Horse races are events in which horses compete against one another for a prize. The horses are ridden by jockeys (riders) and must complete the race, including jumping any hurdles that may be present. The winner of a race receives the most money from all bettors who placed bets on him, and the other two or three runners share a lesser amount of the prize pool. Depending on the type of race, there are also bets available on how each individual horse will finish in the race.
Racing has a long history, going back to at least the 8th or 9th century B.C., when chariot and bareback horse races were held during the Olympic Games. The sport spread throughout Asia, Europe and Africa.
Today, horse racing is a multibillion-dollar industry. In addition to the money it generates for its owners, track operators and gamblers, it supports many other jobs, both in the United States and abroad. It is also a popular spectator sport, drawing millions of people to watch and wager on the outcome.
The horse race is a dangerous and brutal sport for the animals involved, who are often forced to run at speeds that can cause them severe injuries. Despite this, the sport continues to thrive because many people adore it, and donations by horse enthusiasts and gamblers are essential for keeping it alive. But even if every horse owner and gambler stopped making money from the sport, the exploitation of young running horses would continue—as would the tragic deaths of those horses.
Currently, there are three types of horse racing fans: those who support the sport because it provides them with a way to make money and avoid resentment for its inherent cruelty; those who believe that the sport is generally fair and honest; and those in the middle who know that the industry is more crooked than it should be but do little to change it. All of them have a responsibility to end the exploitation of these animals.
When horse racing scandals break, it’s tempting to cling to one of the industry’s favorite defenses: the claim that it is unfair to blame PETA and The Times for them. But this is a mistake. Virtually no one outside of the sport cares how PETA got the video, and the same is true of undercover animal rights videos produced by other activists.
The term “longshot” is used for a horse that has odds lower than the winning margin, or the amount by which the winner beats all other horses combined, at any point in the race. The odds of a particular horse are based on the total amount of money bet on that horse, and they are updated every 30-60 seconds. The horse with the most money bet is called the ‘chalk’, and has the lowest odds. ‘Winner, place and show’ bets are also common in horse racing, and the odds for each are calculated as the probability of the winning horse minus the probabilities of finishing second and third.