Dead-heat refers to a situation when two or more favorites in the race end up tying. This is a rare occurrence- because there is no winner despite judges closely looking at all parameters. There has to be literally no difference between the ties for a dead heat to happen. For bettors, a dead heat means it is time to split the winnings. All winners equally divide the payout between them. For jockeys too, this means divided earnings. They cannot take the full amount home.