BRITISH 2YO RACING

BRITISH 2YO RACING - GLOSSARY

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This glossary has two main purposes :-

To explain the acronyms and standard phrases used on this website that are specific to it.
To provide simple explanations of the jargon used in British racing which are not widely understood. For example in the context of 2yo racing trainers will often talk about "open knees". What does that actually mean are what are the implications?

This will be a 'living' document and additions will be made when necessary. If you have a description to contribute or a piece of jargon or a phrase you would like to see included then please send an e-mail to the Contact address for the website.

The Glossary is a single web document and the alphabetical sections can be navigated to using the letter links below.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M

N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

LETTER A: Description

AUCTION RACES See Median and Maiden Auction Races.

LETTER A:	Description
AUCTION RACES	See Median and Maiden Auction Races.

LETTER B:	Description
BHB RATING, BHA RATING	See "Official Rating"
BHA	British Horseracing Authority. Organisation responsible for the overall running of racing. For example the Race Fixtures planning & implementation, Official Handicapping, etc. [ Website = www.britishhorseracing.com. ] Formed on July 31st, 2007 by the merger of the British Horseracing Board (established 1993 to take over much of the role of The Jockey Club) and the Horseracing Regulatory Authority (formed 2006 to take over the the development of the Rules Of Racing and their implementation in place of The Jockey Club). Weatherbys continue to be contracted to the BHA to provide the day-to-day administration of racing. For example, receiving race entries & declarations from trainers, collecting and paying jockeys' riding fees, and so forth.
BHB	British Horseracing Board, took over from the Jockey Club (q.v.) the overall running of British Racing in the 1990s. Superceded by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA).
BLACK TYPE RACE	Horses which have won important races are printed in Bold Text (as opposed to normal text) in Sales Catalogues, capitalised for winners of such events. This has led to the use of the term 'Black Type' to refer to the races which can engender the use of bold text. In British flat racing the important races are the Group (1-3) and Listed races. [See the - Article - on this site which gives the history of Classic, Pattern, Group & Listed race names.]
BOX-WALKER	[See also - Stall Vices.] As it sounds, a horse who paces the stall when they are kept in stables. Often a sign of a nervous horse and can be detrimental to their development as a racehorse.
BREATHING PROBLEMS	[See also - Hobday (Operation), Tie-Back (Operation), Tracheotomy (Operation), Firing (Acid & Hot)] The racing horse should only breath through it's nose and not through the mouth. Much of the use of nosebands and tongue-ties relates to trying to stop them breathing through the mouth (which increases the contamination of the lower airways and is usually a sign of a problem with the horse's upper airways and/or soft palate) and keeping the correct air paths open & clear. The air from the nasal passages goes to the lungs via the Pharynx (a collapsible muscular tube which closes when swallowing to ensure food doesn't 'go down the wrong way' in human terms), then the Larynx (the 'voicebox) and then down the windpipe to the lungs. The larynx has a muscular double-gate entrance which needs to be held open for the horse to breathe. The horse can get damage, paralysis, infections etc. which mean that the Pharynx and/or the Larynx do not operate properly. In the case of the Pharynx the 'tube' is not held open fully and restricts breathing for example, in the Larynx it is common to see paralysis of the left side and this means that the double-gate does not open properly and causes an obstruction. There are various operations that can be done to stiffen up the muscles, connective tissue etc. in the Pharynx or Larynx to ensure they are held open fully (if not correctly). For instance if the paralysis means the muscular flap is not retracting correctly it can be 'fired' to stiffen it so that it does. This can be done in either area.
BREEZE-UP SALE	Public Sales for 2yo horses usually held early in the turf season. The horses will perform a gallop/canter (the 'breeze-up') at a public location before the sales to enable potential buyers judge them. Yearling sales will only allow a potential buyer to see the horse being 'trotted up' at most. The two British breeze-up sales are held in April by Tattersalls (Newmarket) and Doncaster Bloodstock Sales (Doncaster) with the nearby racecourses being used for the 'breeze-up' in both cases. [The success of these sales has led to two new events in 2007 - Tattersalls will hold a second sale in early May and the Irish sales company Goffs will hold a new sale at Kempton Racecourse on March 9th with the 'breezes' being done one the polytrack home straight.]

LETTER C:	Description
CLAIMING RACES	A race in the which the weight carried reflects the price which the horse may be claimed for after the race. For example, a class 5 Claimer may have a maximum claiming price of £12,000 and runners will be allowed a 2lb reduction for each £1,000 below the maximum which they allow their horse to be claimed for (down to a minumum price level). In effect, this allows the horse's connections to 'handicap' the horse themselves in a race which reflects the horse's ability. After such a race is run there is a period during which claims can be made for any runner. This used to have to be done at the course but registered people can now make telephone claims. If multiple claims are received then a draw will be made from the highest claims made (it is possible to put in a claim above the advertised level). The existing owners of the horse may make a claim (or via an agent) if they do not wish to lose the horse. These are termed 'friendly claims'. Claiming races are common in other countries and are the basis of the racing structure in America for example. There has been a different outlook in Britain with claiming races seen as an opportunity for poor horses to get a win. Claiming another trainer's horse was seen as ungentlemanly and intimidation (direct & indirect) was quite common to stop people claiming horses out of these (and selling) races. There has been a drive to make claiming races more open in recent seasons and making claiming a horse a normal occurence. Higher quality 'Premier Claimers' have been introduced to try to extend the claiming race structure. In these races the maximum claiming price may be £50,000 or higher, therefore lifting claiming races out of their bargain basement associations.
CLASSIC RACE	The historical name for the five races which became identified as the most prestigious tests of the 3yo throughbred. They are the 2,000 Guineas (8 furlongs), 1,000 Guineas (8 furlongs & fillies' only) run in May at Newmarket; The Derby (12 furlongs) and The Oaks (12 furlongs & fillies' only) run at Epsom in June; the St Leger (14.6 furlongs) run at Doncaster in September. [See the - Article - on this site which gives the history of Classic, Pattern, Group & Listed race names.]
COUNTRY ABBREVIATIONS	B2yoR uses a set of two letter codes for the countries where racing takes place. These are: (AB) = general code for 'Abroad' meaning 'Not UK nor major racing country; (Ar) = Argentina; (As) = Australia; (Au) = Austria; (Be) = Belgium; (Bz) = Brazil; (Ch) = Switzerland; (De) = Germany; (Fr) = France; (Ho) = Netherlands; (It) = Italy; (Jp) = Japan; (Jr) = Jersey; (KS) = Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; (NZ) = New Zealand; (SA) = South Africa; (Tr) = Turkey; (UA) = United Arab Emirates; (US) = United States;
COURSE ABBREVIATIONS	B2yor uses a set of four letter codes for racecourses. These are mostly obvious such as EPSM, LEIC, etc. Racecourses with two tracks have two different codes, these are NMKT and NMKJ for the Newmarket Rowley Mile and July courses; and LING and LNGA for the Lingfield Turf and AW courses. The same for letter format is used for international racecourses so that LONG = Longchamp (Fr); CURR = The Curragh (Ir); SIRO = San Siro in Milan (It); BADN = Baden-Baden (De); NASH = Nad Al Sheba (UA); etc.
CRIB-BITER	See Stall Vices. Activity whereby a horse grabs hold of a structure (door edge, side of the food tray (i.e. the 'crib' and hence the name), etc.), arches it neck pulls on it. A displacement activity and can be detrimental to the development of the racehorse. The horse often takes in gulps of air (see Wind-sucker) during this activity and this can affect feeding, digestion and general wellbeing.

LETTER D:	Description
DISTANCE	[Sense 1] = by how far one horse beats another in a race. See 'Finishing Distance' [Sense 2] = In British racing to be 'beaten by a *distance' means to be 20 lengths or more behind the comparison horse. [Sense 3] = In British racing a point on a racecourse that is 240* yards before the finishing line. A Furlong is 220 yards so this point is 20 yards before the start of the final furlong in a race.
DONCASTER BLOODSTOCK AUCTIONS [DSL, DOC, DBU]	Major thoroughbred sales company with it's current base close to Doncaster racecourse. Have plans to move to a new purpose built facility. B2yoR uses a small set of abbreviations to identify the individual sales run by the various companies. [DSL], [DOC] & [DBU] are those for the main three sales at which future 2yo runners will be sold. See 'Sales Company Abbreviations'.
DOPING	Administering hormones, drugs or chemicals to improve a horse's performance on the reacecourse. Many substances are allowed to be used as part of veterinary treatment but must have cleared from the horse's system before they race. Others are totally banned. Different jurisdictions will have a different list of banned substances. In Britain keeping this list and administering the testing to check for misuse is part of the British Horseracing Authority's (BHA, q.v.) remit. [See also EPO & Milkshaking.]

LETTER E:	Description
EPO	Short-form for the naturally occurring hormone Erythropoietin. Considered to be a performance enhancer because it increases the quantity of red blood cells in a horse (or human). The red blood cells contain the Haemoglobin molecule which carries oxygen around the body which helps with increased stamina and energy output during exercise. Living at high altitude will result in a similar increase in the red blood cell count as the body tries to deal with the 'thinner' air (and less oxygen). The use of EPO is said to increase the oxygen suplly by 7-10%. Since it occurs naturally it is difficult to test for. Similar molecules have been developed which act like EPO but provide even greater improvements. In the US the hormone Aranesp has been cited as the likely cause for unusually good performance for certain stables. If it is naturally occuring why bother to test for it? The red blood cells are relatively large and dense and 'thicken' the blood (make it more viscous) and the heart has to work harder to pump the blood around the body. It's harder to pump treacle through a pipe than water. This puts the heart under stress and can lead to strokes and heart attacks. [See Doping]
[ESTIMATES]	B2yoR uses the term [Estimate] to identify the performance ratings given to 2yos during the season. This is shortened to [Est] in many of the listings tables.

LETTER F:	Description
FINISHING DISTANCE	The distances between horses at the finish of a race. In Britain until February 24th, 2008 these began, from the 'least' end, as Short-Head, Head, Neck, Quarter Length, Half Length, Three-Quarter Length, Length and so on. Quarter Lengths where used up to one-and-three-quarters and half lengths up to 4.5 lengths. A good question to consider is how these finishing distances are assigned? When a pair of horses contest the finish and one is beaten a 'Head' into second it encourages you to think in purely visual terms and take the distance to be the gap that you see. But, if you 'freeze' the picture as the winner passes the line as the method to assign finishing distances you get the wrong answer in many cases. To take one example, when the horse ten lengths behind the battling pair in third is pulling up lame and ends up going past the post in fifth place behind two stronger finishers that freeze-the-picture approach is clearly incorrect. In human athletic races the competitiors have their finishing positions reported with a time next to their name. The Olympic 100 metres Champion beats his rivals by tenths, or hundredths, of a second, not by noses, arm's lengths or thicknesses of vests. Similarly, in racing, each horse has a time recorded at the end of the race. This could be reported in the Form Books but instead people expect the winning time to be given along with distances back to the beaten horses. This is partly through historical reasons when times weren't recorded until modern machinery was available and finishing distances were assessed by visual guesstimates and later by inspection of the photo-finish strip. Which means that the BHA Judge at the course currently assigns the distances by turning the beaten total times into the distances we are used to. The distances beaten clearly then depend upon how quickly the 'average' horse is finishing in a race. In a 5f sprint on firm going at downhill Epsom the horses may be doing in excess of 40 mph while at uphill Towcester on heavy ground over 3 miles it may be under 20mph. A horse covers half as much ground during one second in the latter example and 'One Length' is a different beaten time difference. [Again, human athletics bypasses these issues by just reporting the total time each competitior took.] On February 25th, 2008 the BHA implemented an amended method for reporting finishing distances. Until that date the mathematical formula the BHA Judge used took one second to equal five lengths beaten by in Flat Races and four lengths in Jumps Races. You can form your own view as to how accurate that reporting was. After that date the reported state of the going was factored in (i.e. by the Clerk Of The Course using their heel-and-prodder or perhaps the Going Stick along with their personal biases and agenda). In Flat Races on Fibresand or turf easier than Good-to-Soft the Judge will use five lengths per second and on Polytrack and turf at Good-to-Soft or firmer it will be increased to six lengths per second. For Jumps Races the change was to use five lengths per second when the reported going was good or firmer. At the same time the BHA introduced a new shortest beaten margin to be a Nose and extended the use of quarter lengths up to four and a quarter lengths beaten.
FIRING	'Firing' in general refers to the cauterising of some tissue (usually connective tissue such as tendons) to encourage scar tissue to form to stiffen the tissue which may be damaged or paralysed and not performing correctly. The 'cauterising' is usually done by applying either acid or a heated piece of metal to damage the tissue and encourage scar tissue formation. In the past this method has mostly been used on the long tendons in the lower part of the horse's front leg. You'll be aware of the phrase 'tendon injury'. The tendons are built out of zig-zag collagen strands in the young horse to give an elastic effect. If they are damaged or overstretched the natural scar tissue that forms doesn't have the zig-zag orderliness and is often less effective and will not stand racing. Thus the 'firing' to try to toughen up the tendon. With the increase in breathing problems seen in thoroughbred in the last 30 years there has been an increase in operations. At the simpler end of the scale this may involve 'firing' tissue in the horse's airway to assist it to work correctly if it is damaged, paralysed or malfunctioning. See - Breathing Problems
FURLONG	British racing still uses Imperial Measures rather than the Metric Scale (i.e. metres) to report the distances that races are run over. There is pressure from some other countries to standardise on the Metric system. The US still uses the Imperial scale. The Mile is made up of 1,760 yards. The Furlong is one eighth of a mile = (1,760 divided by 8) = 220 yards. This distance is normally equated to be approximately 200 metres in the metric system. So that the equivalent of a British '5 furlong race' in France would be run over 1,000 metres (i.e. (5 x 200 metres) = a Kilometre which is roughly five eighths of a mile). 5 furlongs is actually a few feet short of a Kilometre but a close enough approximation. [See also - Distance (sense 3)]

LETTER H:	Description
HAND, HANDS HIGH	Horses heights are usually reported in 'Hands' and a horse is often described as being, for example, "16 hands high" in the same way we would say a human is "6 feet tall". The height of the horse is measured to the top of the Withers and not to the top of it's head. The Withers refers to the bony projection which forms the highest part of the back. If you imagine a rider sitting on a saddle then this is nestled into the dip in the horse's back. If the rider places their hands in front of them on the the raised part of the horse's back then they are leaning on the Withers. A 'Hand' refers to the width of a notional, average, hand and is defined as being Four Inches in length. 3 hands make up one foot (approx 0.3 metres). [Try this with your own hand and foot and you ought to get roughly three hand widths to your foot length]. Therefore a horse noted as being "16 Hands High" is 16 x 4 = 64 inches (5 foot 4 inches) to the top of their Withers. The top of their head will be around six foot depending how they carry their neck. 16 hands would be a good size for a Throughbred racehorse on the Flat. A horse height can include fractions of a hand. For example a horse given as 15.2 hands high is 15 x 4 = 60 inches plus the 2 inches that the .2 refers to. Therefore 62 inches high. You will only ever see these fractions as .1, .2 or .3 because the 4 inches of the hand can only ne split in 3 lesser inch categories.
HOBDAY OPERATION	[See also - Breathing Problems, Tie-back, Tracheotomy, Firing] Problems with getting air to the horse's lungs can be caused by damage or malfunctioning tissue obstructing the airways at some point. There are various operations that can be done to stiffen up the muscles, connective tissue etc. in the Pharynx or Larynx to ensure they are held open fully (if not correctly). For instance if an area of paralysis means the muscular flap is not retracting correctly it can be 'fired' to stiffen it so that it does. This can be done in either area. The hobday operation involves surgically removing a piece of tissue (often paralysed) which makes more room and, again, causes scar tissue to form. This is done in more severe cases.
HORSE STANDARDISATION	Method for assessing the relative level of form achieved in individual 2yo races by taking into account the physical capabilities of the runners (as assessed by Paddock Review). See 'Race Standardisation'

LETTER M:	Description
MAIDEN AUCTION RACE	2yo race whereby the horses carry different weights depending upon the prices they cost at the yearling or breeze-up sales.
MEDIAN AUCTION RACE	2yo race whereby horses qualify to run in the races depending upon the median price their sire achieved at the yearling and breeze-up sales.
MEDIAN PRICE	The Median figure is produced by ranking all the sire's yearling sales in a group from highest to lowest. The 'middle' figure down this ranking is then chosen as the Median figure. If there are an even number of figures in the list the middle two are chosen, added together and divided by two to get the Median. Why bother with a Median figure? The main reason is that averages can be misleading and distorted by a small number of notably high prices. If a sire has 5 yearlings sold, for example, and four sell for 10,000 gns and one sells for 60,000 gns the average figure is 20,000 gns but 80% of his yearlings made much less than that so it is not a representative figure. The median in the example would be a representative 10,000gns.
MILKSHAKING	A method of trying to improve a horse's performance by passing an alkaline substance (often similar to Bicarbonate of Soda and hence the name) into the stomach before a race. The horse (and humans) produce Lactic Acid as a bi-product of the production of energy during exercise. The build-up of this acid acts as a feedback mechanism and induces fatigue and muscle pain and decreased performance. If the build-up could be limited or the feedback mechanism lessened the muscles can perform at a higher level for longer. However, the feedback mechanism is there fore a reason and this practise can cause negative side effects. The HRA (q.v.) introduced random pre-race testing for this in early 2007 although some said it was not in use in Britain.

LETTER P:	Description
PADDOCK RATING	Single figure given to a 2yo after Paddock Review which related to the Official Rating level it is likely to be able to run to as a 2yo.
PADDOCK REVIEW	The activity of judging a 2yo horse as a physical specimen by visual inspection. This will lead to a Paddock Rating for the horse and a summary of it's likely aptitude and development.
PATTERN RACING, The 'PATTERN'	In British Racing 'Pattern Races' are the same set of events as the 'Group Races' (Groups 1-3). The people tasked by the Jockey Club in the mid-1960s to investigate and make recommendations on race planning at the top level was called "The Pattern of Racing Committee". The success of their work led to a European level Committee and the 'Pattern' term continued. Pattern Races and 'The Pattern' came to decribe the top level races as a whole, spread through the season with championship tests and progressions through the season at various distances for different ages and genders of thoroughbred. [See the - Article - on this site which gives the history of Classic, Pattern, Group & Listed race names.]
PINHOOKING	Term used to describe the practise of buying foals at public sales and then preparing them to sell as yearlings at the sales. The aim is to choose foals who will develop well as physical specimens and/or whose pedigrees will be more fashionable in a year's time so that they can (hopefully) be sold at a profit.

LETTER S:	Description
SALES COMPANY ABBREVIATIONS	There are a small number of Thoroughbred Sales Companies which sell most of the 2yos that run in Britain each year. A number of these run more than one sale that will produce 2yos at different times of the year. B2yoR uses a set of abbreviations to identify an individual sale that a 2yo was bought at. These are - [TO1], [TO2], [TO3], [TDC], [TBU] for Tattersalls (Newmarket) October Sales parts 1-3, December and Breeze up sales; [DSL] and [DOC] for Doncaster Bloodstock Auctions St Leger and October Sales, [DBU for Doncaster Breeze-up sale; [TIE] for all Tattersalls Ireland Sales; [GOF] for all Goffs (Fairyhouse) Irish sales; [ASC] for Ascot Sales (a minor sale despite the venue); [DEA] for a Deauville (France) sales & [DVA] for Deauville August; [KES] for Keeneland (US) September Sales; [CLD] for Calder (Florida) 2yo sales; [FST] For a Fasig Tipton company US located sales, [FSK] Fasig-Tipton Kentucky sales; [SAU] Saratoga (US) August Sales.
STALL VICES	Activities and traits shown by horses kept in training stables which are seen as likely to be detrimental to their development at racehorses. They have similarities to the 'displacement activities' that animals held in zoos show (think of the zoo Lion pacing backward & forward and shaking it's head.. These vices will have to be noted at the sales and may put off some buyers. See Crib-biter, Windsucker, Box-walker.

LETTER T:	Description
TATTERSALLS SALES COMPANY, [TO1, TDC, TBU, etc.)	The largest throughbred sales company in Europe with their main offices and sales facility in Newmarket. They also have an Irish sales facility. B2yoR uses a small set of abbreviations to identify individual sales. [TO1], [TDC], etc. represent the set for the Tattersalls company. See 'Sales Company Abbreviations'.
TIEBACK OPERATION	[See also - Breathing Problems, Hobday (Operation), Tracheotomy, Firing ] Problems with getting air to the horse's lungs can be caused by damage or malfunctioning tissue obstructing the airways at some point. There are various operations that can be done to stiffen up the muscles, connective tissue etc. in the Pharynx or Larynx to ensure they are held open fully (if not correctly). For instance if an area of paralysis means the muscular flap is not retracting correctly it can be 'fired' to stiffen it so that it does. This can be done in either area. In more severe cases stitches may be used to hold open the airway and this is termed a tie-back operation and is often done along with a hobday procedure.
TO, Time Out;	Acronym used to identify a particular run by an individual 2yo. The "TO" is normally used with a qualifier to denote which run is being addressed. For example :- FTO = First Time Out, i.e. the horse's debut run. STO = Second Time Out, the horses second 2yo run. 3TO, 4TO,......10TO,.......19TO, etc. to identify a third time out or later run. NTO & LTO are used for Next TO (the next run after the current one being addressed.) and Last TO (the previous run to the one being addressed).
TRACHEOTOMY	[See also - Breathing Problems, Hobday (Operation), Tie-back (Operation), Firing ] Problems with getting air to the horse's lungs can be caused by damage or malfunctioning tissue obstructing the airways at some point. There are various operations that can be done to stiffen up the muscles, connective tissue etc. in the Pharynx or Larynx to ensure they are held open fully (if not correctly). For instance if an area of paralysis means the muscular flap is not retracting correctly it can be 'fired' to stiffen it so that it does. This can be done in either area. In the most severe cases a tracheotomy is done where a plastic or brass tube is put directly into the windpipe and out through a valve on the underside of the neck (i.e. bypassing any of the compromised nose-pharynx-larynx route). A bung will normally be placed into the tube in everyday conditions but removed when the horses is exerting itself to allow clearer breathing.

LETTER W:	Description
WEATHERBYS	Company contracted to the BHA to provide the day-to-day administration of racing. For example, receiving race entries & declarations from trainers, collecting and paying jockeys' riding fees, and so forth. The company also produce other products including Bloodstock related books and listings. The origins of the company go back to the 18th century when the original 'Mr Weatherby' undertook work on recording pedigrees.
WEIGHT-FOR-SEX	Term used to describe the weight allowance Fillies get from Colts/Geldings because of their gender. This is currently 5lb in most 2yo races. It is reduced to 3lb in some higher class 2yo races.
WIND-SUCKER	See Stall Vices and Crib-biter. Activity whereby a horse takes in gulps of air and this can affect feeding, digestion and general wellbeing. Usually associated with some form of 'Crib-biting' whereby the horse grabs hold of some structure, aches it's neck and pulls on it.