Understanding Horse Racing Terms
What Do Breeze, Furlong, Rank, Sprint, Tack, Turn of Foot Mean?
For the novice in any sport, picking up terminology is essential to getting hooked. In the 2003 Seabiscuit movie, recognizing words brings fascination to the hoofbeats.
"Does he breeze?"
Jockey John "Red" Pollard asked that question of trainer Tom Smith in the movie Seabiscuit: An American Legend.
"We'll find out," Smith replied.
Later in the movie (which is, by the by, a beautifully sensitive rendering of an amazing true story), a second reference to breezing occurs in a paramount scene. Pollard and Seabiscuit are preparing for their famous match race with the Riddle barn's 1937 Triple Crown champion, War Admiral.
An old friend and earlier employer of Pollard's, still struggling in the thoroughbred racing game and hesitant to approach the risen star jockey, asks if Pollard will breeze his horse because he has no one else available. The man has little going for himself.
Pollard agrees to do the task before the man's cold feet take him back to his corner of obscurity. "I'll breeze your horse," Pollard replies, putting the man at ease, but unknowingly setting himself on a near future path of calamity.
What is breezing? What were they talking about?
A horse racing term often heard, breeze simply means: to run easily, under a hold, but with little encouragement. This is usually an easy morning workout for racers. It can judge a horse's character at a moment in time, and his professional readiness.
Like football, horse racing has its unique terms. Sports in America is an addiction. It happens daily. Understanding a sports' verbiage makes the daily dosage much more interesting and enjoyable to watch for those who thirst. It can also work to gather in new, vicarious participants, and those newbies who find themselves mated to a sports nut.
The following is a short list of forty plus common horse racing terms and their specific meaning to the sport:
Bear Out, or Drift Out -To drift, or veer out toward the outside of the track.
Blow Out - A workout before a race, intended to limber up the horse.
Broodmare Sire -The father (sire) of the mother (dam) of an equine.
Claiming Race - A race in which the horses are entered for a specific purchase price which may be claimed before the race. The practice is intended to weed out competitors and classify horses to keep the race fairly equal.
Clubhouse Turn - Usually, this refers to the turn found on the right-hand side of the track as seen from the stands facing the track.
Colt - A male horse four years, or younger.
Coupled - Two, or more horses that have the same owner, or trainer and are run as an entry. A bet on one horse automatically includes the other.
Dam - The mother of a horse.
Ease Up - To slow a horse's stride to prevent over exertion.
Eighth Pole - The colored post inside the inner rail exactly one-eighth mile from the finish line.
Filly - A female horse four years old, or younger.
Fractions - Clockings of time at intervals in races, or workouts; generally, 1/8, or 1/4 mile increments.
Free Running Type - A horse that tends to take a strong hold of the mouth bit and pull its way to the lead in the early part of a race.
Freshening - A horses's vacation, or layoff from racing.
Furlong - One eighth of a mile. A one-mile race would be eight furlongs.
Gelding - A castrated male horse. This procedure is generally performed to make a horse focus on running races.
Going Away - To win a race while increasing the lead.
Green - A description of a horse which is temperamentally immature.
Handicap - (1) To study the background of horses in order to determine wagering decisions; (2) A race in which the horses are assigned specific weights in order to bring about an equal contest.
Horse - (1) A generic term for an equine; (2) An uncastrated male equine five years old, or older.
In Hand - Running a horse under restraint to conserve its energy.
In The Money - For fans, a win, place (second), or show (third) finish that results in a mutuel payoff; for owners, a finish that results in receiving a portion of the purse (winning prize money).
Juvenile - A two-year-old equine.
Length - This refers to the length of a horse, and is the distance referred to in describing the distance between horses in the running of a race.
Lugging In - This describes a horse that is pulling strongly to the inside (toward the rail) while running.
Mare - A female horse five years old, or older.
Mudder - A horse that prefers muddy, or sloppy tracks.
Off The Board - (1) A horse's finish out of the money (fourth, or farther back); (2) Betting action on a horse which is being heavily bet.
Pace - The tempo and running time set by the leaders of a race in the early and middle stages of the contest.
Paddock - An area where horses are saddled prior to the race.
Pari-mutuel - A system of wagering in which the total money wagered is distributed to winning ticket holders, less a fixed percentage returned for race track management, state tax, and the racing industry.
Plodder - A slow horse, usually one that lacks acceleration.
Post Position - A horse's numbered position in the starting gate, numbered from the inside rail out.
Quarter - (1) One quarter mile; (2) The side of a horse's hoof.
Rabbit - A horse which is entered in a race to insure a fast pace, but that doesn't last the distance.
Rank - A description used when a horse fights the rider's attempt to relax it during the early and middle stages of a race, before full speed is needed.
Scratch - To withdraw a horse from a race prior to its beginning.
Shadow Roll - A roll of sheepskin strapped across a horse's nose to keep it from looking down and shying away from shadows.
Sire - The father of a horse.
Sprint - A short race, usually seven furlongs, or less.
Stud - A breeding stallion.
Tack - The equipment that goes on a horse, some of which is owned by the jockey.
Tongue Tie - A cloth, or leather band used to tie down a horse's tongue to keep the tongue from interfering with breathing.
Turn Of Foot - Used to describe a horse's acceleration.
This list can be used to make one's racing viewing happier and more exciting. There's nothing like being up on categorical terminology for crisp involvement with the action.
