Pop Quiz hot shot!

This is the low-down on the terms that I think you'll need to know to understand horse racing as far as this blog goes. I've also provided a small list of links that you might want to check out.

Apprentice jockey: Apprentice jockeys are also known as "bugs" and are called such because of the fact that in the racing programs, a small asterisk (*) is placed beside their name to indicate that they receive weight allowances in their races. An apprentice jockey is one that has not ridden enough winners in a specific amount of time to become a full-fledged jockey.

Beyer number: The Beyer number is a tool that was made popular by Andrew Beyer, an author who gave a numerical value to each race that was run by any horse. This number is based on a combination of the final time of the race as well as the condition of the track itself. The Beyer number allows room for horses to be compared to one another no matter where they run.

Colt: A colt is a male horse that is under the age of three (or four pending on the personal preferance).

Crop: This is used to define the entire group of foals that are sired by a stallion in a given year. Crop is also used to define the entire group of horses that are born in the same year.

Dam: The mother of a horse.

Dam's Sire: The father of the horse's mother. (So in human terms, it would be your maternal grandfather.)

Dead heat: Though rare, dead heats happen. This means that there is a tie for a place. Though photographs are taken at the finish line to help decide exactly who won what position, sometimes it is a dead heat.

Eclipse Awards: These awards are voted upon in December and given out in early January. There are several categories, just like the Grammies or the Oscars. They award the top of the previous year's horses.

Filly: A female horse three years of age or younger (again, it varies from person to person what they consider a filly's age to be).

Foal: A foal can be any gender. It is typical to use the term "foal" to describe a horse in its first year of life, after which it is called a yearling.

Gelding: A castrated male horse.

In foal: This term describes a mare that is pregnant. Mares that are used to produce foals are called broodmares.

Jockey Club: This is where all of the Thoroughbreds are registered. The Jockey Club has a very nice website, including the rules and regulations for registering a horse with them. All Thoroughbreds trace back to the three founding stallions (The Darley Arabian, The Byerly Turk, and the Godolphin Arabian). This is documented through the Jockey Club.

Length: This is an approximate distance from the tip of a horse's nose to the tail of the horse. Lengths are used to describe the distance that a horse wins a race. For example, if a horse wins a race by three lengths, then the second place finisher could have enough space for three horses between himself and the winner.

Mare: A female horse over the age of three.

Post parade: This is the parading of the horses as they are entering the track and begin their warmups before being loaded into the gates.

Post position: This is the number the horse is given to designate which gate he will be breaking from. There are tons of superstitions about what post position is good and which is bad, pending on things such as the track and the field.

Post time: The time that the race is supposed to start.

Prep or prep race: A prep, short for preparation, is when a horse works out in order to prepare the horse for a race. A prep race is a race that is picked out to help give the horse more experience so that it can prepare itself for a bigger race.

Sire: The father of a horse.

Stallion: An uncastrated male horse that is capable of reproducing. A stallion that is used only for breeding is called a stud.

Wire: Where the race finishes.

Yearling: A horse of either gender that is between the age of one and two.


Doc Sports: Horse Racing Terms - This will provide a more in-depth look at more terms.
Bloodhorse.com - One of the leaders in covering horse racing around the world.
The Jockey Club - The website of the Thoroughbred horse registry, The Jockey Club.