bumper
n.— «Collier Hill’s first start was in a National Hunt Flat race—more commonly known as a “bumper”—designed for horses deemed too slow to win on the Flat en route to a career over jumps.» —“Bargain Buy Collier Hill Can Strike in HK Vase” Virtual FormGuide (Australia) July 12, 2006. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
A listener remembers her grandmother’s colorful comment when someone arrived late after getting lost: You went around your elbow to get to your thumb. Lots of similar sayings in English suggest roundabout routes or overcomplicated tasks, including...
How do you pronounce the word route? Does it rhyme with “boot” or “bout”? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “How Do You Pronounce “Route”?” Hi there, you have A Way with Words. Hi, this...