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DEAD HEAT

When there is a photo finish and the judge still cannot determine the winner – this is said to be a “dead heat”. Frequently before the days of photo finish, there would be mayhem when a dead heat was declared by a judge but everyone else could see there was an outright winner.

Often it would be the angle of the finishing line that gave an impression of an outright winner, meaning the mayhem was not justified. However oftentimes it would be the judge who had got it wrong and the chaos was entirely justified.

Punters, trainers, owners would all be outraged by the judge’s poor decision and eyesight (or lack of it); obviously where there is a dead heat the prize money about a horse is substantially reduced.

The first record of a decision being determined by a “dead heat” was at Doncaster in October, 1947, between the horses Phantom Bridge and Resistance. More dead heats occur in Sprint Handicaps than in any other race, this is as one would expect, i.e. short unpredictable races with weights set to reduce advantage. These races often have “blanket finishes”

DISTANCE

• This is generally recognized as being a point 240yds from the winning post. Not officially marked on the racecourse, but always referred to in form summaries and the formbook i.e. went well clear after leading at the distance. Courses are all marked with furlong markers indicating how far one is from the finishing post, so it can be seen that the distance is 20yds before the final furlong marker is reached.

• Sometimes horses may be judged to have won by a distance (more often at jumps meetings rather than flat). Although this is supposed to be 240 yards it usually means that the distance is so large that the judge cannot be bothered to estimate it.

• The actual distance of a race. The shortest distance for a race is 5 furlongs. The longest flat races are around 2 miles in practice. The longest event of the racing calendar is the Queen Alexander stakes at Royal Ascot over 2.75 miles. National Hunt races are much longer with no chase or hurdle being less than 2 miles, with the longest jumps race being the Grand National at 4 miles 856 yards.

• Winning distance. This can be defined as a “short head”, the finest of margins on a photo finish, then a “full” head, then a neck , then half a length etc etc.

DOLL

This is a hurdle whose primary purpose is to signal direction during a national hunt race, for example when a section of the course is waterlogged, that part of the course would be said to be “dolled off”.

DRAW

Before a flat race there is a “draw” to decide which place in the stalls each horse will occupy. The draw is made the day before the race at the overnight declarations office by lots. National hunt races don’t draw for places.

The extreme left position is number one, with the number being indicated over the stall front, horse two takes stall two etc. Punters should consider stall position as part of their form study, as certain stalls are known to have advantage or disadvantage at certain courses, at certain times of year, especially in big fields.

Punters had to lobby hard to get access to the draw information which is now widely available in newspapers and the numbers board and on Betfair. The information has proved very valuable to trainers and jockeys in determining race strategy.
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CLASS A:

Flat race classifications are from Class A through to Class G. This determines the methodology for framing conditions races.

CLASSICS:

Reference to a horse race that has been around for a very long time. These races of longstanding tend to attract the best horses and have become regarded as the highest quality of racing. The classics are open only to 3 yo’s and above and there are 5 of them in England.

The Classics are currently:

New market, spring, 2000 guineas colts and fillies, first run in 1809
New market, spring, 1000 guineas, fillies only, first run 1814
Epsom 1.5 miles, summer, derby colts and fillies, 1780
Epsom 1.5 miles, summer, oaks, Fillies only, first run 1779
Doncaster 1 ¾ miles, autumn, st ledger, Colts and Fillies, first run 1776

Fillies rarely contest the 2000 guineas or the oaks nowadays with trainers tending to run them only in the classic equivalents for Fillies only: the oaks (fillies) and the 1000 guineas.

Originally nobody set out to establish a set of classic races, they merely evolved, and became universally acknowledged as a pattern sometime around the middle of 19th Century.

Classic winners have had a major impact on the overall development of the thoroughbred. They have achieved high prestige and have proved that they are best of their breed and age.

The classics tend to provide excellent betting opportunities, as the form advertised tends to work out quite accurately; horses which are well backed tend to do very well, and given the strong ante post markets there are opportunities for overly long prices.

CLEVERLY:

When a horse wins more easily than the winning distance suggests it is said to have won “cleverly”. Alternatively he or she may be said to have won with “Something in hand”.

Often flat jockeys will do just enough in order that their charge wins. This means that the full distance by which a horse would have won is never actually known to the public or the handicapper, who then has no real way of judging a horse’s true capability.

Professional punters and Betfair professionals can benefit from making notes regarding this sort of evidence. It will be noted in the form book and in the detailed comments in Raceform and Chaseform. Other analysis worth noting will be in the Racing Post and Superform or Timeform.
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CAME AGAIN
Used in the formbook, this phrase is used to indicate when a horse renews its effort after dropping back in a race.

CAMERA PATROL
Introduced officially 30th June, 1960 at Newmarket.

Originally, cameras just photographed the latter stages of a race from varying different angles, often head on. Later the coverage was extended to provide a complete visual record of a race using a mobile camera.

The objective is to obtain evidence for use when an objection is filed, or when there’s a Steward’s inquiry. There is now extensive usage of closed circuit television on race courses, and the video replay is used to back up the evidence from the camera patrol.

The combination of the two has been instrumental in recent years in reducing underhand practices at race meets, that had been occurring for many years.

CARD
Short for race card, the official runners and riders program which is on sale at race courses.

The “Card” also appears in newspaper headings, for example “The Chepstow Card” or the “Card for Uttoxeter”.

Phrases may read for example “The best bet on the card” or “going through the card”, which refers to selection or association with all the winners on the card.

CARPET
For anyone who doesn’t understand John McCririck’s presentation of betting on C4, specifically the slow motion tic tac, and odd betting terms he uses, the phrase “carpet”, a favourite of his, is derived from convict slang for a three month prison term.

In other words “carpet” is three to one in the betting. John O Neill (RIP) had a huge repertoire of betting terminology and his return of the starting prices in the press room at the Northern race courses is badly missed.

CAST IN HIS/HER BOX
Sometimes when a horse lays down in their traveling horse box or stable loose box, they can have problems getting up again off the straw. They are said to be “cast in the box”. This is obviously not very beneficial on race day.
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Bookmakers

There are several subdivisions of bookmaker:

• Some operate spread betting services
• Some operate a telephone credit service or postal betting service
• Some operate betting shops off-course
• Some make a book on the racecourse

Bigger bookmakers will offer two or three of the above activities. At the racecourse bets are agreed with the backer at starting price, and are settled at the quoted price.

Bookmakers activities on or off the course are determined by what is occurring in the market on the racecourse.

Immediately before a race, a betting market is formed. The total amount of money being wagered on a horse causes the price to move up and down.

Significant larger amounts, are signaled by tic tac between the rails, Tattersalls, the silver ring and bookmakers out on the course itself.

The level of this fluctuation within the market depends largely upon the strength of the market.

In the early stage of a betting market being formed, the prices are not generally decided by the amount of money wagered, but rather on what the larger Tattersalls board operators think the price of each horse should be.
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