A Dictionary Of Horse Racing Terms - P

PADDOCK

This is an area where the horses can be displayed by punters and other onlookers for all areas of temperament, fitness, looks, how lively or disinterested they are on the day etc.

It is usually best to wait until the rugs come off to see how fit a horse is.

If the horse has done plenty of work then the coat will have a bloom on it, the quarters will have good lines, the eyes will look bright, with ears pricked up.

A good horse will appear alert and be light on its feet.

Sweating in the paddock is a bad sign, as is frothing on the face and neck that the horse is getting nervous and worked up.

Around September, horses start to go “into their coats”, and some horses start to lose their form, some more so than others.

PATTERN RACES

Europe’s most important flat races have been configured into a seasonal pattern to provide suitable time lags between races. This gives high class horses a suitable opportunity to prepare for the big races.

Pattern racing was designed in 1965 by the Duke of Norfolk by a special committee to recommend the general programme of races, special attention being paid to the needs of top class horses.

Races are configured throughout the season in three groups.

• Group One: Classics and other races to championship standard. These have major international importance. They are always NON handicaps i.e. no penalties and are run on a weight for age and weight for sex basis.

• Group Two: Just below championship standard they are still very significant in an international context

• Group three: Usually more of domestic importance in the particular country, they provide good tests for horses hoping to compete in the Groups One and Two.

In group two and three pattern racing, the penalties are based on success in previous Pattern races.

After the group races, the next layer of race importance are those known as “Listed Races”.

National Hunt Racing operates a similar pattern spread evenly throughout the season, operating chases, hurdles at various distances, with restrictions such as whether novices or juveniles are allowed.

Pattern racing also has a mandate to spread the geography of the meets evenly across the country.

National Hunt events are similarly graded One, Two and Three. Grade One and Two being conditions or weight for age races and grade three being important handicaps.

PENALTY

In handicap racing when a horse wins a race, extra weight is allocated for the horse to carry in the next race. If a horse wins a race between being entered for a race and actually running in it then the weight added to the original weight is known as the “penalty”.

The “conditions” of a race are interesting to follow as some operate straight penalties for winning a race; some are graded penalties according to the quality and value of the race that was won.

If the race won was of a better “class” then the better the winner and so the greater the penalty. If a horse wins a race easily it is often a good idea to watch their next race with a view to examining the penalty, and if it appears insufficient to back it to win again.

PHOTO FINISH

Photographs are taken across the finishing line so that when several horses cross together, the judge can ask to see the photograph and so decide the winner and related placings.

The photograph shows the horses, the finishing line and a mirror image of the horses.

PITCH

The “pitch” is the spot in the betting ring where the bookmaker establishes his “joint”.

Best pitches are always in the front line of Tattersalls with less desirable pitches being placed further back towards the racecourse.

The front row of pitches tend to attract most trade simply as they are situated closest to the stands and so are the first ones people get to.

Allocation of pitches, was, historically based on length of service and order of seniority under the direction of the National Association of bookmakers.

The hierarchy would only change upon events such as retirement or death of a bookmaker.

If pitches were left vacant then they would be dealt with on a daily basis, again, on a seniority basis.

During moves to modernize on course betting, the National Joint Pitch Council was appointed by the Levy Board to take over control of pitch allocation.

A shake up of the industry meant that permanent pitches were abolished and a new system was developed according to a single list of bookmakers drawn from different racecourses.

Bookmakers arrive an hour before racing and choose their pitch site based on their place on the list. This is decided on basis of commensurate seniority.

This has proved a contentious issue and one of the reasons why there has been discontent among some bookmakers who have found they are lower down the list than others more recently established in the business.

PLACE

When a horse wins, is second, third or even fourth then it is said to be “placed”.

These placings determine the overall prize money paid out on a race, and they differ from place to place, and race to race and they differ between bookmakers and the Tote.

Generally nowadays the pattern for placings goes as follows.

• If there are below 5 runners – 2 horses are placed.
• Between 5 and 16 runners - 3 horses are placed
• Above 16 runners in big handicaps and the derby or national - 4 horses are placed.

This has thrown up some interesting betting opportunities on Betfair, for example if betting for a place on a 5 horse race there is a 40% minimum chance of success, plus the weighted advantage of the favorites.

If betting on a 16 horse race there can only be a 19% chance of success, plus again the obvious weighted advantage of the favorites.

The odds obviously reflect the differing fortunes for betting on places, but it is well worth looking for races where several horses may drop out and the bookmakers or Betfair are slow to react to the altering odds.

POINT TO POINT

These are amateur races, similar to hunts they are run over fences. This is a hugely popular sport with its own formbook. It used to be known as racing “between the flags”.

Horses wanting to graduate to chasing under N.H rules will often use point to point as a preliminary nursery.

PONY

Term used by the famous McCririck to denote £25. Exactly the same as “monkey” is used to denote £500.

PRESSURE

When a horse has to be taken “off the bit” or “off the bridle” in order to keep up in the race, he will have been said to be “under pressure”.

PRIZE MONEY

The pot consists of entry fees, declarations from owners, forfeits, money from the racecourse executive, and very much so these days, external sponsors and course advertisers.

Commercial sponsorship indeed is a huge source of prize money for N.H racing.

Whereas the Grand National used to be the only big prize hunt worth racing in, nowadays there are dozens of big prize jumps.

On the flat obviously the Derby is the big one, the prize money is astronomical.

The prize money used to be divided up between first second and third place owners.

Some of the money would go of course to trainers and jockeys, and maybe there would be some sort of trophy.

More recently the rules regarding prize money have changed with respect to distribution. The percentage payouts are precise and include.

• Owners
• Jockeys
• Trainers
• Stables
• Apprentice training
• Valets
• Jockeys association pensions