Horse Racing Guide

‘Starting price’ is a fairly self-explanatory term insofar that it describes the official odds at which a horse starts a race or, in other words, the odds available to bettors at the ‘off’ of the race in question. If a bettor strikes a bet on British horse racing with a licensed bookmaker, on the High Street or online, and fails to to take a fixed price – that is an ‘early’, or ‘board’, price – before the race gets underway, that bet is settled using the starting price (SP).

According to the ‘Racing Post’, an estimated 50% of bets on horse racing in betting shops are settled at SP. SP is also in intrisuc to best odds guaranteed (BOG), offered by some, but not all, bookmakers, whereby bets are settled at the fixed price taken or the SP, whichever is bigger.

The responsibility for ensuring that the returned starting price accurately reflects the odds available at the ‘off’ of each race falls to an independent body known as the Starting Price Regulatory Commission (SPRC). Historically, the starting price was based, exclusively, on betting shows from on-course bookmakers, subject to qualifying criteria specified by the SPRC.

However, a review of the procedure, conducted by the SPRC in 2020/21, concluded that on-course prices, alone, no longer produced an accurate starting price, granted that just 1.4% of bets on horse racing are actually struck on the racecourse. Consequently, since May 1, 2022, starting price has been determined mainly using off-course prices from a sample of bookmakers who comprise a ‘significant share’ of the overall betting market, again subject to qualifying criteria.

In horse racing parlance, the term ‘nap’ is used to indicate the selection in which a tipster has most confidence or, in other words, his or her best bet at any given meeting, or any given day. However, as American writer Mark Twain wrote in his novel ‘Pudd’nhead Wilson’, published in 1894, ‘It is the difference of opinion that makes horse races.’

Of course, when it comes to tipping winners, there is no ‘magic bullet’. In the absence of so-called ‘inside’ information, which, by definition, will never become public knowledge, tipsters must rely on diligent study of the form book. A quick look at the ‘Racing Post Naps Table’, in which, at the time of writing, well over half of the tipsters listed are operating at a level stakes loss, in some cases significantly so, reveals that some are significantly more conscientious, or just plain lucky, than others.

In providing a ‘nap’ selection, a tipster is merely voicing an opinion and, regardless of the tipster, whether or not that opinion is valid always remains to be seen. Tipsters live or die by their profitability, so if things are not going well the temptation may be to ‘nap’ selections that are increasing obvious and short-priced, which, while theoretically more likely to win, represent poor value from a punting perspective.

‘Nap’ is the shortened form of ‘Napoleon’ and is taken from the nineteenth-century French card game of the same name. In that game players bid on the number of tricks they believe they can win, up to a maximum of five, which is. known as ‘Napoleon’, or ‘Nap’ for short.

In horse racing, a dead-heat is declared when the raceday judge cannot separate two or more horses at the finishing-line, not even by the official minimum winning margin. Historically, that margin was a short-head, but since February 25, 2008, when the governing body, the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), introduced new finishing distances, has been a nose.

The calling of a dead-heat has ramifications for the prize money awarded to winning connections and the way on which bets on the winning horses are settled. All prize money attached to the result, that is, typically, the first- and second-place prize money, is totalled and divided equally between the winners. Bets on dead-heating horses are settled to full odds, but to half the stake.

On the whole, dead-heats in horse racing are very rare, but, despite the technology available, they do still occur. Indeed, historically, triple and even quadruple dead-heats have occurred, although in Britain no such eventualities have arisen since the advent of photo-finish technology shortly after World War II. It would be fair to say that modern, digital equipment is a far cry from the old-school film technology used in the early days.

In the event of a close finish, where the winning margin appears, to the naked eye, to be a head or less, the judge calls for evidence of a photo-finish from the photo-finish operator. State-of-the-art, high resolution cameras are employed to produce a replicable image of the finish, onto which a time line, indicating the leading part of each horse, usually the point of its nose, can be superimposed to determine the official result.

Designated by the letter ‘U’ in the form figures on a typical racecard, ‘unseated rider’ indicates that a horse officially failed to finish a race, by virtue of the fact that, for one reason or another, it parted company with its jockey. However, unlike ‘fell’, which is designated by the letter ‘F’ in the form figures, the horse in question did not lose its footing and may, indeed, have continued to run ‘loose’ for the remainder of the race.

Clearly, unseated rider is a more occurrence in National Hunt racing, where obstacles are involved, than in Flat racing, but is by no means unknown under the latter code. Jumping errors at hurdles or fences are the most come cause of jockeys ending up on the ground, but there are several other explanations. Even on the Flat, tack malfunctions, such as a snapped girth or a slipped saddle, can cause a jockey to lose his or her balance, as can horse stumbling, perhaps as a result of stepping on a patch of ‘false’ ground, typically caused by natural waterlogging or overwatering of the course.

Of course, racehorses are living, breathing, herd animals and it is not unknown for them to unexpectedly jink, swerve or veer one way or another, particuarly when in front on their own, or inexperienced. Thus, unseated rider may not, necessarily, be the direct result of a jumping mistake, so it is always wise to delve a little further into the form, if possible.