Bug boy refers to the bug-like asterisk put beside the individual's name in the program to indicate that the jockey's mount gets a weight allowance.
``A bug boy is basically what they call an apprentice rider,'' said Brad Stauffer, a local horse-racing expert. ``An apprentice rider is given weight because they will ride at less weight because they are less experienced.''
The language associated with horse racing is unique but not that hard to understand for someone like Mr. Stauffer, who has been involved in horse racing since he was 12. He works as an assistant at Stevens' Race Stable in Aiken.
Mr. Stauffer throws around words like bug boy and furlong every day.
``There are eight furlongs in a mile,'' he said. ``If you go half a mile, you've gone four furlongs. Or if you've gone a quarter-mile, you've gone two furlongs.''
Most of the terms come from the advent of equestrian breeding and competition. Racing experts say they are pretty straightforward.
For example, three people typically take care of a thoroughbred during the day - the groom, the hot walker and the exercise rider. Their job names simply reflect what they do.
First thing in the morning, a groom cleans a horse and its stable and monitors the animal's health. The horse is then taken by an exercise rider who simulates a racing environment by riding it around a training track - usually at a trotting speed.
Finally, the exercise rider turns the horse over to a hot walker who slowly walks the horse around a small circle to cool the animal down. The horse then goes back to a groom.
Another unique term to horse racing is silks, or colors, depending on who you talk to, Mr. Stauffer said.
``Silks started basically in Europe with the higher, richer-blood families, saying this will be the colors my jockey will wear just so they could identify them,'' he said. ``Then it evolved to people wanting their own silks and adding a little style and fashion.''
Here are some racing terms that fans can expect to hear during the three-week run of the Aiken Triple Crown:
Allowance race: Type of handicap race open only to horses that have won a certain number of races or a certain amount of money.
Broodmare: Female horse used for breeding.
Claims race: Races in which horses of the same value run. Designed to ensure that horses of similar ability compete.
Colt: Male horse between the ages of 2 and 5.
Dam: Female parent.
Filly: Female between the ages of 2 and 5.
Flat races: Races in which jockeys ride horses around a flat track.
Foal: Newborn thoroughbred.
Furlong: A unit of measure used to express the distance of a horse race. One furlong is equal to one-eighth of a mile, or 201 meters.
Gelding: Male horse that has been castrated to make it easier to train.
Handicap races: In a handicap race, the amount of weight the horses are assigned to carry depends on their speed. Faster horses are required to carry more weight than slower ones to provide better competition.
Harness races: Horses pull a driver in a small, two-wheeled vehicle called a sulky, racing at either a trot or pace.
Mare: Female horse more than 5 years old.
Pacer: Standard horse in a harness race that swings its right front leg and right hind leg forward at the same time.
Paddock: Fenced-in area where horses are stabled.
Place: To finish second.
Show: To finish third.
Sire: Male parent.
Stallion: Male horse used for breeding.
Standardbred: Developed for harness racing by breeding thoroughbreds with Morgans and other working-breed horses.
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