AGE:
All horses share the same birthday irrespective of the exact date of the foaling.
This is fixed to facilitate the framing of races according to age groups, and is 1 January each year in the northern hemisphere.
Until 1834, the fixed date was 1 May, in line with the end, more or less of the foaling season.
The next year the official date was shifted for Newmarket horses, to the present one, which occurs before the foaling season has properly got under way.
The majority of races on the flat are for two year olds only, or for three year olds only, with a fair proportion also confined to three year olds and four year olds only, or three year olds and upwards.
A horse of either sex before its first birthday is known as a foal; between that date and its next birthday, a yearling.
ALL-WEATHER
A somewhat misleading term referring to the racing on synthetic surfaces at Lingfield, Southwell and Wolverhampton, although they are proof enough against frost, even these courses cannot race in foggy conditions.
When all-weather racing began in late 1989, it was officially being introduced, primarily to offset the financial...