Roy Brindley’s Horse Racing Guides (Part 1): Most Common Terms
Welcome to our new series of Roy’s racing guides. In the following series, we’ll be highlighting everything you need to know regarding horse racing and betting.
What is the Difference Between Hurdles and Fences in Horse Racing?
In steeplechases, horses jump over fences that are made of birch or spruce. These can be a variety of obstacles including plain fences, water jumps, or open ditches. The fences in chases must be a minimum of four-and-a-half feet (1.3-metres) in height.
In hurdle races, the obstacles are smaller than fences and are uniform in design. They are three feet six inches in height. But, as they are placed at an angle, the top hurdle is 37 inches above the ground.
Hurdles are typically made of a series of brush panels. It means they are flexible. The least number of hurdles to be jumped in any national hunt hurdles race – a minimum of two miles – is eight.
What Does It Mean When a Horse Is ‘on the Bridle’?
Normally, if a horse is described as ‘on the bridle’, it generally means it is cruising along. It looks likely to win its race and should do so without having to be vigorously ridden. It will not have been asked for maximum effort from its jockey and appears likely to readily quicken when asked for an effort.
In-running horse racing betting sites will always have horses that are eye-catchingly travelling ‘on the bridle’ priced very short.
What Is a Listed Horse Race?
Listed races are a category of horse races above handicaps but below Group-3 company. In essence, they are the fourth tier of horse racing and will be contested by horses of a very high caliber.
What Does ‘Weighed in’ Mean at the End of a Horse Race?
Before jockeys take their mounts, they must be ‘weighed out’ to ensure they – along with their saddle, equipment and lead weights – will carry their allocated racing weights. After the race, they must be weighed again to verify they competed with the correct weight.
Once every returning jockey has been correctly ‘weighed in’ an announcement will be made by the stewards. This signal traditionally makes the race result official and signals the time when bookmakers should settle winning bets.
What Does a Maiden Mean in Horse Racing?
A maiden is a horse that has never won a race. A maiden race is a contest restricted to horses that have never won.
