Maiden - a horse that has not yet won a race or a race in which all competitors are winless.
Mare - a female horse five years old or older.
Pacesetter - a horse that tends to stay just behind the leaders in the middle of the pack.
PPs - a horse's past performances for each previous race.
Ridgling - a partially castrated male horse or a male horse having one or both testes retained in the inguinal canal.
Schooling in the Paddock - walking a horse around the paddock to get it acquainted with the noise and crowd anticipated on a big race day.
Track Surfaces: Dirt - dirt track; Turf - grass track; Synthetic - any artificial surface, e.g., Polytrack, Cushion, Tapeta.
Wire-to-Wire - a horse that takes the lead at the start of the race and wins, never having relinquished the lead.
Wise Guy Horse - a horse with higher morning-line odds that handicappers jump on as race time nears.
Work/workout - Scheduled and timed exercise for the horse. Typically, a horse will work 3-5 furlongs once a week in preparation for an upcoming race or to maintain fitness. Workouts are usually listed at the bottom of the horse's stats in the program. Completing a furlong in 12 seconds or less is a very fast work.
Photo: Courtesy Kentucky Derby
