book

books (plural)
boke (alternative obsolete)
booke (alternative archaic)

Sranan Tongo: buku

desctree

Tok Pisin: buk
→ Rotokas: vuku
→ Takia: buk

→ Chichewa: buku

→ Hawaiian: puke

→ Lingala: búku

→ Malagasy: boky

→ Maori: pukapuka (with reduplication)

→ Marshallese: bok

→ Motu: buka

→ Shona: bhuku

→ Somali: buugga

i

possibly also from Afrikaans <i class="Latn mention" lang="af">boek</i>

→ Sotho: buka (possibly also from Afrikaans boek)

→ Zulu: ibhuku (possibly also from Afrikaans boek)

From Middle English bok, book, from Old English bōc, from Proto-West Germanic *bōk, from Proto-Germanic *bōks. Eclipsed non-native Middle English livret, lyveret (“book, booklet”) from Old French livret (“book, booklet”). Bookmaker sense by clipping.

some speakers from Northern England and Ireland

buck (without the foot-strut split, when pronounced /bʊk/)

have more chins than a Chinese phone book

why buy a book when you can join a library

why buy a book when you can join the library

(horse racing) The list of mares that a stallion will breed in a given season.

(horse racing) A list of the races that a jockey is scheduled to ride in.


acceptance

en-noun

acceptance (countable and uncountable, plural acceptances)

acceptances (plural)
acceptaunce (alternative)

* First attested in 1574. From Middle French acceptance, from Old French accepter (“accept”). Equivalent to accept + -ance.

(horse racing, Australia, New Zealand, plural only) A list of horses accepted as starters in a race.


slate

en-verb

slate (third-person singular simple present slates, present participle slating, simple past and past participle slated)

slates (present singular third-person)
slating (participle present)
slated (participle past)
slated (past)

From Middle English slatten, sclatten, from the noun (see above).

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-slate.wav

(horse racing, transitive, obsolete) To bet heavily against (a contender in a race).


SP

en-noun

SP (countable and uncountable, plural SPs)

SPs (plural)
S.P. (alternative)
S. P. (alternative)

He was an atheist, a rationalist, a medical student of no great distinction, an SP punter, a singer of bawdy songs, an acknowledged expert in matters erotic.

1985, Peter Carey, Illywhacker, Faber and Faber, published 2003, page 157:

It was the last time, too, when […] the races dominated the radio on Saturday afternoons and everyone had the number of an SP bookie.

1998, David Malouf, A First Place, Vintage, published 2015, page 196:

(horse racing) Initialism of starting price.


draw

draw (countable and uncountable, plural draws)

The verb is derived from Middle English drauen, drawen, draȝen, dragen (“to drag, pull; to draw (out); to attract; to entice, lure; to lead; to make a drawing; to move, travel; etc.”), from Old English dragan (“to drag, draw”), from Proto-West Germanic *dragan (“to carry; to haul”), from Proto-Germanic *draganą (“to carry; to pull, draw”); further etymology uncertain, often said to be from Proto-Indo-European *dʰregʰ- (“to pull, draw”), but possibly from a non-Indo-European substrate root which is also the source of Latin trahō (“to pull, draw; etc.”). Doublet of drag and draught.
The noun is derived from Middle English drau, draue (“action of shooting with a bow”), from drauen, drawen (verb).
cognates
* Albanian dredh (“to turn, spin”)
* Danish drage
* Dutch dragen
* German tragen (“to carry”)
* Old Armenian դառնամ (daṙnam, “to turn”)
* Sanskrit ध्रजस् (dhrájas, “gliding course or motion”)
* West Frisian drage

cog

(horse racing) The stall from which a horse begins the race.


nose

Sranan Tongo: noso

Aukan: nosu

Saramaccan: núsu

From Middle English nose, from Old English nosu, from Proto-West Germanic *nosu, variant of *nasō, old dual from Proto-Indo-European *néh₂s- ~ *nh₂es- (“nose, nostril”).
See also Saterland Frisian Noose, West Frisian noas, Dutch neus, Swedish nos, Norwegian nos (“snout”), German Low German Nees, Nes, Näs, German Nase, Swedish näsa, Norwegian nese, Danish næse (“nose”); also Latin nāris (“nostril”), nāsus (“nose”), Lithuanian nósis, Russian нос (nos), Sanskrit नासा (nā́sā, “nostrils”).

Red Rum only won by a nose.

(horse racing) The length of a horse’s nose, used to indicate the distance between horses at the finish of a race, or any very close race.

馬鼻 /马鼻 (maa⁵ bei⁶, literally “horse's nose”)


lane

From Middle English lane, lone, from Old English lanu (“a lane, alley, avenue”), from Proto-West Germanic *lanu, from Proto-Germanic *lanō (“lane, passageway”).
Cognate with Scots lone (“cattle-track, by-road”), West Frisian leane, loane (“a walkway, avenue”), Dutch laan (“alley, avenue”), German Low German Lane, Laan (“lane”), Swedish lån (“covered walkway encircling a house”), Icelandic lön (“a row of houses”).

cog

And it's Uncle Mo in front by two as they come to the top of the lane.


distance

en-noun

distance (countable and uncountable, plural distances)

distances (plural)
distaunce (alternative)

From Middle English distance, distaunce, destance (“disagreement, dispute; discrimination; armed conflict; hostility; trouble; space between two points; time interval”), from Anglo-Norman distance, distaunce, destance, Middle French distance, and Old French destance, destaunce, distaunce (“debate; difference, distinction; discord, quarrel; dispute; space between two points; time interval”) (modern French distance), and directly from their etymon Latin distantia (“difference, diversity; distance, remoteness; space between two points”) (whence also Late Latin distantia (“disagreement; discrepancy; gap, opening; time interval”)), from distāns (“being distant; standing apart”) + -ia (suffix forming feminine abstract nouns). Distāns is the present active participle of distō (“to be distant; to stand apart; to differ”), from dis- (prefix meaning ‘apart, asunder; in two’) + stō (“to stand”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand (up)”)).
The verb is derived from the noun.
Cognates
* Middle Dutch distancie, distantie (modern Dutch distantie); Dutch afstand (“distance”, literally “off-stand, off-stance”)
* German Distanz; German Abstand
* Italian distanza
* Portuguese distância
* Spanish distancia

afstand

(countable, uncountable) amount of space between points

An amount of space between points (often geographical points), usually (but not necessarily) measured along a straight line.

(horse racing) Chiefly in by a distance: a space of more than 30 lengths (about 80 yards or 7.3 metres) between two racehorses finishing a race, used to describe the margin of victory; also (archaic), any space of 240 yards (about 219.5 metres) on a racecourse.

pitkä ero

space of more than 30 lengths between two racehorses finishing a race; any space of 240 yards on a racecourse

THere vvere a Great many Brave, Sightly Horſes vvith Rich Trappings that vvere brought out One day to the Courſe, and Only One Plain Nag in the Company that made ſport for All the reſt. But vvhen they came at laſt to the Tryal, This vvas the Horſe that ran the VVhole Field out of Diſtance, and VVon the Race. / The MORAL. Our Senſes are No Competent Judges of the Excellencies of the Mind.

1692, Roger L’Estrange, “[The Fables of Abstemius, &c.] Fab[le] CCCXXXIX. A Plain Horse Wins the Prize.”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], →OCLC, page 296:

The amount of space between points (often geographical points), usually (but not necessarily) measured along a straight line.

(horse racing) Originally, the space measured back from the winning post which a racehorse running in a heat must reach when the winner has covered the whole course, in order to run in a subsequent heat; also, the point on the racecourse that space away from the winning post; now, the point on a racecourse 240 yards from the winning post.

väli

space measured back from the winning post which a racehorse running in a heat must reach when the winner has covered the whole course, in order to run in a subsequent heat; point on the racecourse that space away from the winning post; point on racecourse 240 yards from the winning post


distance

en-verb

distance (third-person singular simple present distances, present participle distancing, simple past and past participle distanced)

distances (present singular third-person)
distancing (participle present)
distanced (participle past)
distanced (past)
distance (infinitive)
distance (first-person present singular)
distanced (first-person past singular)
distance (present second-person singular)
distancest (archaic present second-person singular)
distanced (past second-person singular)
distancedst (archaic past second-person singular)
distances (present singular third-person)
distanceth (archaic present singular third-person)
distanced (past singular third-person)
distance (plural present)
distanced (past plural)
distance (present subjunctive)
distanced (past subjunctive)
distance (imperative present)
distancing (participle present)
distanced (participle past)

sijoittaa erilleen

to set (someone or something) at a distance from someone or something else

[H]e is of Opinion it is inhuman, that Animals ſhould be put upon their utmoſt Strength and Metal for our Diverſion only. Hovvever, not to be particular, he puts in for the Queen's Plate every Year, vvith Orders to his Rider never to vvin or be diſtanced; […]

1713 March 29 (Gregorian calendar), [Richard Steele], “Wednesday, March 18. 1713.”, in The Guardian, number 6, London: […] J[acob] Tonson […]; and sold by A. Baldwin […], →OCLC, page [2], column 1:

(chiefly US, horse racing, archaic) Of a racehorse: to beat (another horse) by a certain distance; also (passive voice), to cause (a horse) to be disqualified by beating it by a certain distance.

of a racehorse: to beat (another horse) by a certain distance; to cause (a horse) to be disqualified by beating it by a certain distance


maiden

From Middle English mayden, meiden, from Old English mæġden (“girl”), originally a diminutive of mæġeþ (“girl”) via diminutive suffix -en, from Proto-West Germanic *magaþ, from Proto-Germanic *magaþs. Equivalent to maid + -en.

(horse racing) A racehorse without any victory, i.e. one having a "virgin record".

(horse racing) A horse race in which all starters are maidens.


break

From Middle English breken, from Old English brecan (“to break”), from Proto-West Germanic *brekan, from Proto-Germanic *brekaną (“to break”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg- (“to break”). Doublet of bray.
Cognates
Cognates of Germanic origin include Scots brek (“to break”), West Frisian brekke (“to break”), Dutch breken (“to break”), Low German breken (“to break”), German brechen (“to break”), French broyer (“to crush, grind”), Gothic 𐌱𐍂𐌹𐌺𐌰𐌽 (brikan, “to break, destroy”), Norwegian brek (“desire, yearning”).
Also cognate with Albanian brishtë (“fragile”), Latin frangō (“break, break up, shatter”, verb), whence English fracture and other terms – fragile, frail, fraction, and fragment.

cog

Cigar was distracted at the break and let his five opponents get the jump.

1999, Jay Hovdey, Cigar: America's Horse, page 63:

Perhaps it stumbles to its knees at the break, effectively losing the race at the outset.

2010, John Alexander, Exotic Wagering the Winning Way, page 60:

(horse racing) The start of a horse race.


fire

en-verb

fire (third-person singular simple present fires, present participle firing, simple past and past participle fired)

fires (present singular third-person)
firing (participle present)
fired (participle past)
fired (past)
fire (infinitive)
fire (first-person present singular)
fired (first-person past singular)
fire (present second-person singular)
firest (archaic present second-person singular)
fired (past second-person singular)
firedst (archaic past second-person singular)
fires (present singular third-person)
fireth (archaic present singular third-person)
fired (past singular third-person)
fire (plural present)
fired (past plural)
fire (present subjunctive)
fired (past subjunctive)
fire (imperative present)
firing (participle present)
fired (participle past)

From Middle English firen, fyren, furen, from Old English fȳrian (“to make a fire”), from the noun (see above). Cognate with Old Frisian fioria (“to light a fire”), Saterland Frisian fjuurje (“to fire”), Middle Dutch vûren, vueren, vieren (“to set fire”), Dutch vuren (“to fire, shoot”), Old High German fiuren (“to ignite, set on fire”), German feuern (“to fire”).

udløse

computer sciences, software engineering: to initiate an event

I'd say he struggled to get around the course. He never fired. In other years, when Buzzy Hannum rode him, he ran well enough to win, but not this time.

1988, Chronicle of the Horse, volume 51, numbers 1-13, page 18:

(horse racing, intransitive) Of a horse: to race ahead with a burst of energy.


bug

bugs (plural)
bugg (alternative obsolete)

First attested in this form around 1620 (referring to a “bedbug”), from earlier bugge (“beetle”), from Middle English bugge (“scarecrow, hobgoblin”) which is traced alternatively to:
* a Celtic root found in Scots bogill (“goblin, bugbear”) and obsolete Welsh bwg (“ghost, hobgoblin”); compare Welsh bwgwl (“threat, fear”) and Isthmus Mixe bocanách (“supernatural being”).
* Proto-Germanic *bugja- (“swollen up, thick”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰew-, *bu- (“to swell”); compare Norwegian bugge (“big man”), dialectal Low German Bögge (“goblin, snot”).
* or to a word related to buck and originally referring to a goat-shaped spectre.
For the “insect” meaning the assonance with Middle English budde (“beetle”), from Old English budda, from Proto-Germanic *buddô, *buzdô, from the same ultimate source as above, might have played a role. Compare Low German Budde (“louse, grub”), Norwegian budda (“newborn domestic animal”)). More at bud. But ultimately this convergence of meaning doesn't prove a conflation of the two terms, they might have existed parallely since PIE times with similar meanings, even if unnoticed by literary sources.
The term is used to refer to technical errors and problems at least as early as the 19th century, predating the commonly known story of a moth being caught in a computer.

cog

given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow

The "bugs" are the asterisks next to the apprentice's name. One bug is a five-pound allowance, two bugs equal seven pounds, and three bugs equal ten pounds.

1999, Anita Scialli, Inside Track 1999, page 62:

(slang, US, horse-racing) An asterisk denoting an apprentice jockey's weight allowance.

(slang, US, horse-racing, by extension) A young apprentice jockey.


weight

en-verb

weight (third-person singular simple present weights, present participle weighting, simple past and past participle weighted)

weights (present singular third-person)
weighting (participle present)
weighted (participle past)
weighted (past)
waight (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English weight, weiȝte, weght, wight, from Old English wiht, ġewiht (“weight”), from Proto-Germanic *wihtiz ("weight"; compare *weganą (“to move”)), from Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ- (“to move; pull; draw; drive”). Equivalent to weigh + -th (abstract nominal suffix).
Cognate with Scots wecht, weicht (“weight”), Saterland Frisian Wächte (“scale”), Gewicht (“weight”), West Frisian gewicht (“weight”), Dutch gewicht (“weight”), German Low German Wicht, Gewicht (“weight”), German Wucht (“massiveness, force”), Gewicht (“weight”).

gloss

"weight"; compare <i class="Latn mention" lang="gem-pro">*weganą</i> (“to move”)

inh

(transitive, horse racing) To handicap a horse with a specified weight.


chalk

en-noun

chalk (countable and uncountable, plural chalks)

chalks (plural)
chaulk (alternative dated)

→ Japanese: チャコ (chako), チョーク (chōku)

→ Nepali: चक (cak)

→ Swahili: chaki

→ Swazi: íshóki

→ Thai: ชอล์ก (chɔ́k)

→ Tsonga: choko

→ Tulu: ಚಾಕ್ (cākŭ)

→ Yoruba: ṣọ́ọ̀kì

From Middle English chalk, chalke, from Old English ċealc, from Proto-West Germanic *kalk, borrowed from Latin calx (“limestone”), again borrowed from Ancient Greek χάλιξ (khálix, “pebble”). Doublet of calx and cauk.

(US, sports, chiefly basketball, horse racing) The favorite in a sporting event.


overlay

/ˈəʊ.vəˌleɪ/

From Middle English overleyen, from Old English oferleċġan, from Proto-West Germanic *obarlaggjan, from Proto-Germanic *uberlagjaną, equivalent to over- + lay. Cognate with Saterland Frisian uurläze, úurlääse, Dutch overleggen, German Low German overleggen, överleggen, German überlegen, Swedish överlägga, Norwegian overlegge. Compare overlie.

(horse racing) A horse going off at higher odds than it appears to warrant, based on its past performances.


tout

en-verb

tout (third-person singular simple present touts, present participle touting, simple past and past participle touted)

touts (present singular third-person)
touting (participle present)
touted (participle past)
touted (past)

From Middle English touten (“to jut out, protrude, gaze upon, observe, peer”), from Old English *tūtian (“to be sticking out, protrude”), related to Old English tȳtan (“to stand out, be conspicuous, shine”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *tut(t)- (“to stick out, project”). Compare Icelandic túta (“a teat-like prominence”), tútna (“to be blown up”). Possibly influenced by dialectal toot (“to stick out; project; peer out; peep”), from Middle English toten, totien, from Old English tōtian (“to peep out; look; pry; spectate”). Compare also Old English tot, ġetot (“pomp, splendour, vainglory”).

cog

(UK, slang, horse-racing, transitive) To spy out information about (a horse, a racing stable, etc.).

(US, slang, horse-racing, transitive) To give a tip on (a racehorse) to a person, with the expectation of sharing in any winnings.

(UK, slang, horse-racing, intransitive) To spy out the movements of racehorses at their trials, or to get by stealth or other improper means the secrets of the stable, for betting purposes.

(US, slang, horse-racing, intransitive) To act as a tout; to give a tip on a racehorse.


stick

en-noun

stick (countable and uncountable, plural sticks)

→ Catalan: estic

→ Italian: stick

→ Korean: 스틱 (seutik)

→ Portuguese: stique, estique

→ Sranan Tongo: tiki

From Middle English stikke (“stick, rod, twig”), from Old English sticca (“rod, twig”), from Proto-West Germanic *stikkō, from Proto-Germanic *stikkô, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg- (“to pierce, prick, be sharp”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Stikke (“stick”), West Flemish stik (“stick”). Related to stigma.

der

better than a poke in the eye with a burnt stick

better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick

better than a poke in the eye with a shitty stick

it is easy to find a stick to beat a dog

(horse racing) The short whip carried by a jockey.

A stick-like item:
The short whip carried by a jockey.


flat

From Middle English flat, a borrowing from Old Norse flatr (compare Norwegian and Swedish flat, Danish flad), from Proto-Germanic *flataz, from Proto-Indo-European *pleth₂- (“flat”); akin to Saterland Frisian flot (“smooth”), German Flöz (“a geological layer”), Ancient Greek πλατύς (platús), Latvian plats, Sanskrit प्रथस् (prathas, “extension”). Doublet of plat and pleyt.
The noun is from Middle English flat (“level piece of ground, flat edge of a weapon”), from the adjective.
The algebraic sense was coined by Serre in a 1956 paper, originally as French plat.

inh

This horse will do better over the flat.

flat racing, the flat season

In light of Horse Racing Ireland's Covid-19 contingency plan announcement, that whenever racing resumes the Flat will be given priority, Elliott has decided to keep a number of talented jumpers on the go during the summer, with a view towards a dual-purpose campaign.

2020, Brian Sheerin, Racing Post, "Gordon Elliott maps out summer Flat campaigns for talented jumpers" (article) https://www.racingpost.com/news/gordon-elliott-maps-out-summer-flat-campaigns-for-talented-jumpers/431475

2021 (retrieved), racing365.com, "Flat Racing Explained" https://racing365.com/flat-racing-explained/
In British horse racing, the classics are a series of horse races run over the flat (i.e. without jumps).

An area of level ground (sometimes covered with shallow or tidal water).

(horse racing, with 'the' or attributively, sometimes with capital) Level horse-racing ground, as contrasted with courses incorporating jumps, or the racing done on such ground.

As forecast, Joe suspected nothing as he pottered round the flat in the sunshine, absorbed in the task of picking winners.

1963, George Blaikie, Scandals of Australia's Strange Past, Adelaide: Rigby Limited, page 117:

(Australia, horse racing, with 'the' or attributively, sometimes with capital) the area in the centre of a racecourse.


pull

en-verb

pull (third-person singular simple present pulls, present participle pulling, simple past and past participle pulled)

pulls (present singular third-person)
pulling (participle present)
pulled (participle past)
pulled (past)

push

antonym(s) of “apply force to (something) so it comes towards one”

-ʊl (accents with foot–goose merger or full–fool merger)

Verb from Middle English pullen, from Old English pullian (“to pull, draw, tug, pluck off”), of uncertain ultimate origin. Related to West Frisian pûlje (“to shell, husk”), Middle Dutch pullen (“to drink”), Middle Dutch polen (“to peel, strip”), Low German pulen (“to pick, pluck, pull, tear, strip off husks”), Icelandic púla (“to work hard, beat”).
Noun from Middle English pul, pull, pulle, from the verb pullen (“to pull”).

cog

it's not the whistle that pulls the train

pull someone's chestnuts out of the fire

The favourite was pulled.

(horse-racing) To hold back, and so prevent from winning.

'I never liked Bowler, and I had my suspicions when Captain Ferndale persuaded you to put him up in that race. I did not discover until some time after that he pulled the horse.'

1897, Nat Gould, Not So Bad After All, page 200:

(horse racing, transitive) To impede the progress of (a horse) to prevent its winning a race.


tissue

en-noun

tissue (countable and uncountable, plural tissues)

From Middle English tissu, from Old French tissu (“woven”), past participle of tistre (“to weave”), from Latin texō (“to weave”).

Pricing the first show is a matter of the bookmaker's individual judgment, relying upon advice from all quarters, particularly the tissue; but very soon in the betting exchanges it becomes clear that the sole criterion for the fixing of a horse's price is demand.

2016, Gerald Hammond, The Language of Horse Racing:

(horse racing, slang) The scratch sheet or racing form.


handle

desctree

→ Japanese: ハンドル (handoru)
→ Hokkien: 捍多路 (hăn-tó͘-luh)
→ Sakizaya: handulu

From Middle English handel, handle, from Old English handle (“a handle”), from handlian (“to handle, feel, deal with, discuss”). See verb below. Cognate with Danish handel (“a handle”).

(horse racing, gambling) The amount wagered in the various pari-mutuel pools for a particular event or events.


classic

classics (plural)
classick (alternative obsolete)

From French classique, from Latin classicus (“relating to the classes of Roman citizenry, especially the highest”), from classis. By surface analysis, class + -ic. Piecewise doublet of classy.

der

The goal of the top horses was to win a Classic (or preferably three, thus claiming the Triple Crown) or the Ascot Gold Cup, […]

2012, Dr Joyce Kay, Professor Wray Vamplew, Encyclopedia of British Horse Racing, page 316:

(horse racing) Any of the British Classic Races, five long-standing Group 1 horse races run during the traditional flat racing season.


bullet

en-noun

bullet (countable and uncountable, plural bullets)

From Middle English bullet (“an official tag or badge of registration or identification”), from Old French bullete, diminutive of boule (“ball”). Later influenced by Middle French boulette and French boulet.

inh

(Canada, US, horse racing) The best workout time at a track on a given day at a specific distance, traditionally marked by a printer's bullet.


pot

From Middle English pot, potte, from Old English pott (“pot”) and Old French pot (“pot”) (probably from Frankish *pott); both Old English and Frankish from Proto-Germanic *puttaz (“pot”), from Proto-Indo-European *budnós (“a type of vessel”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Pot (“pot”), Dutch pot (“pot”), German Low German Pott (“pot”), German Pott (“pot”), Swedish potta (“chamber pot”), Icelandic pottur (“tub, pot”), Old Armenian պոյտն (poytn, “pot, earthen pot”). Also, Old Norse pottr (“pot, tub, basin”).
The sense of ruin or deterioration was originally a general allusion to "being chopped up and tossed in a (normally fiery) pot, like a piece of meat" (i.e. to get wasted or done with (by someone)). The 'clean' slang term which was used in reference to toilet rooms and lavatories apparently derives from English chamberpots, although now usually encountered as potty in the context of children's toilet training.

pussitus

cue sports: act of causing a ball to fall into a pocket

not have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of

(UK, horse-racing, slang) A favorite: a heavily-backed horse.


milkshake

It was the illegal administration by trainer Gregory Martin and subsequent positive test of a baking soda, sugar and water mixture – commonly known as a “milkshake” – prior to one of his runner’s 10 length romps in a $12,000 claiming race at Aqueduct on December 18, 2003 that initially helped to bring the $200 million in illegal wagers to light.

(Can we date this quote?), Jen Roytz, “Cosequin presents OTTB Showcase: A One Rocket (a.k.a. “Rocky”)”, in Paulick Report, archived from the original on 2025-04-30, page 1:

(slang, horse racing) An alkaline supplement administered to a horse to improve its racing performance.


milkshake

en-verb

milkshake (third-person singular simple present milkshakes, present participle milkshaking, simple past and past participle milkshaked)

milkshakes (present singular third-person)
milkshaking (participle present)
milkshaked (participle past)
milkshaked (past)

The name of the horse who was milkshaked was A One Rocket.
Martin would later go on to plead guilty to the milkshaking incident and ultimately to two federal charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

(transitive, slang, horse racing) To administer an alkaline supplement to (a horse) to improve its racing performance.


bar

From Middle English barren, from Old French barrer, from Medieval Latin barrare (“to bar”), from the noun. Cognate to Occitan barrar, Spanish barrar, Portuguese barrar.
Preposition properly imperative of the verb. Compare barring.

Leg At Each Corner is at 3/1, Lost My Shirt 5/1, and it's 10/1 bar.

(horse racing) Denotes the minimum odds offered on other horses not mentioned by name.


length

en-noun

length (countable and uncountable, plural lengths)

From Middle English lengthe, from Old English lengþ, lengþu, from Proto-West Germanic *langiþu, from Proto-Germanic *langiþō, equivalent to long + -th (abstract nominal suffix). Cognate with Scots lenth, lainth (“length”), Saterland Frisian Loangte (“length”), West Frisian lingte, langte (“length”), Dutch lengte (“length”), German Low German Längde, Längd, Längte, Längt (“length”), Danish længde (“length”), Swedish längd (“length”), Icelandic lengd (“length”).

(horse racing) The length of a horse, used to indicate the distance between horses at the end of a race.


score

en-verb

score (third-person singular simple present scores, present participle scoring, simple past and past participle scored)

scores (present singular third-person)
scoring (participle present)
scored (participle past)
scored (past)
score (infinitive)
score (first-person present singular)
scored (first-person past singular)
score (present second-person singular)
scorest (archaic present second-person singular)
scored (past second-person singular)
scoredst (archaic past second-person singular)
scores (present singular third-person)
scoreth (archaic present singular third-person)
scored (past singular third-person)
score (plural present)
scored (past plural)
score (present subjunctive)
scored (past subjunctive)
score (imperative present)
scoring (participle present)
scored (participle past)

→⇒ Irish: scóráil

non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger

From Middle English score, skore, schore, from Old English scoru (“notch; tally; score”), from Old Norse skor, from Proto-Germanic *skurō (“incision; tear; rift”), which is related to *skeraną (“to cut”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“cut”). Cognate with Icelandic skora, Swedish skåra, Danish skår. Related to shear.
For the sense “twenty”: The mark on a tally made by drovers for every twenty beasts passing through a tollgate.

der

[…] and the scoring for a start by these "inferior" horses would kill a thoroughbred. As an instance, in the 2:27 race at Cleveland, last summer, twelve horses scored seventeen times before they got a fair start.

1878, John H. Wallace, Wallace's Monthly, volume 4, page 18:

(horse racing, ambitransitive) To return (a horse and rider) to the starting-point repeatedly, until a fair start is achieved.


half brother

en-noun

half brother (plural half brothers or half brethren)

half brothers (plural)
half brethren (plural)
half-brother (alternative)
halfbrother (alternative)

/ˌhæfˈbɹʌðɚ/

From Middle English half-brother, equivalent to half- + brother. Cognate with Dutch halfbroer (“halfbrother”), German Halbbruder (“halfbrother”), Danish halvbroder (“halfbrother”), Swedish halvbroder, halvbror (“halfbrother”), Icelandic hálfbróðir (“halfbrother”).

(horse racing) A male half sibling (same dam, different sires).

同母異父 /同母异父

son of the same mother but a different father

同父異母 /同父异母

son of the same father but a different mother


half sister

half sisters (plural)
half-sister (alternative)

From Middle English halfesister, half-suster, half sister, equivalent to half- + sister. Compare Dutch halfzus, halfzuster (“half-sister”), German Halbschwester (“half-sister”), Swedish halvsyster (“half-sister”), Icelandic hálfsystir (“half-sister”).

(horse racing) A female half sibling (same dam, different sires).

同父異母 /同父异母

daughter of the same father but a different mother

uterina

daughter of the same mother but a different father


prep

prep (countable and uncountable, plural preps)

(horse racing) A preparatory race or workout.


heater

→ Japanese: ヒーター (hītā)

Tok Pisin: hita

(horse racing) A dead heat; a race in which two or more competitors reach the finish line simultaneously.


lug

en-verb

lug (third-person singular simple present lugs, present participle lugging, simple past and past participle lugged)

lugs (present singular third-person)
lugging (participle present)
lugged (participle past)
lugged (past)

From Middle English luggen, possibly from Scandinavian source, (compare Swedish lugga, Norwegian lugge); also in English dialectal as lig (“to lug”). Noun is via Scots lugge, probably from Old Norse (compare Norwegian and Swedish lugg). Probably related to slug (“lazy, slow-moving”), which may be from similar source(s).

(intransitive, horse-racing) To pull toward the inside rail ("lugging in") or the outside rail ("lugging out") during a race.


up

down

antonym(s) of “traveling towards a major terminus”

From Middle English up, from Old English upp, from Proto-Germanic *upp, see more there.

(horse-racing) Riding the horse; mounted.


aid

en-noun

aid (countable and uncountable, plural aids)

aids (plural)
aide (alternative)
ayde (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English aide, eide, ayde, from Old French eide, aide, from aidier, from Latin adiūtō, adiūtāre (“to assist, help”). Cognates include Spanish ayuda, Portuguese ajuda and Italian aiuto.

der

(countable, chiefly in the plural, horse racing) The rider's use of hands, legs, voice, etc. to control the horse.


allowance

en-noun

allowance (countable and uncountable, plural allowances)

allowances (plural)
allowaunce (alternative obsolete)

→ Cebuano: alawans

→ Malay: élaun

From Middle English allouance, from Old French alouance.
Morphologically allow + -ance.

On the Flat, an apprentice jockey starts with an allowance of 7 lb.

(horse racing) A permitted reduction in the weight that a racehorse must carry.


place

place (countable and uncountable, plural places)

Pijin: ples

Tok Pisin: ples

From Middle English place, conflation of Old English plæċe (“place, an open space, street”) and Old French place (“place, an open space”), both from Latin platea (“plaza, wide street”), from Ancient Greek πλατεῖα (plateîa), shortening of πλατεῖα ὁδός (plateîa hodós, “broad way”), from Proto-Indo-European *pleth₂- (“to spread”), extended form of *pleh₂- (“flat”). Displaced native Old English stōw, stede, and -ern. Compare also English pleck (“plot of ground”), West Frisian plak (“place, spot, location”), Dutch plek (“place, spot, patch”). Doublet of piatza, piazza, and plaza.

noncog

all over the place like a mad woman's custard

lightning does not strike twice in the same place

lightning doesn't strike twice in the same place

lightning never strikes twice in the same place

there is a place and time for everything

there is a time and place for everything

there's a time and a place for everything

to win a bet on a horse for place

(social) A responsibility or position in an organization.

(horse racing) The position of first, second, or third at the finish, especially the second position.


rank

en-adj

rank (comparative ranker or more rank, superlative rankest or most rank)

ranker (comparative)
more rank (comparative)
rankest (superlative)
most rank (superlative)
ranck (alternative)

From Middle English rank (“strong, proud”), from Old English ranc (“proud, haughty, arrogant, insolent, forward, overbearing, showy, ostentatious, splendid, bold, valiant, noble, brave, strong, full-grown, mature”), from Proto-West Germanic *rank, from Proto-Germanic *rankaz (“straight”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ- (“straight, direct”). Cognate with Dutch rank (“slender, slim”), Low German rank (“slender, projecting, lank”), Danish rank (“straight, erect, slender”), Swedish rank (“slender, shaky, wonky”), Icelandic rakkur (“straight, slender, bold, valiant”).

cog

If Safford happens to be driving a "rank" horse, one that insists on getting away fast, he goes along with the rest, […]

1949, The New Yorker (volume 25, part 3, page 46)

(obsolete) Strong; powerful; capable of acting or being used with great effect; energetic; vigorous; headstrong.

(horse racing) Headstrong; difficult to control.


silk

en-noun

silk (countable and uncountable, plural silks)

→ Hawaiian: kilika

From Middle English silk, sylk, selk, selc, from Old English sioloc, seoloc, seolc (“silk”). The immediate source is uncertain; it probably reached English via the Baltic trade routes (cognates in Old Norse silki (> Danish silke, Swedish silke (“silk”)), Russian шёлк (šolk), obsolete Lithuanian zilkai̇̃), all ultimately from Late Latin sēricus, from Ancient Greek σηρικός (sērikós), ultimately from an Oriental language (represented now by e.g. Chinese 絲 /丝 (sī, “silk”)). Compare Seres. Doublet of seric and serge.

you can't make a silk purse of a sow's ear

(horse racing, usually in the plural) The garments worn by a jockey displaying the colors of the horse's owner.


jail

jail (countable and uncountable, plural jails)

jails (plural)
gaol (alternative Australia Ireland UK dated)

→ Hindustani:

Hindi: जेल (jel)

Urdu: جیل (jel)

→ Punjabi: ਜੇਲ੍ਹ (jelh)

→ Welsh: jêl, jael

From Middle English gayole, gaylle, gaille, gayle, gaile, from Old French gaiole, gayolle, gaole, from Medieval Latin gabiola, from Late Latin caveola (“small cage, cell”), a diminutive of Latin cavea (“cavity, coop, cage”). Doublet of caveola and related to cage. More at cajole.
Fully displaced native Middle English quartern (“prison, jail, cell”), from Old English cweartern (“jail, prison”).
Partially displaced native Middle English lok, from Old English loc (“enclosure, pen; jail, prison”), whence lock; and Middle English carcern, from Old English carcern, from Latin carcer (“prison, jail”).
Compare these Old English words, all meaning “jail”: heaþor, heolstorloca (means also “jail cell”), clūstorloc, dung (also “dungeon”), hlinræced, nirwþ, nīedcleofa, hearmloca, and nearu.

ncog

(horse racing, uncountable) The condition created by the requirement that a horse claimed in a claiming race not be run at another track for some period of time (usually 30 days).

horse racing: condition of not being able to run at another track for some period of time

väliaikainen kilpailurajoitus myynnin jälkeen


stretch

→ Esperanto: streĉi

→ Finnish: stretch-

→ French: stretch

From Middle English strecchen, from Old English streċċan (“to stretch, hold out, extend, spread out, prostrate”), from Proto-West Germanic *strakkjan (“to stretch, make taut or tight”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)treg-, *streg-, *treg- (“stiff, rigid”). Cognate with West Frisian strekke, Dutch strekken (“to stretch, straighten”), German strecken (“to stretch, straighten, elongate”), Danish strække (“to stretch”), Swedish sträcka (“to stretch”), Dutch strak (“taut, tight”), Albanian shtriqem (“to stretch”). More at stark.

cog

time stretch analog-to-digital converter

(horse racing) The homestretch, the final straight section of the track leading to the finish.


bounce

en-verb

bounce (third-person singular simple present bounces, present participle bouncing, simple past and past participle bounced)

bounces (present singular third-person)
bouncing (participle present)
bounced (participle past)
bounced (past)

From Middle English bounsen, bunsen (“to beat, thump”), cognate with Scots bunce, bonce (“to bounce”). Of uncertain origin. Perhaps imitative, related to bump, or related to Middle English bonchen (“to pound, beat”) and Dutch bonken (“to bump”).
Compare Saterland Frisian bumzje (“to pound, bang, bounce”), West Frisian bûnzje (“to throb, bounce, pulsate”), Dutch bonzen (“to thump, knock, throb, bounce”), German Low German bunsen, bumsen (“to beat, bounce”), German bumsen (“to thud, bang, pound”).

unc

uncertain

onomatopoeic

imitative

cog

(horse racing, slang) To race poorly after a successful race.


bounce

en-noun

bounce (countable and uncountable, plural bounces)

unc

uncertain

onomatopoeic

imitative

(horse racing, slang) The situation where a horse races poorly after a successful race.


compound

en-verb

compound (third-person singular simple present compounds, present participle compounding, simple past and past participle compounded)

compounds (present singular third-person)
compounding (participle present)
compounded (participle past)
compounded (past)

From Middle English compounen, from Middle French componre, compondre (“to put together”), from Latin componō, from Latin com- (“together”) + ponō (“to put”).

At the hill, the Warrior must have been at least ten lengths in front of Wild Dayrell; but he compounded about 200 yards on the T. Y. C. side of the Red House.

1855, The Sporting Review, volume 34, page 240:

(horse racing, intransitive) Of a horse: to fail to maintain speed.


hod

Probably an alteration of hot (“(Northern England, Scotland) large basket for carrying earth, etc.”), from Middle English hott, hote, hotte (“large basket or pannier for carrying earth, etc.; unit of measure for grain; hut or shed (perhaps originally of wattlework); lump of dirt (?)”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman and Old French hote, hotte (“large basket carried on the back”) (modern French hotte (“carrying basket”)), from Frankish *hotta (“basket”), perhaps from Proto-Germanic *hud- (“to shake”) (see further at etymology 1), ultimately an onomatopoeia of the swaying movement of such a basket (compare Middle Dutch hotten (“to jolt; shake”)).
Cognates
German Hotte (“wooden basket carried on the back; (specifically) basket for collecting grapes from a vineyard”) (Rhineland, Swabia), Hutte (“basket for collecting grapes from a vineyard”) (Alsace, Switzerland)
Late Latin hotta, hottus (“hod”)

col

Cognates

'Clerking' is perhaps the most difficult and most admired job on a racecourse. The next time you see a bookmaker at his hod, waving his ticket-filled hands, shouting the odds, look to his left, just back a bit—out of the limelight. The bloke sitting there with his head buried deep in a ledger is the clerk.

2006, Tommy Steele, chapter 6, in Bermondsey Boy: Memories of a Forgotten World, large print edition, Bath, Somerset: Windsor Paragon; BBC Audiobooks, published 2007, →ISBN, page 64:


jigger

→ Catalan: gigre

From jig + -er (agent suffix). Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary suggests a possible link to Old High German gīga (“fiddle”).

(horse racing) An illicit electric shock device used to urge on a horse during a race.


washy

en-adj

washy (comparative washier, superlative washiest)

washier (comparative)
washiest (superlative)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-washy.wav

a washy horse

(US, dialect, archaic or horse racing) Not firm or hardy; liable to sweat profusely with labour.


chute

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-chute.wav

(horse racing) An extension to a straightway on either the home stretch or the backstretch, to avoid having a turn at the start of the race.


couple

en-verb

couple (third-person singular simple present couples, present participle coupling, simple past and past participle coupled)

couples (present singular third-person)
coupling (participle present)
coupled (participle past)
coupled (past)
copel (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English couple, from Old French couple, from Latin cōpula. Doublet of copula.

(horse racing, transitive) To enter (multiple horses with the same owner) into a race so that a single bet can be placed on any of them winning.


route

→ Japanese: ルート

From Middle English route, from Old French route, from Latin rupta [via] (literally “a path made by force”). Compare Modern French route.

der

(horse racing) A race longer than one mile.


ringer

Some senses may derive from ring the changes (“run through variations; enliven; pass counterfeit money; trick a shopkeeper into giving too much change”).

(horse racing) A horse fraudulently entered in a race using the name of another horse.


bumper

Dutch: bumper

Japanese: バンパー (banpā)

Korean: 범퍼 (beompeo)

Russian: ба́мпер (bámper)

(horse racing) In National Hunt racing, a flat race for horses that have not yet competed either in flat racing or over obstacles.


closer

From Middle English closere, equivalent to close (verb) + -er.

(horse racing) A horse that performs best toward the end of a race.


souped-up

en-adj

souped-up (comparative more souped-up, superlative most souped-up)

more souped-up (comparative)
most souped-up (superlative)
souped (alternative)
souped up (alternative)
suped-up (alternative)

Uncertain; the fact that the earlier senses seem to be the horse racing cant and United States Navy slang ones suggests a derivation from soup (“liquid food item”), connoting a horse or a person being filled with a liquid.
Alternatively, it has been suggested that the term is a modified clipping of supe(r), with reference to an aeroplane or automobile engine being supercharged: see, for example, the 1925 quotation. This sense appears to post-date the horse-racing and navy slang senses.

(horse racing, cant) Of a racehorse: injected with a substance to make it run faster or to change its temperament.

napumpan

of a racehorse: injected with a substance to make it run faster


wrong 'un

wrong 'uns (plural)
wrong'un (alternative)

(horse-racing) A horse deliberately held back in order to lose a race.


impost

Borrowed from Middle French impost, itself borrowed or adapted from Latin impōsitus, past participle of impōnō (“I impose”).

(horse racing, slang) The weight that must be carried by a horse in a race; the handicap.


under wraps

(horse-racing) Of a horse: restrained from performing at its best in a race, so as to mislead others regarding its potential.


under the wire

Lying forward flattened along Sunfish's hard-muscled shoulders, Bud was gaining and gaining—one length, then two lengths as he shot under the wire, slowed and rode back to find a silent crowd watching him.

1921, B. M. Bower, chapter 15, in Cow-Country:


napoleon

en-noun

napoleon (countable and uncountable, plural napoleons)

napoleons (plural)
Napoleon (alternative)

/nəˈpəʊlɪən/

Borrowed from French Napoléon (“given name, usually in reference to Napoleon Bonaparte”). In reference to coins, via French napoléon (“(slang) a coin that originally had the appearance of Napoleon's face in the obverse”). In reference to guns and possibly cards, in reference to Napoleon III.

bor

(rare UK horse racing slang, obsolete) Alternative form of nap: a horse to go nap on, a sure thing, a certain winner; a prediction of such a horse; a bet on such a horse.


stalker

→ Czech: stalker

→ Dutch: stalker

→ German: Stalker

→ Japanese: ストーカー

→ Korean: 스토커 (seutokeo)

→ Polish: stalker

desc

→ Russian: ста́лкер (stálker), сто́кер (stóker)

→ Thai: สตอล์กเกอร์

→ Thai: สตอล์กเกอร์

From Middle English stalkere, equivalent to stalk + -er.

If the class of the field is a stalker, I'm all in in terms of evaluating his chances.

2024, Jack Adler, Horse Racing: An Opinion: A New Way of Seeing the Sport of Kings:

(horse racing) A horse that tends to stay just behind the leaders in a race.


steamer

From steam + -er. The steamer duck or steamer (sense 6.2) is apparently named for its resemblance to a paddle steamer when swimming rapidly.

(horse racing) A racehorse the odds of which are becoming shorter (that is, decreasing) because bettors are backing it.


sticks

It was a maiden race over the "sticks," and the trainer's instructions were to slip off and make the running throughout.

1902, Outing: Sport, Adventure, Travel, Fiction, volume 40, page 469:

Do they prefer flat or 'over the sticks' (jump races)? Does the group know what the races with jumps are called?

2009, Anni Bowden, Nancy Lewthwaite, The Activity Year Book, page 124:

(horse racing) Hurdles or other obstacles to be jumped over.


welter-weight

welter-weights (plural)
welterweight (alternative)

Originally “heavyweight horseman” (1832), from welter (“heavyweight horseman”) + weight. Boxing sense 1896.

compound

(horse racing) A weight of 28 pounds (or 40 pounds: a heavy welterweight), sometimes imposed in addition to weight for age, chiefly in steeplechases and hurdle races.


sophomore

From earlier sophumer, from the obsolete sophom, sophum (“sophism or dialectical exercise”), from Ancient Greek σόφισμα (sóphisma). Likely influenced by Ancient Greek σοφός (sophós, “wise”) + μωρός (mōrós, “fool”). Compare oxymoron (literally “sharp-dull”), a similar contradiction.

The filly had looked promising as a sophomore, but concerns over her health had prompted the owner to pull her from the season’s early races.

(US, horse-racing) A three-year-old horse.


paddock

The noun is almost certainly a variant of dialectal British parrock (“enclosure; park; croft, small field, paddock”), from Middle English parrok, parrock (“enclosed pasture, paddock; coop; feeding stall; cabin, hut”) [and other forms], from Old English pearroc, pearruc (“fence used to enclose a space; area enclosed by such a fence, enclosure”), from Proto-West Germanic *parruk (“enclosure; pen for animals”), from Proto-Germanic *parrukaz (“fence; enclosure”); further etymology uncertain, perhaps related to Proto-Germanic *barō (“bar, beam; barrier”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerH- (“to pierce; to strike”). Doublet of park.
The verb is derived from the noun.
Cognates
* Danish park (“pond”)
* Dutch perk (“flowerbed; garden; pen”)
* German Pferch (“sheepfold, sheep-pen”)

cog

We left the carriage, bought programmes, and walked across the infield and then across the smooth thick turf of the course to the paddock. […] The paddock was fairly well filled with people and they were walking the horses around in a ring under the trees behind the grand stand.

1929 May–October, Ernest Hemingway, chapter 20, in A Farewell to Arms, 1st British edition, London: Jonathan Cape […], published 1929, →OCLC, book II, page 138:

You remind me of a two-year-old, Dinny—one of those whipcordy chestnuts that kick up their heels in the paddock, get left at the post, and come in first after all.

1931 November, John Galsworthy, chapter XXIV, in Maid in Waiting, 1st Canadian edition, Toronto, Ont.: The Ryerson Press, published 1931, →OCLC, page 211:

(horse racing) An enclosure next to a racecourse where horses are paraded and mounted before a race and unsaddled after a race.


off like a bride's nightie

en-adj

off like a bride's nightie (not comparable)

A reference to the supposed eagerness of just-married couples to have sexual intercourse on the night of their wedding. Australian from 1960.

(Australia, slang, simile) Making a rapid departure; away.

(Australia, horse racing) Moving quickly and resolutely.

Making a rapid departure; away.
Moving quickly and resolutely.


bull ring

bull rings (plural)
bull-ring (alternative)
bullring (alternative)

(US, horse racing) An unusually short track, typically six furlongs or less for one lap.


pull up

en-verb

pull up (third-person singular simple present pulls up, present participle pulling up, simple past and past participle pulled up)

pulls up (present singular third-person)
pulling up (participle present)
pulled up (participle past)
pulled up (past)

In this May 20, 2006, Barbaro is steadied[sic, "by" is missing] a track worker as jockey Edgar Prado looks on after he pulled up the horse with a fractured right rear leg during the 131st running of the Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore.

2016 May 19, Paul Vigna, “Barbaro's ill-fated run 10 years ago in the Preakness: A look back”, in PennLive:

(transitive, horse racing) To intentionally take a racehorse out of a race, usually as a result of the horse's tiredness or concerns of potential injury (in reference to the act of pulling up the reins).


shoo-in

shoo-ins (plural)
shoo in (alternative)
shoe-in (alternative misspelling)
shoe in (alternative misspelling)

From a sense of the verb shoo, where racehorses would fall back and allow a chosen rider to win a fixed race. See 1910 quotation.

Little Pete was a member of the delegation that were in on the "shoo" in the third race. He had several commissioners placing his coin on Model. If the race was to have been a "shoo-in" for Model, there must have been one or two owners that were not in on the deal.

1895, “Pointers from the Paddock”, in The San Francisco Call:

Most of the "regulars" are deeply suspicious of all steeplechase races of late years, and, whenever the favorite falls at one of the obstacles and a long priced leaper wins the race, they loudly call the race a "shoo-in" (a fixed affair, that is, in which the steeplechase racers have arranged to drop to the rear of the "meant" jumper and "shoo" him to the wire, they previously, of course, having got their money down on the horse thus generously treated).

1910, “Vernacular of the Race Track”, in New-York Tribune:

[it was] wondered whether Chris Chenery's Virginia flyer would be a shoo-in for the Belmont Stakes […]

(horse racing) The winner of a fixed race, a fixed race.


take the field

take the field (third-person singular simple present takes the field, present participle taking the field, simple past took the field, past participle taken the field)

takes the field (present singular third-person)
taking the field (participle present)
took the field (past)
taken the field (participle past)

(horse racing) To stake one's money against the favourite, taking the chances of the field against the chance of one horse.


quinella

quinellas (plural)
quiniela (alternative)

From American Spanish quiniela (“sporting bet or pool”); US from 1942.

bor

1954, Michigan Department of State Compilation Commission, 1954 Michigan Administrative Code, page 38,
All tickets on the quinella will be calculated in an entirely separate pool.

A few tracks offer exactas and quinallas on the same races.

1989, Charles S. Romanelli, How to Make Money in One Day at the Track, page 166:

The track quinella paid $38.00 for a $2 wager, the track exacta paid $70.60 for a $2 wager.

2004, Jim Kilby, Jim Fox, Anthony F. Lucas, Casino Operations Management, page 355:

(gambling, horse racing) A form of bet in which the bettor predicts the first two finishers in a race, without concern for the order of finishing.


drawmaster

(horse racing) The person who determines the post positions for races.


dark horse

Originally an allusion to an unknown horse with a dark coat winning a race, as used in the 1831 novel The Young Duke by Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881).

(horse racing) A horse whose capabilities are not known.


flat out

flat outs (plural)
flat-out (alternative)

The circuit is very well endowed with corners of all sorts from hairpins to flat-outs, has a 1,540-yd. straight and measures 5.2 miles, partly on an airfield, partly through a built-up area.

1952, Motor, volume 102, number 2654, page 31:

(motor racing, horse racing) An uncambered corner of racetrack; a racetrack whose corners are uncambered.


scratch

en-noun

scratch (countable and uncountable, plural scratches)

From Middle English scracchen, of uncertain origin. Probably a blend of Middle English scratten (“to scratch”) and cracchen (“to scratch”). More at scrat and cratch.

There were two scratches in race 8, which reduced the field from nine horses to seven.

(horse racing) A horse withdrawn from a race prior to the start.


futurity

futurity (countable and uncountable, plural futurities)

/fjuːˈt͡ʃʊəɹɪti/

(horse racing) A race for two-year-old horses, nominated to run when still foals.


gruelling

/ˈɡɹu.əl.ɪŋ/

From present particle of gruel (“to exhaust, punish”), from gruel (noun).

The expenses are considerably reduced, and one or two men are prevented from carrying off nearly all the races ; for though " the spirit" may be ever so " willing," the " flesh is weak," and cannot stand more than five or six gruellings in a single day.

1869, John William Carleton, The Sporting review, ed. by 'Craven'., page 394:

Miss Harriet just got there first from Vauban, the latter being leg weary from his previous gruellings ; the bitch scored four more before giving way to the dog, who made some nice driving points ; Miss Harriet, coming again, finished a good trial an easy winner.

1871, The COURSING CALENDAR For The AUTUMN SEASON 1870, page 229:

The course was given to the black puppy, but his chance was generally considered to have been utterly destroyed by the two gruellings he had received.

1907, James Blyth, The irrevocable, and other stories, page 230:

When "Red Robin's" other great son, "Dee Rock", was retired to stud in 1935 I recollect, too, the pessimistic prophecies of those sceptics that a dog that had endured so many gruellings in the field would never accomplish much at stud.

1949, H. Edwards Clarke, The modern greyhound, page 66:

(horse racing) A race in which the animal being raced finishes in a state of physical exhaustion.


back straight

He got boxed in amongst four African runners in the back straight of the last lap, and was only able to get out into the clear coming into the home straight.

(athletics, horse racing) The straight part of a racetrack, running track, etc., opposite the finishing line; the backstretch.


whoop-de-doo

When Shoemaker wins or loses by a nose, it is an odds-on bet that a whoop-de-doo rider would have lost by lengths, having wasted the horse prematurely.

1988, Tom Ainslie, Ainslie's Complete Guide to Thoroughbred Racing, →ISBN, page 203:

(horse racing) A style of racing in which the jockey establishes an early lead and then runs as fast as possible.


oaks

(horse racing) A stakes race in which entry is restricted to 3-year-old fillies.


backstretch

backstretches (plural)
back stretch (alternative)
back-stretch (alternative)

At the time appointed to start [2 1 2 P.M.], the horses made their appearance on the track, and were soon after called up by the judges for the race. They were startd at six minutes before three o'clock, the pacer having the pole, and leading round the first turn. On the backstretch he waited for the trotter, and let him take sides with him, it being apparent at this early stage that [George] Spicer did not intend to go any faster than the trotter would make him, at the same time keeping the trotter on the ouside all the way round, thereby making him go a greater distance in the race.

1853 November 26, “Ten Mile Race in Centreville, L.I.”, in Gleason’s Pictorial Drawing-room Companion, volume V, number 22 (number 126 from the start), Boston, Mass.: F[rederick] Gleason, corner of Tremont and Bromfield Sts., →OCLC, page 340, column 1:

This was a day almost fifty years since the time I was supposed to run in the 4 by 100-meter Olympic relay. I was standing on the track in the imposing, empty Olympic Stadium in Berlin. […] I walked down into the well of the vast, brooding stadium, and then along the backstretch of the red clay running oval.

1996, Marty Glickman, Stan Isaacs, “Prologue”, in The Fastest Kid on the Block: The Marty Glickman Story (Sports and Entertainment), Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, →ISBN, page 2:

(athletics, horse racing, car racing) Synonym of back straight (“straight part of a racetrack, running track, etc., opposite the finishing line”).

back straight

Dominic Gatto liked to have someone at the track to represent him when one of his horses raced at Arlington Park or Belmont or Prescott Downs. Someone to relay a word to the jockey, keep a sharp eye on the trainer, distribute tips to the backstretch workers who were made to understand that Mr Dominic appreciated their services.

1997, Cary Fagan, chapter 9, in Sleeping Weather, Erin, Ont.: The Porcupine's Quill, →ISBN, page 71:

When I was a kid here, growing up in the Palouse River, we never met people from other cultures or countries. There on the racetracks and backstretches in England I met people from all over the world. Everyone came together to own the horses, to work the horses and to watch them race.

2012, Krista Michelle Breen, “Quicksand”, in Quicksand: The Mysterious Disappearance of Dakotaroo, 4th edition, Rockwood, Ont.: Groundskeeper's Cottage Press, →ISBN, page 130:

(horse racing) An area next to a racetrack used to stable the racehorses and house employees.


pari-mutuel

pari-mutuel (plural pari-mutuels or paris-mutuels)

pari-mutuels (plural)
paris-mutuels (plural)
parimutuel (alternative)

There is also a pari-mutuel option. You and a friend can wager that you will each lose 15 pounds over the next two months. If you both succeed, the money is returned. But if one fails while the other succeeds, then the loser pays the winner. If you both fail, then the one who loses the most is the winner.

2008, Avinash K. Dixit and Barry J. Nalebuff, The Art of Strategy: A Game Theorist's Guide to Success in Business and Life, W.W Norton & Company, p. 208

(horse racing) Any betting system in which all bets of a particular type are placed together in a pool; taxes and a house take are removed, and payoff odds are calculated by sharing the pool among all placed bets.


claiming race

In a claiming race, each horse is in a sense up for sale. That is, any owner who has raced a horse at the track during the meet in progress may put in a claim to buy any horse racing in a claiming race.

1968, Marvin B. Scott, The Racing Game, page 15:

(horse racing) A race in which the competing horse can be claimed by anyone at the specified claiming price for the race.


washed out

en-adj

washed out (comparative more washed out, superlative most washed out)

more washed out (comparative)
most washed out (superlative)

a washed out horse

(US, horse racing) Synonym of washy (“tending to sweat profusely”).


come to hand

en-verb

come to hand (third-person singular simple present comes to hand, present participle coming to hand, simple past came to hand, past participle come to hand)

comes to hand (present singular third-person)
coming to hand (participle present)
came to hand (past)
come to hand (participle past)

The horse came to hand, and won first prize.

(US, horse racing) To perform well, to come under control.


jumpout

The few who attended Tuesday's important Lightning Stakes jumpouts at Flemington on Tuesday may have been put off by Swick's lethargic display.

2009 January 31, Matt Stewart, “Bart Cummings ready to derail Lightning match race”, in Herald Sun, archived from the original on 2009-02-05:

I did get to ride in a couple of barrier jumpouts, but even that was sprung on me. I was riding a horse towards the track when Murty said it was going for a jumpout, a sprint about 400 metres from the barriers down the home straight.

2011, David Brasch, Peter Cook, Jockeying To The Top, unnumbered page:

(Australia, horse racing) An unofficial trial race.


trackwork

McDonald described Weekend Hussler's trackwork this preparation as "frightening".

2009 January 30, Tim Habel, “Short journey to suit Hussler”, in Herald Sun:

(horse racing) Practice in racing around a track


standardbred

From standard + bred. In this context, the word "standard" refers to the fact that in the early decades of the breed's development, all breeding stock had to meet a specific performance standard, namely ability to trot or pace a mile in no more than 2 minutes, 30 seconds.

"Jockeys waste and drivers don't and maybe the breed (standardbred) might be a bit more conducive to the conditions."

2009 January 30, Tim Habel, Matt Stewart, “Heat on VRC to delay Flemington meeting”, in Herald Sun:

(horse racing) A breed of horse bred specifically for harness racing


hit-out

hit-outs (plural)
hitout (alternative)
hit out (alternative)

(Australia, horse racing) A fast gallop.


unplaced

The Listed John Dillon Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on Australia Day is an option for Rok Posta, who has only been unplaced four times in his 20 starts.

2009 January 18, Adrian Dunn, “Girls combine to Posta win at Flemington”, in Herald Sun:

(horse racing) Not among the first three horses to finish a race.


placegetter

2008, Mike Keenan, The Shadows of Horses, 2009 Large 24pt Edition, Read How You Want, page 96,
I was utterly unprepared for the reception I received when I trotted up towards the stall reserved for the second placegetter, in the Saddling Enclosure.

Last year's Caulfield Cup placegetter is rated a $6 chance and will be ridden by champion Irish jockey Michael Kinane.

2009 February 13, Tim Habel, “Time to put best foot forward”, in Herald Sun:

Essentially, punters who played the placecards — usually in a local pub — had to pick a placegetter in each of the four feature races on a Saturday. So, if it was races five, seven and eight, you had to correctly select just one of the three placegetters in each race to win.

2011, Nichola Garvey, Beating the Odds, unnumbered page:

(horse racing, Australia, New Zealand) A horse that finishes among the first three of a race, or in a specified place.


quaddie

From quadrella + -ie (“diminutive suffix”).

2003 March 22, Craig Sherborne, Footy′s Man of Passion, The Herald Sun, republished in 2003, Garrie Hutchinson (editor), The Best Australian Sports Writing 2003, page 82,
He was a footballer, hard-boned, smart-mouthed, with an eye on the quaddie at Flemington.

I had the quaddie in Melbourne if Alinghi won.

2004 November 21, Josh Button, “Cup tips”, in aus.sport.rugby-league (Usenet):

2006, Mike Dillon, From The Horses Mouth: The Keith Haub Story, 2010, HarperCollins Publishers (New Zealand), unnumbered page,
With only the last race to run the trio each had a $1 quaddie unit if Brent Thomson managed to get over the line in front.

For the Fourth week in a row I have had 3 live legs of the Quaddie only to be dudded by West Coast the last two!

2007 July 16, gF, “Screw Fremantle”, in aus.sport.aussie-rules (Usenet):

(Australia, gambling, horse racing, colloquial) A quadrella, a type of bet requiring the bettor to pick the winners of four nominated races at the same track; a bet requiring the selection of four winners of specified matches in a given round of a sporting competition.


pick six

pick sixes (plural)
pick-six (alternative)

(horse racing) A wager in which the bettor must correctly predict the winners of six consecutive races.


plater

(horse-racing) A horse that runs chiefly in selling plates; hence, an inferior racehorse.


quadrella

2003 March 22, Craig Sherborne, Footy′s Man of Passion, The Herald Sun, republished in 2003, Garrie Hutchinson (editor), The Best Australian Sports Writing 2003, page 79,
Demetriou is an inveterate punter with a miraculous instinct for picking big quadrellas.

2009, H. G. Nelson (Greig Pickhaver), Sprays: A Collection of Verbal Touch-Ups, unnumbered page,
Imagine jagging a couple of nice trifectas or the quadrella and squaring the Christmas credit-card bill, with a little extra left for a three-week holiday at Victor Harbor. Magic!

2010, Stephen Barkoczy. Australian Tax Casebook, 10th Edition, CCH Australia, page 416,
Instead, the taxpayer relied on his own intuition, placed bets mainly on the totalisator or with on-course bookmakers and was more inclined to place “higher risk” bets such as trifectas and quadrellas.

(gambling, horse racing, Australia, New Zealand) A bet where the bettor must pick the winners of four nominated races at the same track.


Triple Crown

(horse racing, US) The three greatest thoroughbred races of the year restricted to three-year-olds: the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes

(horse racing, UK) The three greatest thoroughbred races of the year restricted to three-year-olds: the 2,000 Guineas Stakes, Derby Stakes (aka "Epsom Derby"), and St. Leger Stakes

(horse racing, Canada) The three greatest thoroughbred races of the year restricted to three-year-olds: the Queen's Plate, Prince of Wales Stakes, and Breeders' Stakes


quadfecta

He won the Superfecta and the Quadfecta all in the same day at Hollywood Park Casino in Los Angeles.

2010, George V. Bush, Magazine Man “A Slave To The Sale”, unnumbered page:

(gambling, horse racing) A bet in which the bettor must select the winners of the first four places (i.e., first, second, third, and fourth) of a race in the correct order.


chalk out

chalk out (third-person singular simple present chalks out, present participle chalking out, simple past and past participle chalked out)

chalks out (present singular third-person)
chalking out (participle present)
chalked out (participle past)
chalked out (past)

A 25-1 shot won race 3, but the rest of the early pick 5 chalked out after that.

(US, intransitive, horse racing) In a multi-race wager, to lose to the favorite in all of the remaining races.


stall handler

(horse racing) Someone responsible for manoeuvring the horse between the gates before the start of a race.

pousseur

someone responsible for manoeuvring the horse between the gates


catchweight

They'll break from the gate in full tack with jockeys riding catchweight in silks.

1976 December 3, “Oldtimers race is well received”, in El Paso Herald-Post:

to ride catchweight

(horse racing) Without any weight restrictions; without being handicapped.


stoater

El Hakim's party won a mere trifle, but stood what poor Captain Scott was wont to term "a stoater" on Merlin, a good but uncertain horse, who had "lost" him in the trial at home.

1858, The Irish metropolitan magazine, page 117:

Owners back their horses for such “stoaters,” in short distance races, where a start is everything, that, in too many cases, woe betide the backs and pockets of the lads if they do not jump off in a twinkling.

1860, Sporting Magazine - Volume 36, page 306:

When it was known before starting the sum Lord Portsmouth stood on his filly, there was a perfect furore to back her, as a pony would be ' a perfect stoater ' for him ; and his commission, it was understood, considerably exceeded that sum.

1863, Baily's Magazine of Sports & Pastimes - Volume 5, page 96:

(Scotland, Ireland, horse racing) A horse that wins against the odds.


starting price

(horse racing) The final odds on a horse when the race starts; also used to designate a system of fixed-odds betting using such prices. Abbreviation: SP.


half sibling

half siblings (plural)
half-sibling (alternative)
halfsibling (alternative)

(horse racing) Any of two or more horses having the same dam but different sires.

germà uterí

child of the same mother but a different father

腹違い

child of the same father but a different mother


back the field

back the field (third-person singular simple present backs the field, present participle backing the field, simple past and past participle backed the field)

backs the field (present singular third-person)
backing the field (participle present)
backed the field (participle past)
backed the field (past)

(horse racing) To bet against a particular horse or horses, that some one of all the other horses, collectively designated "the field", will win.


one-horse race

Since riding Harry Payne Whitney's Whiskery to victory in the Kentucky Derby, Jockey Linus ("Pony") McAtee has twice broken into the news in unconventional fashion. A fortnight ago, he won a one-horse race ("walkover") at Belmont Park, N. Y.

1927 June 13, “Sport: Again, McAtee”, in Time, retrieved 2014-07-26:

Sinister Minister . . . kept extending his lead and turned the stretch run into a one-horse race.

2006 April 16, Bill Finley, “Sinister Minister Joins Baffert's Derby Stable”, in New York Times, retrieved 2014-07-26:

(horse racing, informal) A horse race in which a single horse takes such a considerable lead that the other horses are no longer contenders to win.


winner's circle

(horse racing) An enclosed area next to a racetrack where the winning horse and jockey are brought for photographs and awards.


turn of foot

So myth number one is that horses who finish fast in the final furlong are horses to follow because they possess a turn of foot.

2004, Alan Potts, Against the Crowd, →ISBN, page 23:

He had a turn of foot that could see him outsprint many a staying horse over the 2400 metres, but that was his limit.

The squareish track was flat and suited horses with a turn of foot, which exactly described the two runners that Brewer was sending there on the day following Matt's return from Sedgefield.

2009, Lyndon Stacey, Murder in Mind, →ISBN, page 155:

Meanwhile Charlie Bell reported the stable's latest acquisition: a very good jumper but, as far as he could determine to date, 'without a great turn of foot'.

2014, Peter O'Sullevan, Calling The Horses: A Racing Autobiography, →ISBN:

(horse racing) The ability to accelerate quickly.

A good deal of a horse's efforts at acceleration are dissipated by the surface. On grass, a turn of foot is a powerful weapon. On dirt or the All-weather it counts for very little.

2002, Nick Mordin, Betting for a Living, →ISBN, page 51:

He had failed to match the lightening turn of foot of Desert Destination, but was now eating up the ground and was almost up-sides.

2003, Paddy Cummins, Green Lodge, →ISBN, page 94:

He felt that, as he put him in a gallop, the estimated speed they were travelling at was forty miles an hour and his turn of foot was breathtaking.

2013, B. J. Newing, The Rawlinson Family Story, →ISBN, page 102:

The winner then found an impressive and immediate turn of foot to accelerate away from Nichols Canyon after the second-last, and he was full value for his healthy winning margin at the line.

2016 December 29, Greg Wood, “Petit Mouchoir on course for Champion Hurdle after Leopardstown victory”, in The Guardian:

(horse racing) A burst of speed in a horse race.


short head

Red Rum won by a short head.

(horse racing) A distance of less than the length of a horse's head


half-length

(horse racing) Half the length of a horse.


point-to-point

From point (“individual element in a larger whole; specific location or place; topic of discussion or debate”) + to + point.

(horse racing, also attributively) A kind of horse race involving a direct cross-country course with obstacles for hunting horses and amateur riders.


scratch race

(horse racing) A catchweight horse race.


weight for age

[H]e would merely have remarked on its elegant hocks and golden horn and suggested that she enter it weight for age at Flemington.

2016, Kerry Greenwood, Murder and Mendelssohn, Sydney: Allen and Unwin, page 243:

(horse racing) Handicapped according to the age of the racehorse competing (and certain other factors).


weight for age

"What did I say about Nightcap last week? Here he's won the Weight for Age at twelve to one."

1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 140:


frontstretch

frontstretches (plural)
front stretch (alternative)
front-stretch (alternative)

The new track will be built of a sandy loam running surface providing improved turns and a layout with new spirals to ease entry into the turns. The frontstretch and backstretch will be lengthened by 660 feet.

1991, Harness Horse - Volume 56, Issues 27-34, page 11:

D-shaped ovals are modified ovals that have one long sweeping arc of a turn for a frontstretch instead of a straightaway.

2009, Mark Martin, NASCAR For Dummies, →ISBN:

In addition to often scheduling the autograph sessions, speedway officials would open the frontstretch gate and allow fans to come onto the track and the grassy frontstretch apron after an event.

2017, Deb Williams, Charlotte Motor Speedway, →ISBN, page 24:

(athletics, horse racing, car racing) The straight (or gently curved) part of a racetrack, running track, etc. where the race begins.


hit the board

hit the board (third-person singular simple present hits the board, present participle hitting the board, simple past and past participle hit the board)

hits the board (present singular third-person)
hitting the board (participle present)
hit the board (participle past)
hit the board (past)

(horse racing) To finish in first, second, third or fourth place, thus appearing on the winners' board.


on the muscle

Tallhato was "on the muscle" going down the backside, attempting to run out. That's not the formula to beat a filly like Windy's Daughter.

1973, Chronicle of the Horse, volume 36, numbers 1-13, page 5:

I really wasn't able to rest him too much because he was on the muscle more than usual tonight.

1990, Harness Horse, volume 56, numbers 5-8, page 22:

(horse-racing) Of a horse: frisky and energetic, seeming keen to race.


stakeswinner

stakeswinners (plural)
stakes-winner (alternative)
stakes winner (alternative)
stakewinner (alternative)

(horse racing) A winner of a stakes race


stakeswinning

(horse racing) Having won a stakes race.


winter book

(horse racing) A bookmaker's guide to the likely performance of racehorses in the upcoming season.


break one's maiden

break one's maiden (third-person singular simple present breaks one's maiden, present participle breaking one's maiden, simple past broke one's maiden, past participle broken one's maiden)

breaks one's maiden (present singular third-person)
breaking one's maiden (participle present)
broke one's maiden (past)
broken one's maiden (participle past)

(horse racing) Of a racehorse or jockey: to achieve victory in a race for the first time.


on the rails

(horse racing) Racing toward the inside, near the fence that bounds the track.


barrier rogue

(Australia, horse racing) A racehorse that is difficult to control when being put into the starting gates.


running rail

(horse racing) A fence which marks the inside edge of a racecourse track.


flagfall

Boyce took him ahead at the flagfall , with the Hughes horse in pursuit

June 22, 2020, David Milnes, The Lir Jet swoops late to deny Wesley Ward's Golden Pal in Norfolk in The Racing Post
The result looked unlikely soon after flagfall when Wesley Ward's Golden Pal blazed a trail down the centre of the track under Andrea Atzeni

(horse racing) The start of a horse race


add to the list

add to the list (third-person singular simple present adds to the list, present participle adding to the list, simple past and past participle added to the list)

adds to the list (present singular third-person)
adding to the list (participle present)
added to the list (participle past)
added to the list (past)

Sabinus has been added to the list.

(transitive, slang, dated, horse racing) To geld (a horse).


chalk-eating weasel

en-noun

chalk-eating weasel (plural chalk-eating weasels)

(horse racing) A bettor who regularly wagers on the favorite.


market horse

[N]othing is easier than to make sure […] that the horse selected, in the event of the public fancying him, shall be made a market horse, and be “milked” for the benefit of those interested: the losing of a race may at any time be ensured, and there are scores of “turf dairymen” who are reputed adepts in the use of the milking pail.

1892, James Glass Bertram, A Mirror of the Turf, page 271:

(horse racing, slang, obsolete) A horse kept in the betting-lists for the sole purpose of being betted against.


dead amiss

At the mention of the increased amount of odds, the snob took the youngster aside, and said to him, "Look now, by the book, we have the old man done brown; my horse is dead amiss, your cousin's horse you can beat easy, […]

1840, John William Carleton, The Sporting Review, page 286:

Sunshine ran gamely, but was clearly out of condition; and Gamos, who was dead amiss at Bath, having got round, beat her from the superiority of her training, […]

1870, Tresham Gilbey, Baily's Magazine of Sports and Pastimes, volume 18, page 320:

(horse racing) Of a horse: too ill to compete.


call a cab

en-verb

call a cab (third-person singular simple present calls a cab, present participle calling a cab, simple past and past participle called a cab)

calls a cab (present singular third-person)
calling a cab (participle present)
called a cab (participle past)
called a cab (past)

(raise arm while riding): From the similarity to the raised-arm gesture used to summon a taxi.

An habitually raised arm, termed 'calling a cab', was the trademark of amateurism.

1994, Dick Francis, Wild Horses, page 137:

Drawings of races sixty years ago show the riders trying to avoid catching their horses in the mouth by stretching forward with one arm and lifting the other hand backwards off the reins into the position known as 'calling a cab'.
Although it is no longer the normal and recognized thing to do, 'calling a cab' is still occasionally seen when a jockey finds himself in difficulties over a fence.

2002, Frank R. Scatoni, Finished Lines, page 181:

(horse racing) To raise one's arm to maintain balance while riding.


Captain Armstrong

A pun on the name Armstrong, referring to the use of a strong arm.

"Poor child," he said to himself, all his angry feelings changing, "she seems to have set her heart so upon winning, it would be sad if she were disappointed. No one has much on it: shall I try Captain Armstrong for once? It would make her very happy. Bar accidents, I must win. They don't know that the chestnut has not extended himself yet."

1860, George Alfred Lawrence, Guy Livingstone, page 70:

He had practised “Captain Armstrong” so palpably as to be banished from the Turf.

1886, Baily's Magazine of Sports & Pastimes, volume 46, page 413:

We have not an iota of belief in this or any other "Captain Armstrong" insinuation against high-class jockeys, who have far too comfortable incomes, and too much proper pride, to place their characters in any man's power, […]

(horse racing, archaic, slang) A form of cheating in which the jockey deliberately pulls his horse back so that it does not win.


blow up the tote

blow up the tote (third-person singular simple present blows up the tote, present participle blowing up the tote, simple past blew up the tote, past participle blown up the tote)

blows up the tote (present singular third-person)
blowing up the tote (participle present)
blew up the tote (past)
blown up the tote (participle past)
light up the tote (alternative)

From the whimsical notion that the payout on a particularly high-priced longshot might be a larger number than the tote board is capable of computing and/or displaying.

Giacomo blew up the tote by winning the 2005 Kentucky Derby at odds of 50-1.

(horse racing, of a horse) To win a race as a long shot.


gate-to-wire

Authentic led the 2020 Breeders’ Cup Classic at every point of call en route to a gate-to-wire victory.

(US, horse racing) From start to finish. (Usually used to describe a horse that wins a race by leading throughout.)


raceday

racedays (plural)
race day (alternative)

(horse racing) A day on which a race is held


on the rail

(horse racing) Alternative form of on the rails.


jock off

jock off (third-person singular simple present jocks off, present participle jocking off, simple past and past participle jocked off)

jocks off (present singular third-person)
jocking off (participle present)
jocked off (participle past)
jocked off (past)

Dawn Run's owner, Charmian Hill, who had insisted on trainer Paddy Mullins 'jocking off' his son Tony and putting up Jonjo O'Neill to ride her in the Gold Cup, was an awkward cuss too.

2012, Robin Oakley, Britain and Ireland's Top 100 Racehorses of All Time:

(transitive, informal, horse racing) To replace (a jockey) with another.


distaffer

(horse racing) A horse that races in a distaff (race for female horses only).


run nowhere

run nowhere (third-person singular simple present runs nowhere, present participle running nowhere, simple past ran nowhere, past participle run nowhere)

runs nowhere (present singular third-person)
running nowhere (participle present)
ran nowhere (past)
run nowhere (participle past)

(horse racing, slang) To finish the race unplaced.


pencil fever

(horse racing, slang, obsolete) The situation where punters discover that a horse is almost certain to lose, and so become eager to lay bets against it.


chart caller

chart callers (plural)
chart-caller (alternative)
chartcaller (alternative)

The chartcallers' routine goes something like this: When the horses come onto the track, chartcallers jot down equipment information -- which runners are wearing blinkers, bandages on their forelegs, special horse shoes. While this is going on, they memorize and match the color of each jockey's silks to his mount's name. Or, as is the case with Feustle and most newer chartcallers, the number on the saddle cloth.

2003 May 16, John Scheinman, “Chartcallers, Setting the Track Record”, in The Washington Post, Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-08-18:

When Jim Bishop was an Equibase chartcaller himself several seasons back, he would sometimes stray from the pre-programmed database comments and get creative with his past performance charts. For sorry horses such as Regal Bishop, he liked to utilize his favorite selfcoined disparity: Appeared to dislike racing.

2007, T. D. Thornton, Not by a Long Shot: A Season at a Hard Luck Horse Track, New York, N.Y.: PublicAffairs, →ISBN, page 42:

The technology has been sufficiently accurate that Equibase has changed its method of charting races at tracks using the system. Historically, the details of every race have been gathered by a chart-caller who watches the action through binoculars and calls out numbers to a partner. Now Trakus produces the charts, though the data still requires oversight and tweaking by Equibase personnel.

2012 February 8, Andrew Beyer, “New racing technology could offer vast amounts of data to handicappers”, in The Washington Post, Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-08-18:

Another, Jamie Zoeller, was a Pavement superfan. He met Nastanovich at a bar in Chicago in the '90s, and Nastanovich told him about his Derby house. Nastanovich (now a chart caller at Prairie Meadows racetrack in Altoona, Iowa) wrote down the address on a bar napkin, and Zoeller carried it around in his wallet until one day he made it, in 1999.

2021 May 1, Melissa Hoppert, “At This Kentucky Derby Party House, Everyone Is ’Like Family’”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-04-28:

(horse racing) A person who is responsible for systemically recording the performance of the racehorses throughout a horse race.


clerk of the course

en-noun

clerk of the course (plural clerks of the course or clerks of courses)

clerks of the course (plural)
clerks of courses (plural)

(horse racing) An official responsible for track management and raceday preparation at a racecourse.


selling-plater

(horse-racing) Synonym of plater (“a horse that runs chiefly in selling plates”).


eighth pole

(horse racing) A pole indicating that the finish line is one eighth of a mile away.


nom de course

(horse racing) A name, usually a pseudonym, used by a racehorse owner under which their horse is registered to compete.


quarter pole

(horse racing) A pole indicating that the finish line is one quarter of a mile away.


clubhouse turn

When the horses reached the clubhouse turn the sport-shirted man and his housedressed wife and his blue-jeaned son were all on their feet.

1956 July 30, Humphrey S. Finney, “Horse Racing”, in Sports Illustrated, volume 5, number 5, page 40:

(horse racing) The turn to the right of the grandstand.


far turn

(horse racing) The turn off the backstretch into the home stretch (and furthest from the finish line).


circle the field

en-verb

circle the field (third-person singular simple present circles the field, present participle circling the field, simple past and past participle circled the field)

circles the field (present singular third-person)
circling the field (participle present)
circled the field (participle past)
circled the field (past)

(horse racing) To go very wide around other horses in order to move into a winning position.


pinhook

pinhook (third-person singular simple present pinhooks, present participle pinhooking, simple past and past participle pinhooked)

pinhooks (present singular third-person)
pinhooking (participle present)
pinhooked (participle past)
pinhooked (past)

(horse racing) To buy young racehorses in order to resell them later for profit.


blue hen

(horse racing, slang) A mare who benefits a breed by producing many high-quality offspring.


post parade

(horse racing) The movement of the horses from the paddock to the starting gate ("post"), past the grandstands.


new shooter

(horse racing, Canada, US) A horse that has skipped the Kentucky Derby to run in the Preakness Stakes or Belmont Stakes.


minus pool

(horse racing, gambling) A pool of money made up (usually by the racing association) to pay the legally required minimum on each winning bet, when there is not enough left in the pari-mutuel pool.


post time

(horse racing) The time of day when a race is scheduled to begin.


hand-ride

hand-ride (third-person singular simple present hand-rides, present participle hand-riding, simple past hand-rode, past participle hand-ridden)

hand-rides (present singular third-person)
hand-riding (participle present)
hand-rode (past)
hand-ridden (participle past)

(horse racing) To urge the horse on with one's hands, without using the whip.


hand-ride

(horse racing) The urging of the horse with one's hands, without using the whip.


grueller

gruellers (plural)
grueler (alternative)


Garrison finish

en-noun

Garrison finish (plural Garrison finishes)

After Edward H. Garrison (1868–1930), American jockey known for such finishes.

(horse racing) The situation where a competitor in a race pulls ahead at the last moment to score a dramatic victory.


conditions race

conditions race (plural conditions races)

(horse racing) A horse race in which the weights carried by the runners are allocated according to sex, age, and prior racing performance.


post position

(horse racing, dog racing) An individual horse's or dog's stall at the starting gate from which the race is begun.


winrace

(horse racing) A winning horse's fastest time.


hardboot

(horse racing) An independent small-scale horse trainer or breeder, especially one associated with the U.S. state of Kentucky.


upset the pot

Your horse Prince Henry, the fellow that nearly upset the pot at Kempton, was well in the Lincoln Handicap.

1897, Nat Gould, Not So Bad After All (page 126)

(horse racing, slang) To beat the favourite in a race.