The following are some common horse racing betting terms. You might hear these words/phrases being used at the track by veteran horse handicaps, or read them online in a horse betting article. Either way, it’s important to be up on all the jargon so you know what’s going on. There’s nothing worse than feeling like a square at the race track when the gates open! (Then again, a veteran with a winning ticket is no better than a square with the same winning ticket!)
Accumulator: A bet placed on two or more horse races where the winnings of the first race go towards the bet of the second race, and if successful, the winnings of the second bet go towards the bet of the third race and so on…
Across the Board: Betting on one horse to win, place, and show. If the horse places first, the bettor collects the win, place, and show payout; if the horse places second, the bettor collets the place and show payouts; and if the horse places third, the bettor only collects the show payout.
All In: When a gambler risks his entire bankroll on one bet.
Also-Ran: A horse that doesn’t finish in the top 3. Also known as a horse that doesn’t finish “in the money”.
Average Earnings Index: A comparison of racing earnings of a stallion or a mare’s foals to those of all other foals in a horse racing season.
Backer: A person or group that provides the bankroll for a horse bettor.
Backstretch: The area of the racetrack opposite the finish line.
Barrier: The starting gate is sometimes referred to as the barrier.
Box Bet: Betting all the possible combinations available in a horse race with a quinella, exacta, trifecta, or superfecta wager.
Blinkers: A common piece of horse racing equipment. The eye cups on the blinkers, depending on modifications, block side and rear vision in either or both eyes.
Bobble: A bad step away from starting gate resulting in a horse stumbling or otherwise losing its step.
Breakage: Some horse races are paid off rounded up to the nearest nickel or dime. The pennies that are lost typically go to the track (or pari-mutuel) host state as a form of tax.
Bridge Jumper: A person who bets an extraordinary amount of money on one horse in a race. They’ll be a suicidal “bridge jumper” if they lose.
Colt: Ungelded male horse 4-years-old or younger.
Combination Bet. Combinations cover from two to four horses to win in chosen order.
Crow’s Nest: A high vantage point where the race officials, announcers, and judges observe the horse race.
Daily Double: Picking the winning horse in two consecutive races.
Dead Heat: A tie between 2 or more horses at the finish of a race. Races with photo finishes can usually be broken into 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers, but other times a tie is declared.
Drifter: A horse whose odds become longer and longer (meaning a potential win would pay more money) because no one is betting on the horse in the pari-mutuel pool.
Eclipse Awards: Awards honoring top horses, trainers, and owner in various superlatives at the end of a thoroughbred season.
Exacta: Also known as a perfecta bet, the horse bettor is picking the first and second consecutive horses in a race.
Exposure: The amount of money the player or book stands to lose on any action.
Field Horse: Two or more horses running as a single betting unit when there are more entrants than positions on the tote board.
Fractional time: Intermediate times recorded in a race, sometimes by quarter pole, also known as “intervals” or “splits”.
Future. At the start of each season, the sportsbooks give out odds for horses to win a certain event. The odds change as the race date approaches.
Furlong: A unit of measurement in horse racing comprised of 200 meters. There are 8 furlongs in 1 mile.
Gelding: A castrated male horse.
Graded Race: A classification of a horse racing event in North America, typically assigned grade 1, 2, or 3.
Holding Your Own: After a single race or mutliple races, a bettor who breaks even.
In the Money: A horse finishing first, second, or third.
Inquiry: An official review of a horse race to see if any rules/regulations were broken.
Isolation Barn: Barn used to separate ill horses from healthy ones.
Jackpot. Pick six winners in six races to share in a Jackpot prize. The rules and prizes will vary from race track to race track. See also “Pick 6“.
Juvenile: A 2 year old horse.
Lame: An injured horse whose gait or gallop is negatively affected and unnatural.
Lock: A sure winner.
Minus Pool: A payout pool created when one horse is heavily bet that after deductions of state tax and track commissions, there isn’t enough money left to pay the legal minimum payout on each winning bet. The track must pay the difference to compensate each winning bettor.
Morning Line: Odds horses in a race figured by a track’s handicapper in the morning prior to the start of a horse race.
MTP: Minutes to Post – The amount of minutes prior to post time.
Oaks: A graded stakes event for 3 year old fillies – female horses.
Objection: A foul or infraction of racing rules called by a jockey, patrol judge, or other track official.
Odds-on: Odds of less than even money. Also considered the most favored horse before a race begins.
Official: When race results have been tabulated and there are no inquiries to settle, the race results are verified and become offical. Payouts can be collected.
On the nose: Placing a bet for a horse to win only.
Overlay: A horse that is over valued based on past performances that don’t represent the inflated value.
Paddock: The area at the race track where the horses are saddled and viewed prior to a race.
Parlay: Taking the winnings from one bet to place another bet.
Photo finish: A race result that requires official inspection of a finish line camera to see the order in which the horses finished.
Pick Four: Picking four winners in four consecutive horse races.
Pick Three: Picking three winners in three consecutive horse races.
Pick Six: Picking six winners in six consecutive horse races.
Place: The horse that finishes second.
Place Bet: Betting on a horse to finish first or second.
Post Position: A position at the starting gate from decided by a drawing at the close of entries the day prior to the race.
Quarter Pole: The pole marking the final quarter mile before the finish.
Quinella: Betting on two horses that can finish first or second. The order in which they finish is unimportant.
Scratch: A horse that withdraws from a race.
Show: The horse that finishes third.
Show Bet: Betting on horse to finish first or second or third.
Straight Bet: Betting to win only.
Superfecta: Betting on 4 horses to finish the race in the first 4 positions in the exact order specified by a bettor.
Take: Commissions and taxes deducted from the mutel pools.
Thoroughbred: Horse whose lineage traces back to three founding sires: Darley Arabian, Byerly Turk or Godolphin Barb.
Totalisator:A computer which records each wager in each betting pool as the pari-mutuel ticket is sold . This equipment calculates the odds on each betting ticket according to the amount wagered at given intervals.
Tote Board: A board located behind the backstretch of the racetrack that displays the odds, pools, results and payoffs of each race.
Tout: Someone who offers horse racing picks before a race starts.
Trifecta: Betting on 3 horses to finish the race in the first 3 positions in the exact order specified by a bettor.
Underlay: The opposite of an overlay: a horse that faces longer odds than should be offered based on past performance.
Win: The horse finishing in the first position.
Win Bet: Betting on the horse to finish in the first position.
Yearling: A one year old colt or filly, just one year away from racing age.