Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter known as National Hunt racing in the UK and steeplechasing in the US. Jump racing can be further divided into hurdling and steeplechasing.
Seabiscuit was a champion thoroughbred racehorse in the United States who became the top money-winning racehorse up to the 1940s. He beat the 1937 Triple Crown winner, War Admiral, by four lengths in a two-horse special at Pimlico and was voted American Horse of the Year for 1938.
In horse racing in the United Kingdom, France and Republic of Ireland, National Hunt racing requires horses to jump fences and ditches. National Hunt racing in the UK is informally known as "jumps" and is divided into two major distinct branches: hurdles and steeplechases. Alongside these there are "bumpers", which are National Hunt flat races. In a hurdles race, the horses jump over obstacles called hurdles; in a steeplechase the horses jump over a variety of obstacles that can include plain fences, water jump or an open ditch. In the UK, the biggest National Hunt events of the year are generally considered to be the Grand National and the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
The Australian and New Zealand punting glossary explains some of the terms, jargon and slang which are commonly used and heard on Australian and New Zealand racecourses, in TABs, on radio, and in the horse racing media. Some terms are peculiar to Australia, such as references to bookmakers, but most are used in both countries.
Jerry D. Bailey is an NBC Sports thoroughbred racing analyst and a retired American Hall of Fame jockey.
Blinkers, sometimes known as blinders, are a piece of horse tack that prevent the horse seeing to the rear and, in some cases, to the side.
Alderbrook was an entire horse who won the Champion Hurdle in 1995 and was runner up in 1996. He was the top rated Hurdler by Timeform in both 1995 and 1996 in their publication, Chasers & Hurdlers.
The 2001 Grand National was the 154th official running of the Grand National horse race that took place at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England, on 7 April 2001. It went ahead as planned, despite the cancellation of the 2001 Cheltenham Festival, caused by the foot-and-mouth disease crisis.
Kenneth Stanley Church was a Canadian jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing.
Charles E. "Charlie" Burr was an American National Champion Thoroughbred horse racing jockey. In 1951, he became the seventh jockey in American Thoroughbred racing history to ride 300 or more winners in a single year.
James Quinn is an Irish professional horse racing flat jockey.
The 1998 Grand National was the 151st official renewal of the world-famous Grand National steeplechase that took place at Aintree near Liverpool, England, on 4 April 1998.
Glossary of North American horse racing:
Tap On Wood was an Irish-bred British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire best known for winning the classic 2000 Guineas in 1979. As a two-year-old in 1978 he won seven of his thirteen races including the National Stakes. In the following spring he defeated the outstanding miler Kris to record an upset victory in the Guineas. His later career was disrupted by illness and he appeared in only two more races, finishing unplaced in the Derby and winning the Kiveton Park Stakes. He subsequently had some success as a breeding stallion in Europe and Japan.
Vitigès was a French-bred Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He was one of the best French-trained two-year-olds of 1976 when he won four races including the Prix Robert Papin and Prix Morny, as well as finishing second in the Prix de la Salamandre. In the following year he won the Prix Djebel and finished second in both the 2000 Guineas and the Prix Jacques Le Marois before being transferred to be trained in England. In October 1976 he recorded his greatest success when recording an upset win over a strong field in the Champion Stakes which led to his being rated the best three-year-old to race in the United Kingdom that year. He ran without success as a four-year-old and was retired to stud, where he had some success as a breeding stallion.
Buoy was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. Unraced as a two-year-old, he proved himself one of the best middle-distance colts of his generation in 1973 when he won the Predominate Stakes and the Great Voltigeur Stakes and finished placed in both the Irish Derby and the St Leger. He was even better as a four-year-old, winning the Yorkshire Cup before beating the outstanding French filly Dahlia in the Coronation Cup and taking the Princess of Wales's Stakes. His career was ended by injury in August 1974 and he was exported to stand as a breeding stallion where he had limited success as a sire of winners.
Bahamian Pirate was a British Thoroughbred racehorse. He was a specialist sprinter who produced his best form on soft ground and was trained for most of his racing career by David "Dandy" Nicholls in Yorkshire. He was unraced as a juvenile and did not win a race until he was four years old. As a five-year-old he recorded his first major win when he took the Ayr Gold Cup and went on to win the Listed Bentinck Stakes later that year. We won the Phoenix Sprint Stakes in 2001 but then went three years with only limited success. He returned to form as a nine-year-old and recorded his first Group One success on his sixty-eighth appearance in the Nunthorpe Stakes at York Racecourse in August 2004. He remained in training until the age of twelve before retiring with a record of 12 wins and 25 places from 104 starts.
Easter Sun was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In his first three seasons he showed good form in handicap races but appeared to be well below top class. In 1982, at the age of five, he showed remarkable improvement and won the Aston Park Stakes before recording his biggest win in the Coronation Cup. He never won again but was placed in several good races before being retired at the end of the 1983 season. He made no impact as a breeding stallion in a brief stud career.
U S Navy Flag is an American-bred, Irish-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. In 2017 he became the first horse in 35 years to win both the Middle Park Stakes and the Dewhurst Stakes. As two-year-old he was beaten in his first four racecourse appearances, including the Coventry Stakes before winning a maiden race in July. He then finished second in the July Stakes and fourth in the Phoenix Stakes before recording his first significant win in the Group 3 Round Tower Stakes. He won the Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket Racecourse on 30 September and returned to the same track two weeks later to follow up in the Dewhurst Stakes. As a three-year-old in 2018 he ran in several major mile races without success before dropping back to sprint distances to win the July Cup.
Sonnyboyliston is an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse. He made no impact as a two-year-old and was gelded before returning in 2020 to win three handicap races. He improved to become a top-class stayer as a four-year-old in 2021, winning the Martin Molony Stakes, Ebor Handicap and Irish St Leger.
