Greyhound Racing Glossary — Terms Every Bettor Needs

The Language of the Track

Greyhound racing has its own vocabulary. Some of it is shared with horse racing — odds, form, each way — but much of it is specific to the dogs: trap colours, BAGS, grading codes, racecard abbreviations that read like a military cipher. If you have ever stared at a comment like “QAw, LED1, BMP2, RAN ON” and wondered what happened in the race, this glossary is for you.

The terms below cover both the racing side — what happens on the track, how dogs are classified, how meetings are organised — and the betting side — the market types, pricing mechanisms, and bookmaker features that affect how you place and settle wagers. They are arranged alphabetically for reference, with the betting-specific terms grouped separately at the end. Bookmark this page. You will come back to it.

Racing Terms A–L

A-Grade (A1–A10): The standard grading system for adult greyhounds at licensed UK tracks. A1 is the highest grade, A10 the lowest. Dogs are promoted after wins and demoted after losses. The grade determines which races a dog is eligible for.

BAGS: Bookmakers’ Afternoon Greyhound Service. The commercially funded programme of daytime greyhound meetings, running from approximately 11am to 6pm. BAGS provides the majority of daily greyhound betting content in the UK.

BMP1 / BMP2: Bumped at the first bend / bumped at the second bend. Racecard abbreviation indicating the dog was physically contacted by another runner at the bend, losing ground or position.

Calculated Time: An adjusted finishing time that accounts for grade, track, and conditions. Allows meaningful comparison of dogs that have raced at different venues or on different surfaces. Published by the Racing Post and Timeform.

CHL: Challenged. Racecard comment meaning the dog made a move towards the leader or a place position during the race.

CRD: Crowded. The dog was squeezed for space by runners on either side, typically on a bend.

D-Grade: Puppy or development grade. Dogs in D-grades are young and still establishing their racing level. Form is less reliable than in adult A-grades.

EP: Early pace. The dog showed speed in the opening phase of the race, typically reaching the first bend among the leaders.

FIN: Finished. Usually followed by a position or descriptive note — “FIN 3rd” or “FIN strongly” — indicating how the dog completed the race.

First Sectional: The time taken from the traps to the first bend. A key metric for identifying front-runners and early-pace dogs. Fast first-sectionals indicate a dog that breaks sharply.

Form String: The sequence of finishing positions from recent races, displayed left (oldest) to right (most recent). A form of 211321 means the dog finished second, first, first, third, second, first across its last six runs.

GBGB: Greyhound Board of Great Britain. The regulatory body responsible for licensing, welfare standards, and rules of racing at UK greyhound tracks.

Going: The condition of the track surface. Unlike horse racing, greyhound racing does not use a formal going declaration, but conditions range from fast (dry sand) to heavy (wet, saturated sand). Weather reports serve as the closest equivalent.

Graded Race: A race restricted to dogs within a specific grade band — for example, an A4 race at Romford. The field is composed of dogs of similar ability as determined by the track’s racing manager.

Hare: The mechanical lure that the dogs chase around the track. In the UK, the standard hare runs on an inside rail. The hare’s speed and positioning affect the running of the race.

LED: Led. The dog was in front at some point during the race. LED1 means it led at the first bend; LED throughout means it led the entire race.

Racing Terms M–Z

MSBK: Missed break. The dog was significantly slow out of the traps, losing multiple lengths at the start. More severe than SlAw (slow away).

Non-Runner: A dog that is withdrawn before the race. Non-runners trigger Rule 4 deductions on the remaining runners’ odds. On racecards, non-runners are usually marked with an “NR” tag.

Open Race: A race with no grade restriction. Any dog can be entered regardless of its current grade. Open races at major tracks attract the best dogs and carry the highest prestige.

QAw: Quick away. The dog broke sharply from the traps, gaining an early advantage. A positive indicator for front-running ability.

Racecard: The published information sheet for a race, listing all runners with their trap numbers, form, times, trainer, weight, and comments from recent runs.

RAN ON: Strong finish. The dog gained ground in the closing stages of the race, suggesting stamina and finishing speed. A key indicator for closers.

Reserve: A substitute dog listed on the card in case a declared runner is withdrawn. If no dog is withdrawn, the reserve does not race.

RLS: Railed. The dog ran close to the inside rail, taking the shortest path around the bends. A positive comment for dogs drawn in low-numbered traps.

RPGTV: Racing Post Greyhound TV. The dedicated UK greyhound racing television channel, broadcasting premium evening meetings on Sky channel 427 and Freesat channel 250.

SAw: Steadied away. The dog was checked or slowed by interference from another runner, losing momentum.

Sectional Time: A split time recorded at a specific point of the race, typically the first bend or the run-in. Used to assess running style and pace distribution.

SIS: Sports Information Services. The broadcasting and data provider that supplies live greyhound racing feeds to bookmakers and operates the sisracing.tv streaming platform.

SlAw: Slow away. The dog was slow out of the traps, losing ground at the start. Less severe than MSBK.

Speed Rating: A normalised performance figure that adjusts raw times for track, distance, grade, and conditions. Allows cross-venue comparison of dogs.

Staying Race: A race run over a distance longer than the standard — typically 600m to 700m or more. Stayers are dogs that excel at maintaining speed over longer trips.

Sprint Race: A race run over a short distance — typically 260m to 300m. Sprints are decided by early pace and trap position, with little time for closers to recover from a slow start.

Trap: The starting box from which the dog is released at the start of the race. UK races use six traps, numbered 1 (inside) to 6 (outside), each with a designated colour.

Trap Bias: The statistical tendency for certain trap positions to produce more winners at a given track, caused by track geometry — specifically the distance and angle from the traps to the first bend.

W: Wide. The dog ran wide, usually on a bend, covering more ground than dogs running on the rail. Can indicate a running style preference or interference forcing the dog outward.

Betting-Specific Terms

Best Odds Guaranteed (BOG): A bookmaker promotion where you receive the higher of your taken price or the starting price. If you back a dog at 5/1 and the SP is 7/1, you are paid at 7/1.

Computer Straight Forecast (CSF): The formula used to calculate the dividend on a straight forecast bet. The payout depends on the starting prices of the first and second finishers and the number of runners.

Computer Tricast: The formula used to calculate tricast dividends, factoring in the SPs of the first three finishers.

Each Way (E/W): Two bets in one — a win bet and a place bet at a fraction of the odds. In six-runner greyhound fields, place terms are typically 1/4 odds for the first two places.

Forecast: A bet on two dogs to finish first and second. Straight forecast requires exact order; reverse forecast covers both orders; combination forecast covers all pairings from three or more selections.

Overround: The bookmaker’s built-in margin on a market. If the implied probabilities of all dogs in a race add up to 118%, the overround is 18%. Higher overround means a larger house edge.

Rule 4: Tattersalls Rule 4(c). When a dog is withdrawn from a race after bets have been placed, a deduction is applied to the returns of winning bets on the remaining runners. The deduction scale depends on the withdrawn dog’s odds.

Starting Price (SP): The odds on a dog at the moment the race starts. SP is determined by the state of the market at the off and is used to settle bets where no fixed price was taken.

Tricast: A bet on three dogs to finish first, second, and third. Straight tricast requires exact order; combination tricast covers all orderings of your selections.

Speak the Language, Read the Race

Every sport has jargon. Greyhound racing has more than most, compressed into racecard columns and commentary shorthand that assumes you already know what it means. This glossary turns the assumption into understanding. The next time you see BMP1 on a racecard, you know the dog was bumped at the first bend. The next time someone mentions BAGS, you know it is the afternoon racing service. The next time a commentator says “the stripes ran on,” you know that the trap 6 dog finished strongly.

Language is the entry point. Once the vocabulary makes sense, the racecards become readable, the commentary becomes informative, and the betting decisions become grounded in data rather than guesswork. Keep this glossary within reach until the terms become automatic. They will, sooner than you think.