How to Use Greyhound Racing Terms

Greyhound racing has its own set of terms to describe the action that takes place on the track. Many greyhound racing terms do not make much sense to someone who is unfamiliar with the sport but make perfect sense to those who attend the races frequently. A phrase such as, “The red blanket was a front end phony that went to the turn in traffic before he checked”, confounds the average citizen but not the dog racing enthusiast. Here is how to use some common dog racing terms.

Instructions

    • 1

      Don’t look for the “check” in the mail. Checking is a racing term that describes a dog going into one of the turns with much hesitation. It loses ground to the others and often will pull its head up as it slows down. This is common among “front end phonies,” greyhounds which can run fine when they make the lead but do not try hard when they are side by side with other racers. A “ringing tail” is a phrase that indicates a dog was slowing through the turn, making his tail go in circles.

    • 2

      Know your blanket colors. The eight dogs in a race wear a numbered blanket so that they can be readily identified by the onlookers. The one blanket is red, the two is blue, the three is white, the four is green and the five is black. The six blanket’s color is yellow and the seven is green and white while the eight is black and yellow. The seven dog is often referred to as the “candy striper” because of the stripes of green and white on the blanket.

    • 3

      Pay attention in school. A schooling race is an event that the public cannot wager on. Dogs breaking in, coming back from injuries or a rest, or coming from another track are entered in schooling races so that the general public can have some idea of their ability and what kind of racers they are before wagering on them in real races. The results are placed in the program and the public can watch these contests, which are usually held before the regular performance on certain days of the week.

    • 4

      Remember that the maidens have little experience. Maiden greyhounds are those that have not yet won an official race before their second birthday. They are puppies that lack track savvy, which they will acquire in time. Maidens run against each other; the winner is said to “have broken its maiden.” Maidens are also allowed to compete in mixed grade races at some tracks. An “overage maiden” is a greyhound term for a dog that failed to win a race before turning two.

    • 5

      Watch out for dogs that "sit in the box." These racers don’t actually sit in the starting box but they break so slowly that this is the phrase that is used to describe them. Another greyhound racing term used for this purpose is to say a dog “got left on the break”, meaning all the other dogs were long gone from the box before it came out.

    • 6

      Know that some dogs can “refuse.” This comment is reserved for dogs that do not come out of the box at all. It happens most often when a greyhound is placed at a different distance than it is accustomed to. The sound the lure makes as it comes down the track confuses the dog and it “turns in the box” to look for it. By the time it figures out what is happening the box has opened and they are left in it for the leadouts to grab so it won’t run the wrong way.