A horse race is a competition in which horses are ridden by jockeys on an oval track and organized betting is placed on the outcome. The term can also be used in a more general sense to refer to any close form of competition involving human or animal competitors, such as a political contest, business venture, or athletic match. The term is a common metaphor for an intense competitive endeavor and is often associated with high stakes.
The equestrian sport of horse racing has roots in ancient Egyptian and Arabian history, but the modern version of the event originated in England in the 18th century. The sport is regulated by a series of laws that govern both the operation of the tracks and the conduct of the horses and riders. Those rules are designed to keep the sport clean and fair and to minimize injury.
In modern times, horse races have become increasingly sophisticated technologically and financially. Tracks now have sophisticated lighting, sound systems, and electronic data processing that are used to improve the quality of the experience for spectators and fans. The use of drugs and other substances to enhance the performance of horses has also increased.
Medications designed for humans that can reduce pain and inflammation, such as aspirin, are frequently given to racehorses during training. Powerful steroids that can build muscle mass and help the horses run faster are sometimes used in preparation for races. In 2008, the trainer of the champion horse Big Brown admitted to using legal steroid injections for his prized equine. Drugs that can boost a horse’s blood sugar levels so they burn more quickly during exercise are also widely available. Racing officials do not have the testing capacity to catch all of these doping practices, and penalties for breaking them are generally weak.
Many sports fans enjoy making wagers on the outcome of a horse race, and a number of different types of bets can be made. A single bet on a specific horse is known as an outright bet, while a group of horses is called a parimutuel. In a parimutuel, winning bettors receive all of the money wagered on a horse (minus a percentage taken out by the racetrack). A player’s chance of winning a particular bet is determined by comparing the odds on a horse with its actual chances of winning at the time of the bet.
Media scholars have studied how news reports that frame elections primarily as horse races affect voters and candidates. They argue that when journalists focus on public opinion polls and give more positive coverage to frontrunners than to underdogs gaining support — what is sometimes called horse race journalism — it can harm the prospects of the less well-financed candidates.
Despite these criticisms, freedoms of speech and press mean that critics can’t force the media to stop using polling data or stop reporting on the results of an election. But scholars say that in recent years, some newsrooms have begun to move away from horse race journalism by adopting a new type of report: probabilistic forecasting. This technique aggregates polling data to more precisely predict a candidate’s chances of winning and is more effective at communicating those odds to readers.
