What is Godolphin?

 

Named after the Godolphin Arabian – one of the founders of modern thoroughbred bloodstock – Godolphin is the thoroughbred horse racing and breeding operation founded by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum who, since 2006, has been the Ruler of Dubai. In Britain, Godolphin relies on trainers Saeed bin Suroor and Charlie Appleby, both of whom divide their years between Dubai and Newmarket, while the famous royal blue silks are most often worn by retained jockeys James Doyle and William Buick. At the last count, the Godolphin operation had produced 5,415 winners, including 297 Group One, or Grade One, winners, worldwide since 1992, at a strike rate of 20%.

In horse racing, what is a penalty?

In simple terms, in horse racing, a penalty is a disadvantage, or handicap, in the form of extra weight to be carried, imposed on a horse for winning a race under certain circumstances. In Group Two, Group Three and Listed races on the Flat, for example, penalties are incurred by horses that have won at the same, or higher, level within a certain period of time.

Usually after three runs on the Flat, or three runs over hurdles or fences, or a combination of the two, a horse qualifies for an official rating. The official rating represents the ability of the horse, according to a team of handicappers at the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), and is reassessed after each subsequent race.

If the horse wins, say, a handicap race – which each horse has a theoretically equal chance of winning – it must, logically, have performed better its current official rating so, when reassessed, its official rating will increase, typically by 6lb or 7lb. However, if the same horse if turned out again within the space of seven days – that is, before it has been reassessed by the BHA handicappers – it typically has to carry a standard penalty, of 6lb or 7lb, to allow for that fact.

What happens to racehorses when they retire?

Exactly what happens to a racehorse when its racing days are over varies widely from horse to horse. Horses bred in the purple, or those that have enjoyed successful racing careers, or both, may well be shipped off to stud to become stallions or broodmares at the end of their three-year-old campaigns. Other, less successful, horses, or those incapable of breeding – that is, castrated male horses, known as ‘geldings’ – may not have that option, but nevertheless end their racing careers while still mentally and physically fit.

The nature of thoroughbred racehorses dictates that they need expert care and attention but, in the right hands, they can be successfully retrained for a further career away from the racecourse. This could include any of the sports horse disciplines, such as dressage, eventing, polo or show jumping or, for a competent rider, as a hack or riding horse. The charity known as Retraining of Racehorses (RoR), which is funded, in part, by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), supports five rehabilitation centres in Britain.

What are different types of bets?

The simplest type of bet is a single win bet, in which you wager a certain amount, known as your ‘stake’, on a single selection, which must win for you to make a profit. If horse wins, you receive winnings equal to your stake multiplied by the winning odds, plus your stake back. If the horse does not win, you lose your stake in its entirety.

Alternatively, an each-way bet is, in effect, two bets, one on a selection to win and another on the same selection to finish placed or, in other words, second, third or fourth, depending on the ‘place terms’ offered on the race in question. Standard place terms are, for handicaps with 16 or more runners, one-quarter the odds for the first four places, for handicaps with 12-15 runners, one-quarter the odds for the first three places, for all other races with 8 or more runners, one-fifth the odds for the first three places and, for all races with 5-7 runners, one-quarter the odds for the first two places. If your horse wins, both your ‘win’ and ‘place’ bets are winners, if the horse does not win, but is placed, your ‘place’ bet is a winner and if the horse is unplaced, both bets are losers.

If you want to bet on more than one horse in more than one race, you can combine your selections in win, or each-way, doubles, trebles and accumulators. In the case of a double, both selections must win, or be placed, to guarantee a return, in the case of a treble, all three selections must win, or be placed, and so on. Combination, or multiple, bets of this type are inherently more risky than win or each-way single bets, but do offer the potential of a huge return for a small initial outlay.

Aside from these basic types of bet, bookmakers also offer a whole host of ‘exotic’ bets, such as forecast and tricast bets, which invite you to attempt to predict the first two, or the first three, horses home in certain races. Once again, these bets offer the potential for a huge return, but involve betting at multiple odds, so the bookmakers are giving nothing away.

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