A Closer Look at the Horse Race
A horse race is a close competition in which participants attempt to win the prize by competing against others. The term is sometimes used in a political sense, and it may refer to any one of a number of close forms of competition, from elections to business contests. As the horse race is a widely recognized and popular form of competition, it has become an integral part of our culture. In this article, we will take a closer look at horse racing to explore the many issues that surround it.
A longtime staple of American sports, horse racing has a rich and colorful history. Its roots go back to ancient Greece, and by the early 17th century it had spread worldwide. It was originally a form of social gathering in which wealthy landowners could display their horses and compete against each other. The earliest races were match races in which the owner of each horse provided the purse for the race and bets were placed on the outcome. An owner who withdrew forfeited half the purse, and later all bets. The matches were recorded by disinterested third parties, who came to be known as keepers of the match book.
In the past, some races were contested by a single horse, but by the mid-19th century public demand had increased for events with larger fields. Rules were developed in which eligible horses were ranked by age, sex, birthplace, and previous performance. The resulting events became more regulated and public, with an emphasis on the skill of jockeys.
Behind the romanticized facade of Thoroughbred horse racing lies a world of drugs, injuries, gruesome breakdowns and slaughter. Pushed beyond their physical limits, these majestic animals are forced to sprint-often under the threat of whips and illegal electric shock devices-at speeds so high that they often sustain injuries, bleed from their lungs (a condition called exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage), or break down altogether.
As an industry, horse racing must ask itself whether it values the lives of its animals enough to take some complicated and expensive steps to protect them. Ideally, that would involve a complete overhaul of every aspect of the business from breeding to trackside care, including a change in philosophy from winning is everything to embracing a more natural and equine-friendly lifestyle for racehorses.
If a person can witness the catastrophic deaths of Eight Belles and Medina Spirit, two horses who were born just a decade apart, and move on with little more than a pang of sadness or indifference, they are detriment to racing. The same goes for those who can cheer on a horse who runs notably well and ignore the plight of one who does not.
