Greyhound racing terminology explained: Your key to unlocking the sport’s jargon

Abbreviations, eh? Can't live with 'em, CLWE.

Greyhound Racing

Fancy an evening at the dogs but feel intimidated by the sometimes labyrinthine terminology surrounding the sport?

Well, you’re not alone, dear reader. Here at Paddy Power News, we felt we needed a bit of a reminder ourselves, so we asked our greyhound racing brains to give us a rundown on all of the most important terms and abbreviations that you’ll find on a race card.

Armed with this, you’ll be ready to go to the dogs. Literally, not figuratively.

EvAw – “Even Away”

Greyhound leaves traps on a level footing with other Greyhounds.

SLaw- “Slow away”

Greyhound emerges from traps slower than the other runners.

FAw – “Fast away”

Greyhound is quickly into stride and is leading, or close to the lead, in the initial yards of the race.

Bmp1

Greyhound has been bumped by another runner at the first bend. 1 denotes the bend number at which the dog has suffered this interference.

Blk 1

“Baulked” at the first bend. The selection suffered interference from other dogs at the first bend.

DspLd – “Disputed lead”

Greyhound was vying for first place at this juncture of the race

Msbk – “Missed Break”

Greyhound emerged from traps significantly slower than other runners.

NvShw – “Never showed”

Greyhound failed to be competitive at any stage in the race.

RlRu- “Railed on the run up”

Railed denotes that the selection navigated a run close to the inside track railing at this stage in the race. The “run up” is the section of the race between the races starting point and the first bend.

ClrRn – “Clear run”

The selection suffered no interference from other runners at any stage.

LdNrl – “Lead near line”

The selection only took up the lead position in the closing stages of the race.

ChlRi – “Challenged in the run in”

Selection made his race winning efforts between the final bend and the finishing line.

Ld1/2 – “Lead between the first and second bend”

Greyhound was in the lead in the section of the race between the first and second bends.

Chl3/4 – “Challenged between 3 and 4th bend”

Greyhound challenged for the lead in the section of the race between the third and fourth bends.

HldOn – “Held on”

Greyhound just about fended off the late efforts of their rivals.

FinWL – “Finished well”

Greyhound completed the last section of the race quicker than his rivals.

DH – “Dead Heat”

Two or more greyhounds completed the race in an identical time.

TiT – “Turned in Traps”

Greyhound was facing the incorrect direction when the traps opened to begin the race.

W Ru – “Wide at the run up”

Wide denotes that the selection navigated a run close to the outside track railing at this stage in the race. The “run up” is the section of the race between the races starting point and the first bend.

CmAg – “Came again”

Greyhound mustered up another potential race winning effort having previously looked a beaten force.

LdBs – “Lead down the back straight”

Greyhound was the race leader in the section of the race between the second and third bends.

VwBnd – “Very wide at the bends”

Selection navigated his way around the bends at a much wider angle to the other runners.

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Imp1 – “Impeded at first bend”

Selection suffered interference at the first bend which was caused by another runner blocking his attempts to complete the bend.

Outp – “Outpaced”

Greyhound did not have the same running prowess of the remainder of the field and ultimately a race winning bid failed to materialise.

Ck2 – “Checked at the second bend”

Selection was unable to maintain a full running stride with a loss of momentum resulting.

LckEP – “Lacked early pace”

Selection struggled to match the acceleration of other runners through the early portion of the race.

Strfin – “Strong finish”

Selection completed the last section of the race with a burst of speed which resulted in gaining ground or increasing their lead over rivals.

Drclr – “Drew clear”

Selection asserted their authority over the field and increased the distance between them and the rest of the field.

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StbTp – “Stumbled at traps”

The dog lost its footing as the traps came up to signify the start of the race.

Bmpst – “Bumped at start of race”

Selection was bumped by another runner in the very early yards of the race.

QAw- “Quick away”

Dog exited from traps in a swift manner.

Ep – “Early Pace”

Dog displayed impressive acceleration in the initial yards of the race.

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