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Typically, horses are entered into races on a six-day, or five-day, cycle, with final declarations required two days before raceday by 10am. An entry fee, in accordance with the scale laid down by the governing body, the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), is payable by the owner at the time of entry, but there is no further charge for making a final commitment to run.

However, in certain major races, entries can be made weeks, months or even years in advance. Horses can be entered into the Derby, for example, in the December of their yearling year, with further further forfeit and entry stages in the March, April and May. Last, but by no means least, on the Monday before the Derby – which is run on the first Saturday in June – owners have a final opportunity to make what is known as a ‘supplementary entry’.

According to the BHA, the fee for supplementary entry should be substantial enough to make the option ‘relatively unattractive’. In the case of the Derby, for which the total prize fund is in the region of £1.5 million, the supplementary fee is £75,000, or approximately 5% of the tota prize money. What that means, in practical terms, is that any horse supplemented for the Epsom Classic must finish fourth or better in order to recoup the entry fee. Thus, an owner must be well-heeled and supremely confident in the ability of the horse in question to even consider following the supplementary entry route.

In short, all-weather racing is horse racing on artificial, or synthetic, surfaces as opposed to natural turf. The prospect of all-weather racing in Britain was first discussed following the very cold, snowy winter of 1984/85, but the inaugural meeting was staged at Lingfield Park, on the pioneering ‘Equitrack’ surface, on October 30, 1989.

Over the last three-and-a-half decades, all-weather racing has grown in popularity, such that it is nowadays staged not only at Lingfield Park, but also at five other racecourses, namely Chelmsford City (formerly Great Leighs), Kempton Park, Newcastle, Southwell and Wolverhampton. Indeed, all-weather racing now constitutes about one fifth of the British fixture list. All six all-weather racecourses have received significant investment and provide competitive racing. Indeed, the All-Weather Championships, inaugurated in 2013, nowadays encompass over 200 fixtures from October onwards and culminate in a lucrative, high-profile ‘Finals Day’ at Newcastle on Good Friday.

In Britain, all-weather racing takes place on just two artificial surfaces, namely Polytrack, which is wax-coated mixture of sand and other components, and Tapeta, which is a revision of Polytrack, crafted to imitate the root structure of natural grass. Polytrack is the choice of Chelmsford City, Kempton Park and Lingfield, while Newcastle, Southwell and Wolverhampton race on Tapeta. Going descriptions on Polytrack and Tapeta are not the same as those on turf, but the terms ‘fast’, ‘standard’ and ‘slow’ are used to reflect the amount of moisture in the racing surface and, hence, the likely race times that can achieved.

Best Odds Guaranteed (BOG) is a promotion offered by some, but not all, bookmakers. Essentially, BOG works on the premise that, if you take a early or board price on a horse on the day of event, your bookmaker will pay you out at the higher of the price you took and the starting price (SP). In other words, BOG provides a ‘safety net’ if your selection drifts in the market and, as such, is considered a ‘must’ for serious punters because of its positive effect on bottom-line profit or loss.

Of course, it would fair to say that most horses that take a walk in the market rarely win, but some do, so BOG offers punters the best of both worlds. Graeme Rodway, deputy betting editor of the ‘Racing Post’ recently cited the example of Greaneteen, whom he backed at 5/1, BOG on the morning of the five-runner Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown in December 2021, only to be rewarded with an astonishing SP of 12/1.

Unfortunately, bookmakers are all to well aware of the value offered by BOG, to the extent that some don’t offer the promotion and some that do impose terms and conditions. Where available, BOG is generally offered on all horseracing bets placed from 8am on the day of the race, but some bookmakers wait until 9am, 10am or 11am, which can prove frustrating for punters waiting to place a bet. Other bookmakers seek to limit their exposure to multiple bets – that is, doubles, trebles and upwards – by offering BOG on single bets only, which is a major negative for typical, small-stakes punters.

In Britain, the majority of horse races are handicap races. In a handicap race, each horse carries a weight according to its official handicap rating – or, in other words, a numerical representation of its supposed ability, expressed in Imperial pounds – as allotted by a team of handicappers at the British Horseracing Authority (BHA).

Handicap races are divided into a series of ‘ratings bands’, which, in turn, define the eligibility of horses that may participate. As an everyday example, let’s consider a Class 5 handicap, open to horses aged four years and upwards, with a specified ratings band of 0-68. The maximum and minimum weights to be carried are specified in the race conditions, so if the maximum weight is, say, 9st 9lb, a horse rated 62 would carry 9st 3lb.

Lower-rated horses would carry less weight, proportionate to their handicap ratings. If the minimum weight is, say, 8st 4lb, a horse rated 49 would carry that weight. Thus, while the race is officially designated 0-68, it is effectively suitable for horses rated 49-68. Of course, horses rated 48 or below may still be entered for such a race, but would still be required to carry the specified minimum weight of 8st 4lb. A horse rated, say, 46 would carry 8st 4lb as opposed to the 8st 1lb dictated by its official handicap ratung, and would thus be described as 3lb ‘out of the handicap’ or 3lb ‘wrong at the weights’.