Horse racing is a form of betting on horses that compete in races. It has become immensely popular worldwide, with events like the Kentucky Derby and Melbourne Cup honoring national pride and heritage. While early forms of horse racing involved chariots being driven around races, as riders began competing on horsesback eventually more successfully racehorses were taken to stud farms to perpetuate their bloodlines and maintain them for future races.
The world’s premier flat races require horses with both speed and stamina to reach peak performance over longer distances, like the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe or Dubai World Cup, to excel. Such races typically cover three to five miles. Successful horses tend to be those that can maintain top performance over such races.
As race tracks vary and conditions differ, different horses may tend to go faster than others. To determine whether a particular horse is suitable for a specific race, trainers typically conduct breezes or drills involving running faster for a certain distance and timing it – this helps assess their level of conditioning and whether they should move on to real races.
Once a horse is entered in a race, its number will be used by racing officials to identify it. A runner may participate in maiden and stakes races – which allow novice runners to compete – while it may also enter a claiming race, where any licensed owner can purchase them at an agreed upon price and retain any purse money awarded to a winner.
While horse races can be exciting to watch, they can also be hazardous for participants. Serious injuries often arise as part of horse racing events – with broken bones and condylar fractures among the most serious of these. According to veterinarians, these fractures could be caused by unnatural training methods used during racing events that confine and confine racing horses too closely.
Animal rights groups like PETA have put pressure on horse racing to modify its practices and ensure better treatment of animals involved. This organization has successfully persuaded the racing industry to reduce the use of whips and illegal electric shock devices on horses as well as increase drug testing to detect those which cause harm; yet government subsidization remains substantial for this sport. Yonkers alone was estimated to have generated $600 million during its fiscal year ending December 2018, much of it going toward prize purses and distribution among breeders and trainers. Racing proponents argue that such funds aid in keeping horseracing alive by stimulating an economy worth billions more and keeping it from the fate of baseball or hockey.