Horse race is a type of event that pits two or more horses against each other in a game of speed and endurance. The sport has a long history and is an integral part of the culture of many countries. It has also been a major source of entertainment and a central character in myth and legend. In addition, the sport has benefited from the onset of modern technology, including thermal imaging cameras, MRI scanners, and 3D printing, which can produce casts, splints, and prosthetics for injured horses.
In the early years of horse racing, races were arranged as match races between two or more horses, with the owners providing the purse and accepting bets. The agreements between competitors were recorded by disinterested parties, who came to be known as keepers of the match book. The earliest match books were published in England, with one such keeper named John Cheny beginning his work on An Historical List of All Matches Run (1729).
The modern form of the horse race began with the introduction of the King’s Plates, standardized races for six-year-old horses carrying 168 pounds in four-mile heats that required a win in each to be adjudged a winner. The King’s Plates were followed in 1751 by other standardized races for five- and four-year-olds, with the weights increasing to 140 and 126 pounds respectively. The races continued until the 1860s, when the sport began to decline.
A common belief among horse race fans is that winning times in horse races have declined over time. This claim is based on the assumption that horse races have become more competitive, causing horses to push harder and thus improve their chances of winning. However, this assumption is incorrect and fails to take into account several important factors.
In reality, horse racing has not improved significantly in terms of average winning times over the past few decades. This is because horse races are not a highly competitive sport in the same way that human athletic events are, and the trainers, jockeys, and horses are more concerned with winning per se than on setting records. This is evident from a simple comparison of the slopes of record-setting and non-record-setting winning times, which shows that the reduction in average winning time is only slighter for races that are not elite (e.g., the Derby and the Oaks). It is also apparent from a comparison of the standardized residual analysis with contemporaneous data in elite human events that winning times in horse races have not been improving with time as fast as in human athletic contests. Rather, the reduction in winning times in horse races is due to a combination of factors, such as increasing competition, a decrease in the relative fitness of the horses, and the use of different tactics in racing.