The Language of Horse Racing

In dictionary form but offering much more than dictionary definitions,The Language of Horse Racingpresents a guide to the history, development and usage of words and phrases employed on the racecourse, by those who train and look after horses, those who ride them, and those who lose their money betting on them. Here the reader will discover exactly what "the distance" is, and why it is so called; what the "cap" was in "handicap"; what relation the "wild goose chase" had to the "steeple-chase"; what is "dead" about a "dead heat"; and what the differences are between "getting in", "getting on", "getting out" and "getting up".The Language of Horse Racingalso reveals the language of the racecourse, including the bizarre vocabulary of betting, from the "betting boots" that early bookies put on, to the "faces", "heads", "sharks" and "sharps" who feed off the "buzz" and "whisper" that go round the ring.