Horse Betting Glossary

• Hand - Four inches. A horse's height is measured in hands and inches from the top of the shoulder (withers) to the ground, e.g., 15.2 hands is 15 hands, 2 inches. Thoroughbreds typically range from 15 to 17 hands.
  
• Handicap - 1) Race for which the track handicapper assigns the weights to be carried. Each horse is allocated a different weight to carry, the theory being all horses then run on a fair and equal basis.. 2) To make selections on the basis of past performances.
  
• Handicapper - The official who decides the weights to be carried in handicap events, and the grading of horses and greyhounds.
  
• Hand Ride - The jockey urges a horse with the hands and arms without using the whip.
  
• Hard (track) - A condition of a turf course where there is no resiliency to the surface.
  
• Head - A margin between horses. One horse leading another by the length of its head.
  
• Head Of The Stretch - Beginning of the straight run to the finish line.
  
• Heavy (track) - Wettest possible condition of a turf course, similar to muddy but slower; not usually found in North America.
  
• Hedge - The covering of a bet with a second bet.
  
• Hedging - A bet made by a cautious bookie on a horse on which he has accepted large bets - in order to cut his losses if the horse wins (also known as a 'lay-off bet').
  
• Heinz - A Heinz is a multiple bet consisting of 57 bets involving 6 selections in different events. The multiple bet breakdown is 15 doubles, 20 trebles, 15x4-folds, 6x5-folds and one 6-fold.
  
• High Weight - Highest weight assigned or carried in a race.
  
• Home Turn - The final turn a horse must travel around before entering the home straight in the run to the finish line.
  
• Horse - When reference is made to sex, a 'horse' is an ungelded male five-years-old or older.
  
• Hung - A horse holding the same position, unable to make up distance on the winner.
  
• Impost - Weight carried or assigned.
  
• In Hand - Running under moderate control, at less than best pace.
  
• Inquiry - Reviewing the race to check into a possible infraction of the rules. Also, a sign flashed by officials on the tote board on such occasions. If lodged by a jockey, it is called an objection.
  
• In The Money - Describes the horses in a race that finish 1st, 2nd and 3rd (and sometimes 4th) or the horses on which money will be paid to bettors, depending on the place terms.
  
• In The Red - Are odds shown in red on the betting boards because they are Odds-On bets.
  
• Investor - A bettor. A person at a licensed race meeting who bets with a bookmaker or the totalisator, or a person not present at the meeting, but places bets on the horses engaged at that meeting with the off-course totalisator.
  
• Joint Favourites - When a sportsbook or bookmaker cannot separate two horses or teams for favouritism, they are made joint favourites.
  
• Judge - The person who declares the official placing for each race.
  
• Juice - The bookmaker's commission, also known as vigorish or vig.
  
• Jumper - Steeplechase or hurdle horse.
  
• Jolly - The favourite in a race.
  
• Judge - The official who determines the finishing order of a race.
  
• Juvenile - Two-year-old horse.
  
• Key Horse - The main expected winning horse used in multiple combinations in an exotic wager.
  
• Kite - UK slang for a cheque ('Check' in the US).
  
• Late Double - A second daily double offered during the latter part of the program. See 'Daily Double' above.
  
• Lay Off, Layoff - Bets made by one bookmaker with another bookmaker, in an effort to reduce his liability in respect of bets already laid by him with investors.
  
• LBO - Acronym for 'Licensed Betting Office' in the UK.
  
• Leg In - To nominate one runner to win with a selection of other runners. This is possible on Forecast, Quinella, Trifecta, Quartet and Superfecta (eg. Quinella bet with selection 4 to win, from runners 5, 7, 8 and 9 to come second, in any order).
  
• Length - A measurement approximating the length of a horse from nose to tail, about 8 feet, used to denote distance between horses in a race. For example, "Secretariat won the Belmont by 31 lengths".
  
• Lengthen - The opposite of 'Shorten'. Referred to odds getting longer, that is, more attractive to the bettor.
  
• Listed Race - A stakes race just below a group race or graded race in quality.
  
• Lock - (As in 'Banker') US term for an almost certain winner. Easy winner.
  
• Long Odds - More than 10:1.
  
• Long Shot - (Also, Outsider) An runner is often referred to as being a long shot, because of the fact it is returning high odds and is therefore deemed to have little chance of winning the race.
  
• Lug In (Out) - Action of a tiring horse, bearing in or out, failing to keep a straight course.
  
• Maiden - 1) A horse or rider that has not won a race. 2) A female that has never been bred.
  
• Maiden Race - A race for non-winners.
  
• Mare - Female horse five-years-old or older.
  
• Market - The list of all horses engaged in a race and their respective odds.
  
• Meeting - A collection of races conducted by a club on the same day or night forms a race meeting.
  
• Middle Distance - Broadly, from one mile to 1-1/8 miles.
  
• Mile Rate - In harness racing it is the approximate time a horse would have run per mile (1609 meters).
  
• Minus Pool - A mutuel pool caused when a horse is so heavily played that, after deductions of state tax and commission, there is not enough money left to pay the legally prescribed minimum on each winning bet. The racing association usually makes up the difference.
  
• Money Rider - A rider who excels in rich races.
  
• Monkey - GBP£ 500.
  
• Morning Glory - Horse who performs well in morning workouts but fails to fire in actual races.
  
• Morning Line - Approximate odds quoted before wagering begins.
  
• Mudder - A horse that races well on muddy tracks. Also known as a 'Mudlark'.
  
• Muddy (track) - A condition of a racetrack which is wet but has no standing water.
  
• Mutuel Pool - Short for 'Parimutuel Pool'. Sum of the wagers on a race or event, such as the win pool, daily double pool, exacta pool, etc.
  
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