We all have at least a passing familiarity with thoroughbred racing, since the three largest events in thoroughbred racing are televised every year. These three events are known as the Thoroughbred Triple Crown and are comprised of the Kentucky Derby, the Belmont Stakes and the Preakness.

All three of the Thoroughbred Triple Crown races have one thing in common: the track which is used for the race. All three are run on a flat dirt track. Horses in the Triple Crown will usually pace themselves until near the finish, saving a surge of incredible speed in the effort to win the race. However, some horses have had so much speed that they have held the starting position from the second they came out of the gate until the finish line!

Spectators are often unaware that there are in fact other forms or Thoroughbred racing out there other than what is familiar to us all via our television sets. The Triple Crown is the most popular Thoroughbred horse racing event by far, but there are many others.

Turf racing is another popular variation on Thoroughbred racing. The distinction between these races and other Thoroughbred races is that they are run on grass rather than dirt, though everything else about the races remains the same.

The Thoroughbreds that run on the turf course will still run the same distances as the horses that race on the dirt surfaces. The only main difference between racing on the dirt course and racing on the turf course are the terms that are used to describe certain aspects of the races. For example, there are different terms that are used to describe the condition of the dirt course and the turf course. A dirt course that is listed as fast is the equivalent to a turf course that is listed as firm.

Different words are used in order to describe the conditions of a dirt race track during a race than are used to describe the conditions of a turf course. In dirt track Thoroughbred racing, “fast” means the same thing as if we were to say “firm” in a turf course race.

On a flat race course, speed is the primary factor which is needed. Steeplechases, by contrast require the horse to have a great deal of stamina and the jockey to have some skills - the jockey must know the right time to tell the horse to jump in order to clear the fences. The number of jumps which will be needed is dependent on the length of the race course in this variation on Thoroughbred horse racing.

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