Baby race: A contest for 2-year-olds.
Backside: Stable area, dormitories and often times a track kitchen, chapel and recreation area for stable employees.
Backstretch: Straight portion of track's far side between turns.
Bandages: Binding used on horse's legs that are three to six inches wide and made of a variety of materials. In a race, they are used for support or protection against injury.
Bar shoe: A horseshoe closed at the back to help support the frog and heel of the hoof; often worn by horses with quarter cracks or bruised feet.
Bat: Jockey's whip.
Bay: Horse color that varies from a yellow-tan to bright auburn. The mane, tail and lower portion of legs are always black except where white markings are present.
Bearing in (or out): Deviating from a straight course. May be due to weariness, infirmity, inexperience or rider overusing whip or reins to make a horse alter course.
Beyer number: Handicapping tool, popularized by author Andrew Beyer, assigning a numerical value (speed figure) to each race run by a horse based on final time and track condition. It enables different horses running at different tracks to be objectively compared.
Bit: A stainless steel, rubber or aluminum bar, attached to the bridle, which fits in the horse's mouth and is one way by which a jockey exerts guidance and control. Most common is the D-bit, named because rings extending from bar are shaped like "D."
Black: Horse color that's black, including the muzzle, flanks, mane, tail and legs unless white markings are present.
Blaze: A generic term describing a large, white vertical marking on a horse's face.
Bleeder: Horse that bleeds from the lungs when small capillaries surrounding organ's air sacs rupture; medical term is "exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage."
Blood may be seen coming out of the horse's nostrils although typically discovered by a fiber optic endoscopic examination after exercise. Hot, humid weather and cold are known to exacerbate the problem.
Blinkers: A cup-shaped device limiting horse's vision to prevent the animal from swerving from objects or other thoroughbreds on either side; a variety of sizes and shapes allows as little or as much vision as the trainer feels is necessary.
Blister: Counter-irritant causing acute inflammation used to increase blood supply, blood flow and promote healing in the leg.
Blow-out: Short, timed workout, usually a day or two before a race, designed to sharpen a horse's speed, that's usually three-eighths or one-half mile.
Bobble: A bad step away from starting gate, usually caused by the track surface breaking away under a horse's hooves, causing it to duck its head or nearly go to the knees.
Bolt: Sudden veering from a straight course, usually to outside rail.
Bomber: Winning horse sent off at extremely high odds.
Bottom: Stamina in a horse; subsurface of a racing strip.
Bounce: Poor race run following a career-best or near-best performance.
Bowed tendon: Type of tendonitis that's the most common injury to a tendon; a strain or "bowed" tendon, so named because of the appearance of a bow shape due to swelling.
Box: Wagering term denoting a combination bet whereby all possible numeric combinations are covered.
Boxed in: To be trapped between, behind or inside of other horses.
Break: To depart starting gate.
Breakage: Pari-mutuel payoffs rounded to a nickel or dime; pennies that are left over.
Break maiden: Horse or rider winning first race of career.
Breather: Easing off on a runner for a short distance to conserve or renew strength.
Breeder: Owner of the dam at time of foaling unless the dam was under a lease or foal-sharing arrangement.
Breeders' Cup: Racing's year-end championship known as the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships; eight races with purses worth a total of $14 million.
Breeze or breezing: Working a horse at a moderate speed; less effort than handily.
Bridle: Piece of equipment, usually made of leather or nylon, that fits on a horse's head and is where other equipment, such as a bit and reins, are attached.
Broodmare: Filly or mare that has been bred and used to produce foals.
Brush: Two runners who slightly touch each other; an injury that occurs when one hoof strikes the inside of the opposite limb.
Bucked shins: Inflammation of the covering on the cannon bone, primarily thee front legs, which young horses are particularly susceptible.
Bug boy: Apprentice rider.
Bullet (work): Best workout time for a particular distance on a given day at a track.
Bute: Short for phenylbutazone, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication that's legal in many racing jurisdictions and often known by the trade names Butazolidin and Butazone.
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