This column is geared more toward those who have just gotten interested in horse racing, but sometimes struggle to know just what’s going on within the sport.
It might also serve as a refresher to some veteran railbirds who understand that you never stop learning in this game.
There are dozens of tracks, and hundreds of horses racing every week. The horseracing calendar rarely sleeps. With so little down time it’s tough to keep up with everything involved.
As grade-school teachers universally say; there’s no such thing as a stupid question.
That said, here are five furlongs worth of questions a novice might be too sheepish to ask about horse racing.
1. How Is The Racing Season Structured? Are Horse Races Held Every Weekend? If the sun’s up, there’s probably a horse race happening somewhere in North America. Each track has its own season, so racing shifts around within a state and across the country.
2. What is Parimutuel Betting? Parimutuel betting means you’re not betting against the house – you’re betting against everyone else. Odds shift based on how much money is bet on each horse, so popular picks have shorter payouts.
3. How Do Betting Odds Work? Horse betting in the United States has been a Parimutuel system for the last century, which means the odds shift as money enters the pool. Unlike sports betting where your odds are fixed the moment you place the bet, horse racing odds can, and will, change up until the moment the race begins. There are a few tracks (Monmouth for one) that have implemented fixed-odds wagering.
4. What Is The Universal Birthday Rule? In horse racing, every Thoroughbred in North America turns a year older on January 1st – regardless of the day they were born. This Universal Birthday Rule helps group horses by age for races and keeps things organized. So even if a foal is born in May, come the next January, it’s considered a yearling, or one year old. It’s the only sport where aging up is as easy as flipping the calendar.
5. How Do Trainers Decide Which Race A Horse Should Run In? Trainers use something called a condition book – basically the race menu for each track – to figure out where their horse fits best. These books group horses by sex, age, skill and other factors to keep races fair and competitive. With multiple tracks running, keeping it all straight takes serious planning- which the best trainers excel at.
Basic information for some, new-found knowledge for others. The more you know.
For racetrack freshman it would be nice to discuss the furlong and the varying lengths of races and how it impact betting choices.
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Hello Larry, and thank you for for your question(s). A furlong is equivalent to 220 yards. Typically, 5-6 furlong races are considered sprints, while 7 furlongs is best defined as an intermediate route race, while any race longer than 7 furlongs is considered a traditional route. In regard to betting impact- its best to look at a horses past performances to see what distance best suits the animal. Say for instance a horse has ran in 8-9 furlong races and he (she) seems to always run out of steam in the stretch, maybe it’s better suited for shorter distances. On the other hand say a horse has ran well in a couple shorter races, his charts show him gaining ground throughout the race, but he comes up short, maybe all the horse needs is a little extra distance in order to come out on top. I’m painting with a wide brush here, but that the basics of it.
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