Terms to Know in Horse Racing

What Organisations Make Up Racing in Australia

Canberra Racing
Racing New South Wales
Racing Victoria
Racing Queensland
Racing and Wagering Western Australia
Tasmania Racing
Thoroughbred Racing South Australia
Thoroughbred Racing Northern Territory 

Below are Other Terms to Know About Racing in Australia

What Does RISA Do

RISA (Racing Information Services Australia Pty Ltd) provides racing information to the Australian racing industry. In layman’s terms, when you head to a race track, the jockeys and horses are registered through RISA and the forms and fields are funnelled through RISA’s databases and presented to the industry. If you want horse racing results, you go to RISA.  

Type of Races

Which Races Go Clockwise

Races in Queensland, New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory

Which Races Go Anti-Clockwise

Races in Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, Western Australia,  Northern Territory

Classes: Races are run in one of three classes, Metro races (usually big group races with large wagering), provincial (usually run just outside the major cities) and country races (usually not covered by bookmakers)

Group Races: Races categorised by importance (ie Group 1 are better than Group 2 races, than Group 3 races). There are also listed races.

Weight for Ages: Term used to describe a condition of a race, in essence in means all horses will carry a set weight in accordance with the WFA scale. The weight varies depending on the horse’s age, the race distance, gender and month of the racing season. As horses mature, they get heavier from August through to July and fillies and mares are lighter than their male counterparts.

Where to Find Horse Racing Fields and Form

The RISA website provides horse racing nominations, acceptances, scratches and full fields and form for every race in Australia through its website and mobile site at www.risa.com.au.

Racing Terms to Know

Betting

Daily Double: A wager calling for the selection of winners of two nominated races

Exacta: A bet that selects the first two finishers in the exact order of finish

Favourite: The horse with the shortest odds of winning

Long Shot: The horse with the longest odds of winning

Quadrella: A wager that picks the selection of winners of four nominated races

Quinella: A wager that selects the first two finishers, regardless of order

Superfecta: A wager that selects the first six horses to cross the line in exact order (NSW)

Trifecta: A wager when you pick the top-three finishers in exact order

Win, Place: A horse that either finishes first (wins), finishes second or third (places)

 Jockeys

Strike Rate: Is the percentage of times a jockey (or trainer or horse) wins over its number of starts.  (Wins divided by number of starts)

Silk: The colours on a jockey that makes up his jacket and cap

Stick: The jockey’s whip

Distances

Distances under a length are recorded as follows:
Nose =.05 of a length
Short head = 0.1 of a length
head = 0.2 of a length
neck = 0.3 of a length
half a length = 0.5 of a length
three-quarters of a length = 0.75 of a length.

Horses

Breeder:  Someone who facilitates the mating process, however they are not necessarily the owner

Colt: a male under the age of four-years-old.

Filly: A female thoroughbred less than four-years-old.

Foal: a baby thoroughbred or a horse under one-year old.

Gelding: A castrated horse

Mare: A female horse, over the age of three

Pedigree: A horse whose ancestry is known (through RISA Pedigree)

Rig: A male horse with one or two testicles concealed in its abdomen, making it visually appear like a gelding, but behaving like a stallion.

Stallion: A male horse four years or older

Sire: The father (sire) of the thoroughbred.

Yearling: A horse between the ages of one and two

“To be foaled”: When a horse is born

General

Acceptor: A horse that has been declared by the trainer to run in a race

Dead Heat: When two or more horses tie for any placing

Form: A horse’s racing history

Field: The entire set of horses on a given day or the “schedule of events”

Furlong: The measurement used in racing, an eighth of a mile (220 yards or 200 metres)

Handicap:  A class of race where the weight is assigned for each horse to carry 

Left at Post (Took No Part): When a horse does not get out of the barriers.

Maiden Race: A race restricted to horses, which have not won

Punt(er): A person who places a bet.

Rails: The fences inside the race track

Scratch: When a horse is taken out of a race before it starts

Weight for Age: Class of race in which the weight of a horse is carried and set according to age and sex