Skip to main content
stake race

stake race

3 8.2
An event where horse owners add money to the prize
  • noun
  • Jargon
translation icon : carrera de apuestas
  • This Saturday, the local track will host a prestigious stakes race where owners will compete for a large cash prize.
  • stake race on Saturday
  • win a stake race
  • high-stakes race

Examples

  • The excitement at the stakes race was palpable as the crowd cheered for their favorite horses.

  • You know, that used to be a stakes race.

  • Match race, stakes race, potato sack race.

  • That's a $20,000 stakes race.

  • Was it Spectacular Bid's fault when he had a walkover in a stakes race in New York?

    Blog text (18)
  • The Daylily is highlighted by even-money favorite Nicole H, who has won three stakes races this year and reported home second in the Grade 1 Princess Rooney Handicap at Calder in July.

    Blog text (13)
  • "It's a pleasure to stick it to that guy," Jay told me one afternoon, after he'd loudly rooted in a long shot to nose out Fido's even-money favorite in a stakes race, causing the tout to bolt white-faced out of his box.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • Her horse finished in second place in the annual stakes race after a challenging run against strong contenders.

How Valuable

stake race
  • Jargon
3 8.2
horse race
23 1.6
claiming race
  • Jargon
1 9.4

Surface Forms

stake race singular
stake races plural

Morphology

stake + race

The meaning is directly derivable from combining 'stake' (a sum of money at risk) with 'race' (a contest): it denotes a race in which money (stakes) is contributed toward the prize. This is a straightforward compositional pattern found across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can readily infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

The noun stake race comes from owners putting up a stake, a 'sum of money' that becomes the prize for the race. That's why a stake race means a race where the owners all add part of the prize money.