Horse Racing – The Different Types of UK Horse Races

To someone new to horse racing, it can be very confusing trying to understand the different types of horse races. In this article I just want to try and explain in simple terms what they all mean. First of all there are three different types of professional horse racing in the UK. They are Flat, all weather and national hunt. When we talk about flat we are talking about races on the turf and the season runs from April until November.

All weather is also run over the flat but on a poly track or fibre sand surface. The main all weather takes place from November until March. National hunt is predominantly a winter sport involving racing and jumping either over fences or the small obstacles called hurdles. There are also a few national hunt flat races which are also called bumper races.

In flat racing there are 5 Classic races spread throughout the season. These are The Derby, Oaks, 1000 and 2000 guineas and the St Ledger. In National Hunt the 2 main races are the Gold Cup at Cheltenham and the King George VI held on Boxing Day at Kempton Park.

Some races are restricted to horses of a specific age such as 2 or 3 year olds and others may be limited to horses that have never won and are known as maiden races. Two other types that you may come across are sellers and auction races. A horse that wins a selle will be offered up for sale in an auction and so these contests are usually for horses of lesser ability. It may sound as though the same thing would happen to the winner of an auction race but in fact it is not. These are for horses that have been purchased as yearlings at public auction and the winner is not offered for sale after the race.

The other terms that you will come across are handicap and non-handicap. In a handicap race an official aptly named the handicapper assesses the form of all the horses entered in the race and based on that allots a weight for each horse to carry. What in theory he is trying to do is make it so all the horses in the race finish together. Of course that very rarely happens but can make for exciting racing. In non-handicap races the horse in theory all carry the same weight. I say in theory because allowance is made for age, sex and the experience of the jockey riding the horse.

An understanding of the various types of horse race can help you in your search to find the winner of a race.

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