Horse Racing Terms

If you are new to horse racing or haven’t been to the track in a while, you will notice that there is a great deal of industry jargon. The information below will help you to better understand a few commonly used horse racing terms. They are grouped into terms generally used before a race, terms used during a race, and terms used after a race.

Before a race, many of the specialized horse racing terms concern the potential of a horse or its workouts. A morning glory, for example, refers to a horse that does well in workouts but fails to measure up in races. Another common pre-race phrase concerns betting–it is the morning line, which refers to the odds quoted before wagering begins.

The words used to describe a horse while it is running a race are too numerous to list here, but a few of the terms are particularly helpful. If someone says a horse has flattened out, he means that the horse has lowered his head almost to make a straight line with his body, usually indicating exhaustion. Another common term is to say that a horse is hung, which means that a horse is stuck in a given position and unable to advance on the leader.

Other horse racing terms are assigned to horses post-race. If a horse is called a graduate, or is said to have graduated after a race, it means that he has won his first victory. In contrast, if someone says to you that a horse was distanced, they mean that the horse finished a great deal of distance behind the leader and was severely defeated.

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