There’s little doubt a day at the races is about more than frocks and fascinators.
But to get the most out of a day at the track this summer, it pays to know your silks from your starting orders – where do you start, though?
To help you know exactly what you’re talking about, here’s a beginner’s guide to race-day lingo.
Scroll down to learn all you’ll need to impress this racing season:
Barriers: The gates the horses come out of at the beginning of each race.
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Blinkers: A piece of gear placed on a horse to limit its vision and prevent it from being distracted by what’s around it.
Bolt: When a horse suddenly veers out of control.
Bookmaker: A person or company licensed by the government to accept bets.
Box: In a bet, if you “box” runner, you cover all possible combinations of the finishing order.
Boxed in: Alternatively, this means a horse is surrounded by other runners, and has no where to go.
Dividend: How much money you get paid out when your bet is successful.
DNF: Did not finish the race.
Each way: When a punter has the same amount of money on a horse for a win and a place.
Filly: A female horse, up to four years old.
Going: The way the underfoot conditions are describes. Soft, heavy, firm etc.
Late scratching: A horse that is pulled from the race after 8am on race day.
Length: A horse’s length from nose to tail. If a horse wins by one length it has won by about 3m.
On The Nose: To back a horse for the win only.
Quinella: Selecting the first two horses in a race in any order.
Scratched: A horse that has been taken out of the race.
Silks: The often brightly coloured and patterned jacket and cap worn by jockeys in a race, usually in the colour of the most prominent owner of the horse or the trainer.
Trifecta: A bet selecting the first three horses of a race in the right order.
Under starters orders: The horses fall under the jurisdiction of the starter in the moments before the start of the race. If a horse with withdrawn before this stage, all bets are refunded.
Weighted in: Jockeys are weighed before and after each race to ensure that their horse has carried the correct weight.
