| Name | Definition |
| action | A wager or bet. |
| accumulator | A multiple bet which involves more than one horse with the winnings from each selection going onto the next. |
| ante-post | Bets placed in advance predicting the outcome of a future event. |
| asian handicaps | Mainly used in football, Sides are awarded anywhere between a fraction of a goal start to 3 goals dependent on how good or bad they are. The bookies may also award a side half a point start which effectively eliminates the draw. This form of betting is particularly common in the Far East. |
| ajax | UK slang term for 'Betting Tax'.
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| arbitrage | Where a variation in odds available allows a punter to back both sides and guarantee a win. |
| abandoned | A Horse race called off due to the severe weather conditions or lack of participants to meet in the race |
| across the board | A bet on a horse to win, place or show. Three stakes combined in one. If the horse wins, the punter wins all three stakes, if second, two, and if third, one.
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| added money | Money added to a purse by the racing association or by sponsors, state-bred programs or other funds added to the money paid by horse owners as nomination, entry, sustaining and other fees.
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| added purse | Purse money that was enhanced by payments made by owners and/or breeders.
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| added weight | A horse carrying more than the normal weight required for the race. This happens when the jockey exceeds the stated limit.
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| aged horses | Horses of seven years old or more |
| airing | An inefficiently running horse. |
| all clear | Signified by a siren at the end of a race, the all clear means that the stewards deem the finishing order of horses is correct and bets may be paid out. It also means that no protest or objection has been made by the connections of any horse in the race.
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| all out | A horse who is trying to the best of his ability.
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| all weather racing | Racing that takes place on an artificial surface. |
| all-age race | A race for two-year-olds and up.
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| all-out | A workout or race performance where a horse shows maximum exertion.
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| all-the-way win | To lead through out the race. . |
| allowance race | - A race for which the racing secretary drafts certain conditions to determines the weight to be carried based on the horse's age, sex and/or past performance
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| also ran | Any selection not finishing 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th in a race or event.
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| also eligible | Horses that initially entered in the race but will be eligible to run only when other horses are declared out of the body of the race. |
| also-ran | A horse that finishes out of the money (first, second or third).
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| altered | A horse that has been gelded |
| at the post | The time when the horses have arrived and are ready to be loaded into the starting gate. |
| auxiliary starting gate | A second starting gate used when the amount of horses in a race exceeds the capacity of the main starting gate.
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