Horse Racing Betting Slang
Straight bets is a general term for one of the simplest forms of horse race betting. Simply put, you are wagering on a horse to win—no more, no less. If the horse comes in second by a micrometer, you are not getting any returns. A straight bet can also mean wagering on a horse to come in 1st, 2nd or third. Horse Racing Results Graded stakes horse racing results & video race replays. Watching race replays is an invaluable handicapping tool for horse betting. Kilroe Mile Contenders and Odds Flavius, Social Paranoia & Ride a Comet headline the Grade 1, $400,000 Frank E. Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita Park on Saturday, March 6. If you are new to horse racing, the Melbourne Cup looms as your best opportunity to brush up on your lingo and have the slang, relevant terms and expert language surrounding the Sport of Kings. What are your favorite horse racing slang terms? Ray Wallin Introduced to the sport over the course of a misspent teenage summer at Monmouth Park by his Uncle Dutch, a professional gambler, he quickly fell in love with racing and has been handicapping for over 25 years.
- Horse Racing Betting Terms
- Horse Racing Betting Terms Each Way
- Horse Racing Betting Terms Explained
- Horse Racing Betting Terms
Across the board. Across the board, meaning 'pertaining to all categories or things,' originated around 1903 as a betting term in horse racing.According to the Oxford English Dictionary.
By Ray Wallin
Fair Grounds Race Course – Photo Courtesy of www.fairgroundsracecourse.com
Slang. Jargon. Vernacular. Lingo. These are all terms for a casual dialect spoken locally somewhere. To the outsider it makes no sense, but to the insider it is crystal clear. For example, here in New Jersey we don’t go to the beach, we go “down the shore.” We go to “the city”, which is either New York City or Philadelphia depending on whether you identify with North or South Jersey.
The track also has its own unique slang terms. I remember standing by the paddock at Monmouth Park one sunny, August afternoon with Newbie Nick. As I was explaining some of the physical traits I look for in a contender, our good friend Rail Guy bellied up to the rail.
“No way dat bug boy comes from dat bullring and rides dis morning glory chalk here dropping in for a tag, bet he gets hung on the first turn and struggles to cover da last panel and if dose odds go any lower all da bridge jumpers will be out,” Rail Guy proudly boasted as Newbie Nick stared at him like he was speaking Mandarin.
As Rail Guy looked down to his program mumbling to himself, a bewildered Newbie Nick turned to me with a glazed expression that said “what did he just say?” I had some explaining to do and not just the words that Rail Guy used, but other popular racetrack slang.
Bug Boy
A “bug boy” or “bug” is an apprentice rider. Apprentice riders are granted a weight allowance off of the race requirements based on the number of wins they have until they are no longer an apprentice. The term comes from the asterisk that would appear next to the apprentice jockey’s name which looked a bit like a bug.
Bridge Jumper
This is the term for a bettor who places huge show bets on a huge favorite. Often a big favorite that is 1-5 or lower will take a larger portion of the show pool than they will of the win pool. This often results in a negative pool where the track will lose money but is required to pay out the minimum of $2.10 for a $2 show bet (with some tracks requiring $2.20 as a minimum payout). When they win these bets they get their 5 percent return, but when they lose and finish out of the money the resulting show payouts on the rest of the field can eclipse the win bet payouts. The term reflects what the guy may do on his way home after dropping his life savings on Glue Factory in the fifth race only to see him unseat the rider and finish out of the money in a five horse field as the 1-9 favorite
Bullring
Not all tracks are created equal. Most of the higher level tracks are a mile or longer around. Some of the smaller circuits run on tracks that are less than a mile around and are called bullrings. Charles Town in West Virginia and Delta Downs in Louisiana are both examples of bullrings that are six furlongs around.
Chalk
The favorite. This term originates from when on-track bookmakers used to write current odds on a chalkboard.
Hung
Get your mind out of the gutter. In horse racing this means that a horse does not advance its position when called upon by the jockey. All right, so only the geldings are jealous about this one.
Horse Racing Betting Terms
Morning Glory
Our friend Rail Guy loves to watch the early morning workouts at Monmouth Park. He thinks he gets some great insights into the first time starters from watching them work in the early morning. Some do great, some don’t. Those that work amazingly in those early morning hours and do poorly when asked to run in the afternoon races are called “Morning Glory”. They seem to be the next Secretariat in the early morning and end up being the next Zippy Chippy in the afternoon.
Overlay / Underlay
An overlay is a good thing. It means that the horse is going off at higher odds than what he should appear to be based on your handicapping. So if you think the fair odds on a horse are 3-1 and he goes off at 4-1, he is an overlay. Conversely, if he goes off at less than what you think is fair, say 2-1, he is an underlay.
Panel
It isn’t just what covered the walls in your grandparent’s musty basement. In horse racing it refers to a furlong which is an eighth of a mile.
Sharps / Squares
Sharps are people who play the races for a living or are very serious about it. Squares are casual or recreational bettors. The difference is often the amount each wagers, how serious they are about wagering, and how much they let emotions play into their decisions. Sharps are all business while squares will let Track Handicapper Tony or the drunk at the end of the bar play into their decisions.
Tag
This is the claiming price a horse is in for in this race. Often you’ll hear an analyst say a horse is “dropping in for a tag today” which means he is leaving allowance company to race under a set of conditions where he can be claimed for a certain price tag if someone wants to buy him.
The next time you go to the track, know the slang that horseplayers speak. It can be amusing to hear the terms they use. What are your favorite horse racing slang terms?
Horse Racing Betting Terms Each Way
1. Across the board
Across the board, meaning 'pertaining to all categories or things,' originated around 1903 as a betting term in horse racing. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, wagering across the board means betting that your horse will finish 'in either first, second, or third place.'
2. Charley horse
You know the feeling: that sudden tightening of your calf or thigh that just won't stop. So what does a muscle cramp have to do with a horse named Charley?
The term charley horse began as baseball slang around the late 1800s, says the OED. The origin is unknown, but there are a few different theories.
Phrase Finder and Wiktionary both say the phrase might be named for pitcher Charlie 'Old Hoss' Radbourn, who suffered from such an ailment. The Online Etymology Dictionary says it may be from 'from somebody's long-forgotten lame racehorse,' perhaps specifically, as Word Origins proposes, a workhorse with a hobbled, stiffened gait as a result of pulling heavy loads, as witnessed by baseball player Joe Quest.
According to Quest, 'the ball players troubled with the ailment hobbled exactly as did the old horse,' and so 'Quest dubbed it 'Charley horse.'
3. Dark horse
Dark, in addition to meaning 'lacking light' or having a complexion that 'isn't fair,' also means concealed, secret, or mysterious. By that token, a dark horse is 'a horse about whose racing powers little is known,' says the OED. The term was first used by Benjamin Disraeli in his 1831 novel, The Young Duke:
The first favourite was never heard of, the second favourite was never seen after the distance post, all the ten-to-oners were in the rear, and a dark horse, which had never been thought of, and which the careless St. James had never even observed in the list, rushed past the grand stand in sweeping triumph. [The Young Duke]
Dark horse now often refers to any unexpected success, while in politics, a dark horse candidate is one who unexpectedly comes up from behind.
4. Front runner
A front runner is the leading candidate in a contest, competition, or election and comes from the horse racing term referring to 'a horse that runs best while in the lead.'
5. Give-and-take
Give-and-take, the art of compromise or 'a lively exchange of ideas or conversation,' originally referred to, in horse racing, the give and take plate, says the OED, 'a prize for a race in which the horses which exceed a standard height carry more, and those which fall short of it less, than the standard weight.'
By 1769, give-and-take also referred to races in general 'in which bigger horses were given more weight to carry, lighter ones less.' It was around 1778 that the phrase gained the meaning, 'the practice of mutual yielding,' of which the earliest recorded citation is from one of our favorite writers, Fanny Burney, in her novel Evelina: 'Give and take is fair in all nations.'
6. Hands down
To win something hands down means to win it easily. It comes from the practice of horse racing jockeys loosening the reins when it seemed certain that they would win.
7. Home stretch
When you're in the home stretch, also known as the home straight, you're almost done with whatever you're trying to accomplish. That meaning came about around 1860, according to the OED, while the horse racing term is from about 1841 and refers to the final length, or stretch, of the racetrack.
The word stretch refers to 'a continuous or unbroken length, area, or expanse,' as in 'an empty stretch of highway,' and by extension, 'a straight section of a racecourse or track, especially the section leading to the finish line.'
8. In (or out) of the running
In horse racing, those horses in the running are the lead competitors. This term came about in the mid-1800s, according to the OED, while the figurative meaning referring to viable, and not so viable, political candidates originated a couple of years later.
9 A run for one's money
To give someone a run for their money means to give them a challenge. The term originated in horse racing around 1839, says the OED, with the meaning 'to have (or get, want, etc.) a successful race from a horse one has backed, (in early use) esp. when that horse appeared likely to be scratched.' (Scratched here, by the way, means 'withdrawn.')
Around 1874, the term gained the extended sense of getting 'value or satisfaction in return for one's expenditure or exertions.' The challenge sense came about shortly after that, around 1886.
10. Running mate
Running mate is yet another political term that we get from horse racing. It refers to a 'candidate or nominee for the lesser of two closely associated political offices.' In other words, a vice-presidential candidate is the running mate of a potential POTUS.
Horse Racing Betting Terms Explained
In horse racing, a running mate is 'a horse used to set the pace in a race for another horse,' and also, according to the OED, 'a horse that runs alongside a trotting or pacing horse in double harness, relieving that horse of some of the effort of pulling a load.'
Horse Racing Betting Terms
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