What is a maiden race?

In horse racing parlance, a maiden is a horse – regardless of its age or sex – that has yet to win a race in its selected discipline. Thus, it follows, naturally, that a maiden race is a race in which none of the participants have won a race in their selected discipline. Maiden races are run on the Flat and under National Hunt Rules, so the situation is complicated, somewhat, by horses that progress from one discipline to another, as many do, throughout their careers. A horse that has won a Flat race, or a National Hunt Flat race, but not a hurdle race, is still eligible for a ‘maiden hurdle’ by virtue of never having won a race over obstacles, and so on.

How are racecourses graded?

Each racecourse in Britain is officially graded 1, 2, 3 or 4, depending on the General Prize Find (GPF) grant it receives from the Horserace Betting Levy Board (HBLB). The HBLB is a statutory body, established by the Betting Levy Act 1961, which annually collects a percentage of bookmakers’ gross profit from horse racing as the so-called Horserace Betting Levy.

General Prize Fund (GPF) grants, which must be paid out as prize money, are calculated annually based on the Executive Contribution (EC), or ‘merit’ – that is, the amount of prize money contributed by the racecourse authority – and the amount of off-course betting turnover generated by fixtures in the last three years for which figures are available. The grade of a racecourse can also impact peoples approach to racing tips. There’s a prestige aspect too of course.

Essentially, the higher the GPF grant, the higher the grade of the racecourse. Newmarket, for example, which stages nine Group One races during the season, received just over £2 million in 2018 and is classified as Grade 1. By contrast, Carlisle, which stages just one Class 1 race – the Listed Eternal Stakes, worth just shy of £40,000 in total prize money – received just over £165,000 in 2018 and is classified as Grade 4. Note that the grade of a racecourse does not, necessarily, reflect the standard of the facilities available for owners, trainers, jockeys or the racing public, but it is not unreasonable to expect a gulf between the best and the worst, consummate with the grade.

Much like in the football world, where all factors that feed into your football predictions matter, whether a stadium or a racecourse, its important to know the state of the terrain you’re playing or racing on.

Who are the top jockeys and trainers in 2025?

In Britain, thoroughbred horse racing is divided into two disciplines, or codes, namely Flat and National Hunt. Jockeys and trainers championships are staged in both, but the method by which the respective champions are determined varies, as does the length of time over which the championships run.

On the Flat, the jockeys’ championship is decided by the number of winners ridden, on turf or all-weather, between the start of the Guineas Festival at Newmarket in early May and British Champions Day at Ascot in mid-October. The trainers’ championship, on the other hand, is decided not on the number of winners trained, but the total prize money won during the entire calendar year, between January 1 and December 31.

In National Hunt racing, both the jockeys’ and trainers’ championships run for 51 weeks of the year, between early May and Jump Finale Day at Sandown Park in late April. As on the Flat, the jockeys’ championship is decided on the number of winners ridden during that period, whereas the trainers’ championship is decided on the total prize money won.

At the time of writing, Oisin Murphy leads the Flat jockeys’ championship, having ridden 97 winners from 424 rides in the specified period, so far, at a strike rate of 23%. Billy Loughnane lies second, with 71 winners, and Rossa Ryan third, with 62. Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien leads the way in the Flat trainers’ championship, having amassed just over £6 million from just 24 winners on British soil. John and Thady Gosden lie second, with £5.4 million, and Andrew Balding third, with £5.37 million.

Over the sticks, Sean Bowen holds a healthy lead in the jockeys’ championship with 66 winners from 245 rides, at a healthy 27% strike rate. His younger brother, James, and Brian Hughes lie joint-second with 28 winners apiece. The leading trainers are James Owen, with £287,000, Mickey Bowen, with £279,000 and Dan Skelton with £227,000.

How can I understand horse racing odds?

In horse racing, odds represent the ratio of the probability of a favourable outcome for the punter (a winner) to the probability of an unfavourable outcome (a loser). However, as Mark Twain put it, “It is the difference of opinion that makes horse races,” so it is worth noting that probability, here, is nothing more an expression of the expectation of the bookmakers.

Simply, odds tell you how likely a horse is to win, in the eyes of the bookmakers, and what your payout will be if your bet is successful. If, for example, bookmakers offer a horse at odds of 3/1, the implied probability of that horse winning is 3/4 – that is, the odds divided by one plus the odds – or 0.75, which equates to a 75% chance of winning and a 25% chance of losing. A successful £1 win bet on said horse would yield a payout of £3 in winnings, plus the original £1 stake, making a total return of £4.

In Britain, odds are traditionally displayed, as above, in fractional format, as two numbers separated by a slash. The number on the left of the slash, e.g. 3, indicates your winnings if your bet is successful, while the number on the right of the slash, e.g. 1, indicates the stake required to achieve those winnings.

Nowadays, online bookmakers also offer the option of displaying odds in decimal format, as is popular elsewhere in Europe, Canada and Australia. Decimal odds are expressed as a single number, which represents the total payout on winning bet, including the stake. Thus, fractional odds of 3/1 become 4.00 in decimal odds and you can calculate your total return by simply multiplying your stake by the decimal number. Decimal odds facilitate easier side-by-side odds comparison, particulary in the case of less straightforward fractions, such as 11/8, 13/8 and so on.

1 2 3 4 … 173