16th March 2006 :
You would have heard race callers making comments about reaching “the distance” when the horse are making their run to the winning post. The term comes from when horses used to be disqualified from further heats if they finished more than 240 yards from the winner.
A “distance judge” was placed at this point which at 240yards is just over 2 furlongs from the winning post. It was used to discourage riders giving their horse and easy race to keep it fresh for later heats. Now you will know what the race callers mean when the say the horses have reached “the distance”.
