Age:
Horses all have the same birthday no matter the exact date of the foaling.
This is set in order to allow the configuration of races according to age groups. The date is set as 1 January each year in the northern hemisphere.
Until 1834, the fixed date was 1 May, in line with the end of the foaling season.
The next year the official date was shifted for New market horses, to the present one, which occurs before the foaling season has properly started.
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 it is called a yearling.
All Weather:
Not exactly All Weather in that horses still cannot race in fog. The surfaces are synthetic and the courses are currently at Lingfield, Southwell and Wolverhampton. They do provide protection against the frost.
Introduced in 1990 it was mainly aimed at offsetting the losses made by the Levy, which were being caused by the...