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What is a Classic?

In British horse racing, the term ‘Classic’ refers to any one of the five oldest and most prestigious races in the Flat racing calendar, namely the 1,000 Guineas, 2,000 Guineas, Derby, Oaks and St. Leger. Unsurprisingly, all the Classic are classified at the highest Group One level and are contested only by three-year-old horses; the 1,000 Guineas and Oaks are restricted to fillies, while the 2,000 Guineas, Derby and St. Leger are open to both sexes, excluding geldings.

The final Classic of the season, the St. Leger, run over a mile-and-threequarters at Doncaster in September, is also the oldest, having been inaugurated in 1776. The Oaks, run over a mile-and-a-half at Epsom in June, was inaugurated in1779, followed by the Derby, run over the same course and distance, also in June, a year later. The 2,000 Guineas and 1,000 Guineas, both run over a mile at Newmarket in May, were later additions to the calendar, being staged for the first time in 1809 and 1814, respectively. Indeed, the ‘Classics’ were not known as such until 1815.

The 2,000 Guineas, Derby and St. Leger constitute the so-called ‘Triple Crown’, last won by Nijinsky in 1970, while the 1,000 Guineas, Oaks and St. Leger constitute the so-called ‘Fillies’ Triple Crown’, last won by Oh So Sharp in 1985. In either case, the three races are staged over a mile, a mile-and-a-half and a mile-and-threequarters, on three different racecourses, over the space of five months, so winning all three requires an outstanding performer.

What is a selling race?

As the name suggests, a selling race is a horse race in which all the runners are for sale. Immediately afterwards, the winner is sold – or at least offered for sale, subject to a predetermined bid – at a compulsory public auction. Similarly, any other horse can be bought, or ‘claimed’, for a price specified by its trainer at the time of entry. Winning owners can bid on their own horse and, if they win the auction, the winning horse is said to be ‘bought in’; of course, they do risk paying more for buying their own horse than the prize money they receive for winning the race in the first place.

Selling races can be handicaps, in which horses carry weight according to their official handicap ratings, or non-handicaps, in which horses carry weight according to their age and sex. In either case, selling races are low grade in terms of quality. In fact, following the demise of so-called ‘banded’ racing – a shortlived, and ultimately unsuccessful, attempt to cater for the worst horses in training – selling races represent the lowest grade of all in horse racing. That said, there is still the occasional ‘rags-to-riches’ story about a horse that was bought, cheaply, out of a selling race and went on to repay the original investment many times over.

What is the Going?

In horse racing parlance, ‘going’ is the term used to describe underfoot conditions or, in other words, the state of the racing surface. In both sport and gambling worlds, there can often be quite unique terminology. It can be to your advantage to know the ins and outs before you play on jokacasino real money online casino australia, or say bet on a race.  Until 2009, the going was determined subjectively by the Clerk of the Course but, nowadays, is determined objectively by a device called a ‘GoingStick’, which is inserted into the racing surface and produces a numerical reading that reflects the amount of moisture in the ground.

In Britain, on turf racecourses, the going can be described as ‘firm’, ‘good to firm’, ‘good’, ‘good to soft’, ‘soft’ or ‘heavy’, depending upon the GoingStick reading. Historically, ‘hard’ was used to describe the driest, fastest underfoot conditions, but a GoingStick reading higher than 15, which corresponds to ‘firm’, is considered unraceable these days. On synthetic, all-weather racing surfaces, the going can be modified by harrowing or rolling, but is described as ‘fast’, ‘standard’ or ‘slow’, depending on the moisture content.

Some racehorses are capable of acting on any going, but most have specific going preferences, one way or the other. Horses with a high, rounded knee action, for example, often relish soft ground, while those with a low, ‘daisy cutter’ action often prefer faster underfoot conditions. Thus, accurate going descriptions are necessary for the safety of horse racing, in the first place, and to allow trainers, and punters, to make informed decisions about the suitability of the prevailing conditions for any horse.

What is handicap racing?

Handicap racing is based on the tried-and-tested notion that increasing the amount of weight that a horse carries in a race, relative to its rivals, will ultimately slow it down. In Britain, when a horse has run three, or possibly fewer, times, it is allocated an official handicap rating by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) handicapper. The official handicap rating expresses, in Imperial pounds, the perceived ability of the horse in the eyes of the handicapper and, in a handicap race, determines the weight the horse carries, subject to any weight allowance claimed by its jockey. Thus, in a handicap race for horses officially rated 81-100, if the highest weight to be carried is 9st 12lb a horse rated 93 would carry 9st 5lb, one rated 89 would carry 9st 1lb, and so on.

Handicap races, which comprise 60% of the horse races run annually in Britain, are intended to give each and every horse an equal chance of winning, at least in theory, thereby creating a competitive betting market and an exciting spectacle for spectators. Handicap ratings are reviewed race-by-race and may increase, decrease or remain unaltered, depending upon the performance of the horse in question. For example, if a horse wins a race, it is an entirely reasonable deduction that the horse has run better than its current official handicap rating to do so, so a rise in the weights, typically 6lb or 7lb, but possibly more, is warranted. Conversely, if a horse runs poorly, a fall in the weights may be appropriate, although the handicapper is likely to require confirmation, from two, three or more substandard performances, before taking any action.

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