A horse race is a close contest of speed or stamina between two horses. The term may also be used for any similar competition involving a group of horses or other animals, such as a game of tug of war between dogs or zebras. This type of competitive event is an ancient tradition, dating back to prehistoric times. It has since evolved into a global industry, attracting millions of spectators and generating huge amounts of revenue.
In the United States, horse races are usually held on a dirt track called a racetrack. The length of the race varies from a few hundred yards to more than four miles. A short race is known as a sprint and a long race is called a route. A race can be won by either the first or last horse to finish. The winner is generally awarded a prize.
Despite the sport’s immense popularity, many people are not satisfied with horse racing. Some are dissatisfied with the way money influences the outcome of a race, and others are concerned about the safety and well-being of the horses themselves. The issue has led to a debate about whether horse races should be banned or reforms should be made.
The horse race is one of the oldest and most popular sports in the world. It has morphed over the centuries from a primitive contest between two animals into a spectacle that can involve large fields of runners, sophisticated monitoring equipment and enormous sums of money. The basic concept of a race remains unchanged, though—the horse that crosses the finish line first is the winner.
On a recent spring afternoon at Santa Anita, horses raced over dirt and turf tracks and through crowds of bettors wearing colorful hats, floppy sunglasses and silk shirts. Spectators cheered on the favorites as jockeys and handlers tried to coax maximum performance from their mounts. Some of the horses looked like they might break down, and at least one did.
The ten contenders in the race that day had been injected with a drug called Lasix, which is noted on the racing form by a boldface “L.” The substance’s given purpose is to help prevent the pulmonary bleeding that hard running can cause in some horses. The problem is that it also causes the horses to unload epic amounts of urine during a race—twenty or thirty pounds of the stuff, according to experts.
Animal rights activists say that a horse raised to race is often subjected to extreme isolation and confinement, and is drugged and whipped, trained and raced too young, and pushed beyond his or her limits. The result can be not only skeletal injuries, but also mental and emotional distress. In testimony to the New York State Senate, equine veterinarian Dr. Kraig Kulikowski compared keeping a 1,200-pound animal in a 12-by-12-foot stall for 23 hours a day to locking up a child in a closet for 23 hours a day.