Age of racehorses
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The age of a racehorse has an influence on its physical capabilities. It is also a criteria for qualifying and being handicapped in a race. Racehorses uniformly have their birthday on the same day. Therefore two horses born months apart would be considered exactly the same age. In the Northern hemisphere this is on January the 1st. In the Southern Hemisphere this is on August the 1st.
Racehorses do not start racing until they are at least 2 years old. They are still quite immature physically at that stage and tend to be raced over shorter distances. Two-year-olds tend to only race against each other. Some of the biggest 2-year-old races are The Golden Slipper, the Dewhurst Stakes, the Breeder's Juvenile and the Blue Diamond Stakes.
Three-year-old are also still maturing. But now as well as competing against their own age group they run against older horses. This is the age where horses can compete in the Classic races; the Derby, The Oaks, The Guineas and the St Leger. Up to this stage entire males are called colts (desexed males are always called geldings) and females are called fillies.
Once horses turn four they are rarely eligible to race in age-restricted events. By then entire males are called horses and females are called mares.
