What, in the UK, is the "Spring Double"?

It has to do with Horse racing. I beleive that when a trainer has two horses competing at the same time people can bet on both of them?

It's horse-racing, yes, mozart, but "Spring Double" has a special significance in the UK, and not the one you suggest.

It's when you can have double bets on the Lincoln Handicap and the Grand National.
Not being a follower of racing, that's about all I know. My guess is that the bets are placed on the same horse due to compete in both races.

quote:

Originally posted by dance girl:
My guess is that the bets are placed on the same horse due to compete in both races.

I'll double check for you, dg, as I shall be at Aintree this Saturday to witness the Grand National but I'm not expecting to see an entrant in this 4 1/2 mile steeplechase, involving some very tough fences, go on to run later in a handicap on the flat.

It's called the Spring Double because a gambler who wins on the first one and who wins on the second is said to have pulled off a 'double' and bookmakers long ago encouraged people to attempt this on these two races in the Spring, hence 'Spring Double'. Bookmakers are no fools. Both races are handicaps and exceptionally difficult to pick winners in. Handicaps are always difficult but the Grand National is exceptional because of the length and gruelling nature of the contest, it being hard to judge how much weight handicap is right to make all horses equal then, and the other is hard because,inter alia, it is so early in the flat racing season, when horses may not yet be all in top condition.

quote:

Originally posted by FredPuli:
I'll double check for you, dg, as I shall be at Aintree this Saturday to witness the Grand National but I'm not expecting to see an entrant in this 4 1/2 mile steeplechase, involving some very tough fences, go on to run later in a handicap on the flat.

Thanks, Fred. See, I told you I knew nothing about horse racing! I hope you place some lucky bets on Saturday

Yes, you've just about got it.
However, let me record that the first leg of the spring double is the Lincoln Handicap, run over a distance of one mile at the end of March (occasionaly early April) at Doncaster Racecourse in the north of England, with tyhe second leg being the Grand National at Aintree Racecourse (Liverpool). It isn't feasible now for a horse to run in both the Lincoln and the National for a number of reasons, including age requirements for the horses, jumping skills, speed, staying powere, recovery, and so on. The spring double, as Fred says, usually refers to a punter's ability to back the winner of each of these two major events, but can also desribe a trainer's success (or even an owner's success) in turning out the horse that wins both.