Horse racing is one of the oldest organised sports in the world, and it is also one of the most varied. A five-furlong sprint and a four-mile steeplechase share a name but almost nothing else. To follow the sport, you need to know the two codes, the race types, the class system and, if you choose to bet, what the common bet types actually mean.
The two codes: flat and jumps
Flat racing is run on level ground with no obstacles. Distances range from five furlongs, which are pure sprints, to more than two miles, which are staying races that test endurance. Flat races are run on turf, dirt or synthetic surfaces, and most of the world's biggest races are flat races.
Jump racing, also called National Hunt racing in the UK and Ireland, is run over hurdles or steeplechase fences. Jump races are longer, usually beyond two miles, and test jumping ability and stamina as well as speed. Horses must be older and more experienced to race over obstacles safely. A third discipline, harness racing, features Standardbred horses pulling a two-wheeled cart called a sulky at a trot or pace, usually over one mile.
The racing calendar follows the seasons. In Britain and Ireland, the flat season runs through the summer months while jump racing dominates the autumn and winter.
Race types and classes
Not all races are equal, and the class system tells you how good the horses are. On the flat, the top level is Group racing: Group 1 races are the most prestigious, followed by Group 2, Group 3 and Listed races. In jump racing the equivalent is graded racing, with Grade 1 at the top.
Handicap races are designed to be competitive. Horses are assigned different weights based on their ability, with better horses carrying more weight and weaker horses carrying less, so that in theory every horse has an equal chance. Maiden races are for horses that have not yet won a race, and claiming races are contests in which every horse is available to be bought for a fixed price after the race.
A staying race is generally any flat race of two miles or more, or any jump race of three miles or more. These are the sport's endurance tests.
How a race is won
The aim is simple: the first horse past the winning post wins. Races are run by jockeys riding thoroughbreds, the breed that dominates flat and jump racing. Before a race, horses are paraded in the paddock and go to the start, where they load into starting stalls for flat races or line up behind a tape for jump races.
Form matters more than anything else in understanding a race. A horse's recent results, the distance it has won over, the ground conditions it prefers and the weight it carries all shape its chances. Trainers and jockeys matter too: some trainers specialise in sprinters, others in stayers, and some jockeys are famously strong finishers in a close race.
Bet types, explained
Betting is part of horse racing's culture, but it is entirely optional, and it always involves risk. Only adults of legal betting age should bet, and only with money they can afford to lose.
The simplest bet is a win bet: your horse must finish first. A place bet pays if your horse finishes in the placing positions, usually the top two in small fields or the top three or four in larger fields. The payout is lower than a win bet because the chance of success is higher.
An each-way bet is two bets in one. Half your stake goes on the horse to win and half goes on it to place. A five-pound each-way bet costs ten pounds in total. If the horse wins, both parts pay out. If it places but does not win, the win part is lost but the place part pays at reduced odds, usually one quarter or one fifth of the win odds. It is the safety-net option for backing an outsider.
Beyond those, an exacta or forecast is a bet on the first two horses in the correct order, a tricast covers the first three in order, and accumulators combine the winners of several races into one bet, with the winnings from each race forming the stake for the next. Odds are shown as fractions such as 2/1, meaning a five-pound stake returns ten pounds in winnings plus the stake back.
The biggest races
The most famous flat races are the classics. In the United States, the Triple Crown is the Kentucky Derby, run at Churchill Downs in Louisville on the first Saturday in May over one and a quarter miles, followed by the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico and the Belmont Stakes over one and a half miles. Only 13 horses have won all three in the same year, the first Sir Barton in 1919 and the most recent Justify in 2018.
In Britain, the Epsom Derby is the pinnacle of flat racing, and Royal Ascot, first held in 1711, is the sport's most famous meeting. The most famous jump race in the world is the Grand National at Aintree, run over about four and a half miles with 30 fences. The Cheltenham Festival is jump racing's biggest meeting, and the Dubai World Cup and the Breeders' Cup are the sport's richest international events.
How to follow it
If you are new to racing, start with the racecard, which lists every runner, its recent form, its weight and its odds. Pick one type of race to learn first, such as flat sprints or jump handicaps, and follow the same horses and trainers for a few weeks. The patterns will start to make sense quickly: which horses stay the distance, which need soft ground, and which jockeys time their challenge best. The race itself lasts minutes, but the story of a race is written in the form book before the start.