BLACK TYPE - used in a sale catalogue to designage a horse that has won or placed in a stakes. The name of a stakes winner is printed in boldface uppercase letters (i.e. SILVER CHARM), while the name of a stakes placed horse is in boldface upper and lower case letter (i.e Silver Charm).
BLANKET FINISH - or photo finish; in which two or more horses are very close at the finish (one can "throw a blanket over them").
BLEEDER - a horse that during or following exercise or the race is observed to be shedding blood from one or both nostrils or the mouth, or is observed by scope to be hemorrhaging in the lumen of the respiratory tract.
BLINKERS - a hood placed over a horse's head with cups sewn onto the eye openings. The cups prevent a horse from seeing anywhere but straight ahead, thus preventing distractions. The size of the cups are varied to allow a horse more or less peripheral vision.
BLOWOUT - the term for a very short workout at full speed. Used primarily to put a horse on its toes before a race.
BOLT - when a horse swerves sharply from his lane or the regular course; also a runaway.
BOTTOM - stamina in a horse; also, subsurface of racing strip.
BOTTOM LINE - a horse's pedigree or bloodlines which indicates the dam, granddam, maternal sire, etc.
BREAKAGE - that portion of the payoff to winning bettors that is retained by the association. Since in most North American racing jurisdiction payoffs are to the next lower dime, the differnece is known as breakage and is retained.
BREEDER - NTRA considers the breeder of a horse the owner of the dam at the time of foaling.
BREEZE - working a horse at a moderate speed.
BULLET WORK - the best time for the distance on the work tab for a given day at a track.
BULLRING - a racetrack with a half-mile or 5/8th mile oval.
BUTE - trade names for Phenylbutazone, a commonly used analgesic for horses.
CAULKS - otherwise known as "mud caulks;" small cleats on teh back end of a horse's shoe or racing plate; most often used when the track's surface becomes muddy, heavy, or slick; allows the horse a better grip of the surface and eliminates slipping and provides sounder footing.
CHART - the "box score" of a race. The chart gives all the information of the running of a race including horses' positions during the race, official order of finish, wagering handle, payoffs, closing odds, owner, trainer, jockey, purse distrubution, times, speed ratings and conditon of races.
CHART CALLER - the employee of a publication (i. e., Daiy Racing Form) or the racetrack who charts all the races that day and sends the information to the past performance program company.
CHECKED - the pulling back or sudden slowing due to traffic problems during the running of a race.
CHUTE - the straightway extension to the oval section of a track. Generally, the typical one mile track will have a 550-yard or 1 5/16-mile chute entering the homestretch and a 3/4 and/or 7/8 mile chute entering the backstretch.
CIRCUIT - term used to describe several racetracks with complementing racing dates, which form a circuit within a certain geographic area.
CLAIMER - horse which constitently runs in claiming races.
CLAIMING BOX - the compartment usually found adjacent to the paddock where the claim sheet/card is dropped.
CLASS - a horse showing all the best qualitities in breeding, conformation, ability, and stamina.
CLERK OF SCALES - a racing official whose responsibility is to sequester all jockeys each racing day, check their assigned riding weights, report all changes and weigh all ridersout and in from races.
CLOCKER - person responsible for accureately timing the workouts of a horse. These times are published for the benefit of the public. All workouts are taken during the morning training hours.
CLUBHOUSE TURN - traditional name given to the first turn past the wire of the racing oval, because the clubhuse usually overlooks this area.
COLORS - the jocky's silk or nylon jacket and cap provided by the owner; trainer or racetrack.
COLT - a male horse at the age of two and three
CONDITION - the qualifications or eligibility rules for horses to be entered into a race
