Horse racing is one of the oldest sports in human history. From its primitive beginnings as a contest of speed and stamina between two horses, the sport has evolved into an elaborate spectacle involving thousands of runners, sophisticated electronic monitoring equipment, and immense sums of money. But the fundamental concept of a race remains unchanged: the first horse across the finish line wins the race.
Behind the romanticized facade of Thoroughbred horse racing lies a world of injuries, drug abuse, gruesome breakdowns, and slaughter. While spectators show off their fancy outfits and sip mint juleps, the horses are running for their lives. They are whipped, trained too young, and pushed beyond their limits. Many of them are so injured that they are unable to work anymore and must be killed. Some are so sick with mental stress that they are euthanized, and a great many are shipped to foreign slaughterhouses.
In the United States, flat horse races are run over distances of 440 yards (400 m) to more than four miles (6 km). Shorter races are called sprints, and longer ones are known as routes in the United States or, more commonly, as staying races in Europe. To win a race, a horse must accelerate rapidly (have a “turn of foot”), and the faster the acceleration, the better the chance of winning.
To qualify for a race, a horse must have a pedigree that shows it is a purebred individual of the particular breed. A horse’s performance can be influenced by the weight it has to carry, which is calculated according to its sex, age, and the class of the race, and also by its position at the starting gate, its training, and its jockey.
The sport’s most prestigious races are the so-called “conditions races” that offer the biggest purses. To qualify for a conditions race, a horse must have a record of success that meets certain criteria, such as the sex of its parents, its age, and whether it has won a previous race. A horse’s chance of winning a conditions race is also based on its position at the starting gate, its trainer, and its jockey.
Unlike politics, where the media tends to focus on the top candidates in the polls, horse racing has a long tradition of focusing on underdogs. This lesson could serve the industry well as it grapples with a public that is shifting to viewing animals as having fundamental rights. The rights that Eight Belles, Medina Spirit, Keepthename, Creative Plan and Laoban, and countless other horses like them were denied. Let’s hope that the racing industry is able to change course before it’s too late.