Cheltenham Festival jargon buster - some phrases you need to know for your Festival viewing experience

Horse racing is a complex sport with many nuanced terms that can seem slightly alien to the more casual fan.

But, with the 2025 Cheltenham Festival on our doorsteps, are going to dive into common racing jargon in order to shed light on these unique definitions.

If you’re turning into the Cheltenham Festival for the very first time this year or if you want to decipher a bit more racing jargon then read our jargon buster below courtesy of the racing experts at Punters Lounge, who offer the most up-to-date Cheltenham Festival racecards across the four days of action.

Hurdle race - Horses jump over hurdles which are smaller and thinner obstacles compared to fences. Hurdles races have less obstacles during a race than their chase race counterpart over the same distance.

Chase - Horses jump over fences which are larger and wider than hurdles. Chase races can also be referred to as steeplechases.

Bumper - Also referred to as National Hunt Flat Races, these contests see horses jump no obstacles. These races are usually for horses who are at the beginning of their careers.

Handicaps - Horses carry different amounts of weights depending on their official rating allocated by the BHA. For example, a horse rated 120 may carry a racing weight of 11 stone and two pounds while a horse rated 118 would carry a racing weight of 11 stone in the same race. The idea of a handicap is to give horses of varied abilities a competitive chance.

Length - A length simply refers to the length of a horse. So, if the winning margin of a race is two lengths, the horse who crossed the line ahead would have won by two horse lengths.

Furlong - A furlong is a distance used to measure races. One furlong is equivalent to 201.168 metres, and there are roughly eight furlongs in a mile.

Off the bridle - A jockey encourages their horse along by pushing forward on the reins. On the bridle would be a horse travelling well whereas off the bridle would be the opposite.

Flat spot - A horse would hit a ‘flat spot’ which requires the jockey to push them along in order to keep with the pace of the race. This doesn’t necessarily mean they are outpaced; they just need encouragement to keep up.

Making all - As it suggests, making all refers to a horse racing at the front from the start to the finish. If they ‘made all’, they raced in first-place all the way and won.

Each-way - A wager consisting of two separate bets. A win bet and a place bet. For example, a £2 each-way bet means you’re putting £2 on a horse to win and £2 on the same horse to place, so the total stake is £4. Place bets are often paid out at ⅕ of the odds of the win bet. So, if the horse you placed a £2 each-way bet on places at 10/1, you will get £4 back plus the £2 of your stake (£6 total).

Lucky 15 - A wager that consists of 15 separate bets across four selections. The bet has four singles, six doubles, four trebles, and one four-fold accumulator.

NAP - The best bet of a selection of tips. The word originates from the French card game Napoleon where players would call ‘Napoleon’ when they had won the game.

NB - Quite simply, it means ‘next best’. The next best fancy behind the NAP.

Cheekpieces - A piece of headgear that is attached to the bridle and sits on either side of the horse’s head. Cheekpieces are soft lengths of sheepskin.

Tongue strap - A band that goes around a horse’s tongue in order to keep it fixed in place. This allows the tongue to not interfere with the windpipe so air can pass through the horse naturally.

Hood - A piece of headgear that has ear covers and no eye cups to help settle a nervous or highly strung horse.

Blinkers - A piece of headgear that has eye cups to restrict the peripheral vision of the horse. This encourages them to only look forward and would usually be applied to horses who lack concentrating in their races.

Colt - An uncastrated male horse aged under four years old.

Gelding - A castrated male horse.

Filly - A female horse aged under four years old.

Mare - A female horse aged four years old and above.

Cut in the ground - Softer ground. A horse may need ‘cut in the ground’ if they prefer softer conditions.

Allowance - Inexperienced jockeys are able to claim weight away from a horse’s back, also known as their ‘allowance’.

Some names to get to know

Willie Mullins - The master of the Cheltenham Festival. No other trainer has more wins at the Festival than this man and he is certainly going to have a strong team at this year’s meeting.

Paul Townend - Mullins’ main man in the saddle. Paul Townend has won four of the last six renewals of the Cheltenham Gold Cup, and he has the job of steering Galopin Des Champs home in this year’s potentially history-making race.

Nicky Henderson - The man who has been responsible for some of the most iconic Cheltenham Festival moments. Sprinter Sacre in the 2016 Champion Chase, Constitution Hill in the 2022 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, and more.

Jack Kennedy - One of the most talented riders in the weighing room, Kennedy has had a tough time with injuries during his relatively short career. He’s raced back in time to ride at the Festival and is set to have some big tasks ahead of him this coming week.