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In horse racing, a dead-heat is declared when the raceday judge cannot separate two or more horses at the finishing-line, not even by the official minimum winning margin. Historically, that margin was a short-head, but since February 25, 2008, when the governing body, the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), introduced new finishing distances, has been a nose.

The calling of a dead-heat has ramifications for the prize money awarded to winning connections and the way on which bets on the winning horses are settled. All prize money attached to the result, that is, typically, the first- and second-place prize money, is totalled and divided equally between the winners. Bets on dead-heating horses are settled to full odds, but to half the stake.

On the whole, dead-heats in horse racing are very rare, but, despite the technology available, in addition to opting to watch horse racing replays yourself, they do still occur. Indeed, historically, triple and even quadruple dead-heats have occurred, although in Britain no such eventualities have arisen since the advent of photo-finish technology shortly after World War II. It would be fair to say that modern, digital equipment is a far cry from the old-school film technology used in the early days.

In the event of a close finish, where the winning margin appears, to the naked eye, to be a head or less, the judge calls for evidence of a photo-finish from the photo-finish operator. State-of-the-art, high resolution cameras are employed to produce a replicable image of the finish, onto which a time line, indicating the leading part of each horse, usually the point of its nose, can be superimposed to determine the official result.

Designated by the letter ‘U’ in the form figures on a typical racecard, ‘unseated rider’ indicates that a horse officially failed to finish a race, by virtue of the fact that, for one reason or another, it parted company with its jockey. However, unlike ‘fell’, which is designated by the letter ‘F’ in the form figures, the horse in question did not lose its footing and may, indeed, have continued to run ‘loose’ for the remainder of the race.

Clearly, unseated rider is a more occurrence in National Hunt racing, where obstacles are involved, than in Flat racing, but is by no means unknown under the latter code. Jumping errors at hurdles or fences are the most come cause of jockeys ending up on the ground, but there are several other explanations. Even on the Flat, tack malfunctions, such as a snapped girth or a slipped saddle, can cause a jockey to lose his or her balance, as can horse stumbling, perhaps as a result of stepping on a patch of ‘false’ ground, typically caused by natural waterlogging or overwatering of the course.

Of course, racehorses are living, breathing, herd animals and it is not unknown for them to unexpectedly jink, swerve or veer one way or another, particuarly when in front on their own, or inexperienced. Thus, unseated rider may not, necessarily, be the direct result of a jumping mistake, so it is always wise to delve a little further into the form, if possible.

The answer is no, they cannot. Historically, it was possible, and entirely legal under the Rules of Racing, for any jump jockey who had parted company with his or her mount, by virtue of a fall or being unseated, during a race to remount and continue racing. Indeed, on more than one memorable occasion, in longer-distance steeplechases, a jockey has finished placed, or even won, having remounted. On April 7, 2001, Tony McCoy and Ruby Walsh both did so, to finish third and fourth, on Blowing Wind and Papillon, in the Grand National at Aintree and, on January 23, 2002, McCoy won an extraordinary race at Southwell, having originally been unseated from his mount, Family Business, just after halfway.

However, unless the governing body, the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), has an unlikely change of heart at some point in the future, such occurrences may never happen again. On November 2, 2009, the BHA instigated a new safety rule resulting from an incident involving the Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Kauto Star in a novices’ chase at Exeter back on January 31, 2005. Thereafter, the remounting of horses after the official start of a race was banned. The rule was introduced for the protection of both horses and jockeys. Sensibly enough, jockeys who are unseated at, or on the way to, the start – that is before the official ‘off’ – may still remount their horses, provided a doctor and veterinary officer are on hand to assess any possible injuries to either party.

Whether you are a regular racegoer or a once-a-week, stay-at-home punter, the racecard is arguably your most important source of information. On the racecourse, a racecard, which can be bought inexpensively, or may be included in the price of admission, takes the form of a printed booklet, akin to a theatre programme. In this case, the racecard contains information about the racecourse, the races to be run and the runners in each race.

Racecards are also printed in industry publications, such as the ‘Racing Post’, and in other daily newspapers. In this case, the list of runners and riders is printed, race-by-race, and includes key information, such as the saddlecoth number and name of each horse, its age, the weight it is set to carry, the name of its jockey and trainer and the colours worn by the jockey. A brief synopsis of the recent form of each horse is included, as a series of form figures alongside its name, which indicate its finishing position in its last five or six races. Of course, form figures alone may not provide all the information you need to make an informed betting decision, but may, at least, provide some quick, simple clues to where you should focus any further analysis.