origin of the phrase ‘double handful’

[kasparov]

I come across this expression occasionally when reading about racing. What does it mean and where does it come from?

Is it something to do with a horse pulling strongly on the bridle and therefore needing both hands to restrain it and therefore being likely to win?

[trapper john]

yes thats basically what it means when a horse is going very well not sure the origin of the phrase though

[Tuffers]

I think the point is that when a horse comes off the bridle the jockey has to let out the reins so if the jockey has a handful of rein in each hand the horse has yet to come off the bridle – hence a double handful.

[Anonymous]

I’ve always understood it to mean 2 loops of rein in each hand – a la Lester, one in his hand and the second through his fingers? Quite often, you’d see him ‘let out a reef’ with his fingers, yet still keep the original loop in his hand.

[Anonymous]

Here’s an alternative explanation, from Gerald Hammond’s

Horse Racing

, that lovely dictionary of horse racing terms and jargon.

"On the racecourse

handful

means five: to win by a

double handful

was to win by 10 lengths. The OED records its use, since 1930, to mean ‘a five years’ prison sentence’."

This use of

handful

probably came from the popular card game of Nap, where a nap hand means all five cards in the hand counting.

The dictionary suggests that the more usual meaning of "holding a

double handful

" as

"going easily on a tight rein"

came later, though still reflecting the original card-playing sense. Oddly enough, the earliest quotation Hammond uses for the phrase

double handful

in this modern sense comes from about 1990.

[Glenn]

I’d always assumed it was derived from British Standard Handfuls (BSHs).

If you’re holding a double handful, well, you’re obviously in a pretty good spot.

[Tuffers]

Here’s an alternative explanation, from Gerald Hammond’s

Horse Racing

, that lovely dictionary of horse racing terms and jargon.

"On the racecourse

handful

means five: to win by a

double handful

was to win by 10 lengths. The OED records its use, since 1930, to mean ‘a five years’ prison sentence’."

This use of

handful

probably came from the popular card game of Nap, where a nap hand means all five cards in the hand counting.

The dictionary suggests that the more usual meaning of "holding a

double handful

" as

"going easily on a tight rein"

came later, though still reflecting the original card-playing sense. Oddly enough, the earliest quotation Hammond uses for the phrase

double handful

in this modern sense comes from about 1990.

I remember the term being used with some glee by the course commentator when Fortytwo Dee jumped the last at Uttoxeter some years ago

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