualify horses from a race.
Weight For Age
This is the foremost way horses are handicapped with predetermined weights for various ages of the horse. Older horses carry more weight than younger horses, and male horses carry more than female horses.
There are many variables involved in horse racing to be considered when placing bets. Use the above factors along with various betting options that are available to you. The racebook options we have on our site will provide you with valuable information you can use to make successful bets. Just remember that you won’t likely win every bet, but if you do the research. learn horse racing terminology and choose the right betting options you will greatly increase your odds of placing more winning bets.
