Horse Racing Terms & How to read Horse Racing Abbreviations

Reading the form on a racecard is the best way to make an informed decision on which horse you think may win the race or get placed. The form listings are easy enough to understand when you know what each character signifies. There are numerous abbreviations of industry terms which denote non-finishers and their reason for not completing the races.

PU means ‘pulled-up’. Pulling-ups are when a jockey stops a horse from finishing a race. It is usually not a reflection on the horse's ability.

Horse racing terms and abbreviations. Unseated means that a horse unseated its rider during the race. Horses that go past the winning post are not included in the results.

Void Race is presented in a horse’s form as ‘V”.

Horse racing abbreviations include ‘refused’ and “ran-out”. Refusing to jump a fence is a common term for a horse that refuses to finish the race. Running out is also common.

Horse racing terms include outside first 10 – 0 and non-finisher. A 0 in a horse's form indicates that the horse finished the race but was not in the first ten over the line.