There are many different types of horse race, depending on the country where the race is held, but there are essentially two main "codes":
National Hunt Races :
National Hunt Races involve jumping over obstacles such as fences and water ditches and are held during the National Hunt Season of mid-October to the end of April. National Hunt Races are broadly divided into steeplechases and hurdle races. Steeplechases are races run over 2-4½ miles with fixed fences at least 4½ ft high, and Hurdle Races are run over 2-3½ miles with smaller, less rigid jumps of at least 3½ ft high that easily collapse. National Hunt Races include the Grand National and the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
Flat Races :
Flat races are those which require no jumping. These are generally shorter in length, and the shortest races are 5 furlong sprints (for reference, eight furlongs equal one mile). Here the speed of runners is usually more important than stamina.
A race of either type can be a handicap or a non-handicap. A handicap race involves better horses carrying extra weight so that all runners have, in theory at least, an equal chance of winning. Non-handicap races do not involve horses carrying any additional weight, and because of this they are widely viewed as being easier to predict.
Most other race terms relate to the type of runners accommodated. For example, Maiden races refer to races where none of the competing runners have previously won a race. Nursery races are handicap races for Juveniles. |
