The Racehorse

The Horse

All racehorses are an athletic breed of horse called a Thoroughbred. A horse's breeding is important, as winning genes (either speed or stamina) are highly desired. Horses come in a range of colours, which has no reflection on their speed or stamina.

Ages and Genders

The race conditions specify the age, gender and experience of the horses that will be in the race. The ages and genders of horses are as follows:

Foal:                                                                                                        Horse of either sex from the time of its birth until 1 January the following year. All racehorses have the same birthday so in the first few years, a horse born in January will have a significant advantage in physical development than a horse born in July when racing against each other in a race that specifies a specific age (rather than an age range).

Yearling:
A horse of either sex from 1 January to 31 December of the year following its birth.

Juvenile:
A two year old horse (Flat) or a three year old horse (Jump)

Colt:
A young un-gelded male horse aged four years old or younger

Filly:
A female horse four years old or younger

Gelding:
Refers to horses that have been castrated ("gelded") as the temperament of a stallion

Mare:
A female horse five years and over

Horse:
A male horse aged five years and over

Stallion/entire:
An un-castrated male horse.

Experience

Maiden: 
A horse that has NOT yet won a race (sometimes referred as a female horse that has  never had a foal)

Novice:
A horse that has NOT won more than 2 races

Physique

Condition:
How well a horse looks (muscle tone, shine of coat and general appearance)

Height:
A horses height is measured from the point of the withers in Hands ( 1 hand = 4" =  10.16cm). Height is no indication of a winning horse.

Action of movement:
A horse’s action will show if the horse prefers firm or softer ground. For instance, a horse with a high knee action will like cut in the ground as they hit it harder (greater impact), while horse that glide over the top of the ground prefer firmer conditions (like a conveyer belt).

Winning Distances

Favourite:
The horse/s in a race who bookmakers feel is the most likely to win (i.e. the horse has the smallest odds)

Winning Distance:
Distance between the horse and the next horse to pass the line. E.g. if the winning horse won by a length, there was a length between the winning horse and the horse that came second.

Dead heat:
0

Short Head:
0.1 length / 0.8 feet / 0.24 m

Head:
0.2 length/ 1.6 feet/ 0.49m

Neck:
0.3 length/ 2.4 feet/ 0.73m

Other lengths:
1/2 length/ 4 feet/ 1.22m
3/4 length/6 feet/ 1.83m
1 length/ 8 feet/ 2.44m
1 1/2 length/ 12 feet/ 3.66m
3 lengths/ 24 feet/ 7.32m

Distance

5 lengths for Flat races and 12 lengths for Jump Races.

Trainer

In horse racing, the owner pays a trainer to get a horse fit and able to race. Part of the trainer’s duty is to exercise the horse as well as tend to its career (getting it race-ready and determining which races it should run in). The trainer in return will get a fee as well as a percentage of the winnings.

Each trainer will have his/her own methods of training a horse, as well as specialist areas (e.g., race distances, problem horses, young horses etc). This is taken account of by some punters if a trainer has a particular horse that suits his style of training OR if the trainer is repeatedly successful.

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