horseplayer

American  

[hawrs-pley-er] / ˈhɔrsˌpleɪ ər /

noun

1. a habitual bettor on horse races.

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Etymology

Origin of horseplayer

First recorded in 1945–50; horse + player

Example Sentences

It does suggest, though, that voters lacking a depth of information – or the time to research it – are casting ballots like a horseplayer who quick-’caps the next race.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 11, 2020

But the climactic jackpot is so attractive that any sensible horseplayer has to play.

From Washington Post • Apr. 3, 2013

Beychok becomes a horseplayer, pure and simple, and there is not a thing Runyonesque about him.

From New York Times • Jan. 25, 2013

Some of my greatest memories as a horseplayer have come when betting on Belmont favorites to lose.

From Slate • Jun. 7, 2012

To a tall, spare, compulsive horseplayer named Ernest Havemann, that was reason enough to abandon temporarily the mission that had brought him cross-country to Los Angeles.

From Time Magazine Archive