LENGTH - unit of measurement in racing and charting terminology. The length of an horse is the distance from the horse's nose to the tip of its flying tail is .20 seconds (20.100ths)
LIVE WEIGHT - the weight of a jockey that a horse carries verses dead weight such as a lead pad, which does not move with the horse's action.
MAIDEN - a horse that has never won a race recognized by qualified governing bodies, commissions or breed registry.
MARE - a female horse four years of age or older.
MARKINGS - the pattern of marks, usually white, on a horse's head and legs which help in identification.
MATCH - a challange race between two horses.
MINUS POOL - when a horse is so heavily played by bettors that after the deduction of the state tax and commissions, not enough money remains in the pool to pay off the legally prescribed minimun.
MORNING LINE - the approximate odds usually printed in teh program and posted on the totalisator board prior to any wagering. The morning line is a prediction of how the wagering will go on a race.
MUDDER - horse that races well on a muddy track
MUTUEL POOL - the total amount wagered on a race in each ticked catedgory. The total number of winning tickets in the win category share the entire pool equally after the takeout is deducted. The same is true of the Daily Double and other exotic pools. The place pool is divided into two parts and the show pool into three parts and divided among the holders of winning tickets on the horses involved.
NECK - unit of measurement the length of a horse's neck; a quarter of a length.
NOSE - smallest advantage by which a horse wins.
OBJECTION - a written complaint made to the stewards concerning a horse entered in a race and filed no later than two hours prior to the scheduled post time for the first race on the day which the questionable horse is entered; also, a verbal claim of foul in a race lodged by the horse's jockey, trainer, owner, or the owner's licensed authorized agent before the race is declared official.
ODDS-ON - odds of less than even money
OFF THE BOARD - used to describe a horse that has finished worse than fourth.
OFF-TRACK BETTING - wagering on horses at legalized wagering offices, usually run by the state or the tracks.
OFFICIAL - the designation given to the result of a race by the stewards when any occurrences that affected the actual order of finish have been decided in terms of pari-mutuel pay-offs to winning bettors.
OUTRIDER - the track employee who leads the post parade and who keeps all horses and jockeys in line and gets them to the starting gate on time; also catches any loose or runaway horses.
OUTSTANDING TICKET - any winning pari-mutuel ticket which remains uncashed; also known as uncashed tickedts or outs.
OVERLAY - a horse going off at a higher price than he appears to warrant based on his past performance.
OVERNIGHT - a race which entries close 72 hours or less before post time for the first race on the day the race is to be run; also, the sheet available to horseman at the racing secretary's office showing the entries, post positions, weights and jockeys for the next race day.
OVERWEIGHT - pounds that a horse carried in excess of his officially assigned weight because the jockey is too heavy.
PADDOCK - the area where the horses are saddled and viewed prior to a race.
PADDOCK JUDGE - the racing official responsible for getting jockeys and horses in order to go the gate; also, checks the equipment used by each horse and supervises the saddling of horses.
PARI-MUTUEL - from French meaning "wager amongst us"; the system for racetrack wagering that returns to winning bettors the amounts wagered by unsuccessful bettors, less takeout taxes to state, track and purse.
PAST PERFOMANCES - information published by the Daily Racing Form or the racetrack which gives information on a horse's most recent races and works for handicapping purposes.
PHOTO-FINISH - indicative of a very close finish in which only careful viewing of the photo-finish picture can determine the order of finish.
PICK-THREE, PICK-SIX, PICK-NINE, ETC - wagers in which the winners of all the included races must be selected.
