A horse race is a competition in which horses are harnessed and then ridden by jockeys to compete for winning prizes. This type of race has been around for thousands of years and is widely considered to be one of the world’s oldest sports. The term horse race has also been used in a variety of other ways including a reference to a political contest.
Behind the romanticized facade of Thoroughbred horse racing lies a world of injuries, drugs, and slaughter. While spectators show off their fancy clothes and sip mint juleps, horses are being forced to sprint at speeds that often cause them to sustain injuries and bleed from their lungs. This is a condition called exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage and it is commonly prevented with the drug Lasix.
In addition to the injury risks, many horses are given cocktails of legal and illegal drugs designed to mask their injuries and enhance performance. The exploitation of these animals is a shameful part of the sport that thankfully is being increasingly regulated.
The most famous horse races in the United States are the Triple Crown events. This series of races is comprised of the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes. The first Triple Crown winner was Affirmed in 1978 and the most recent was American Pharoah in 2015. These are prestigious events that require great skill and athleticism from the horses and the riders.
To be successful in the Triple Crown a horse must win the Derby, the Preakness Stakes, then the Belmont Stakes. It is one of the most difficult accomplishments in all of horse racing and only ten horses have managed to achieve this feat. The steeds of these winners are immortalized in the Hall of Fame and they are admired by people all over the world.
A runner that is listed in the race program but will only run if other horses are scratched below a certain number of starters. It is sometimes denoted by an asterisk in the program.
The process of claiming a horse from its owner in order to compete in a race. Authorized owners can “put in a claim” for a particular horse at a price prior to the race and then take over the ownership of that animal. The original owner then gets whatever the horse wins in the race, plus the claiming price.
A trainer will often place a horse in a claiming race knowing that it has a good chance of winning. If it does, the trainer can then take a step up to an allowance race and earn more money. This type of strategy can be very risky but it is a common way that trainers make money in this sport.