In a presidential horse race, the issues at stake can easily get lost amid all the mudslinging, name calling and attack ads. This election season has been no exception. As a result, the term horse race has been used more frequently than usual to describe a close political contest. But the word has long been used to describe other close forms of competition, as well.
While the sport has evolved from a primitive contest of speed or stamina between two animals into a multibillion-dollar spectacle, its basic concept remains the same. The horse that crosses the finish line first is declared the winner. The sport has become incredibly complex and sophisticated over the centuries, involving huge fields of runners, state-of-the-art electronic monitoring equipment and massive sums of money. But the sport is still fundamentally a race, and it is a horse race, above all else, that is at its core.
The earliest races were match races, where two or at most three horses competed against each other. The owners provided the purse, and bets were placed on the outcome of the race. A draw meant forfeiture of half or, later, the whole purse. The earliest matches were recorded by disinterested third parties, who came to be called keepers of the match book. One of the earliest was John Cheny, who began publishing An Historical List of All the Horse-Matches Run in 1729.
A sex allowance was established for female horses (fillies and mares), which allowed them to carry three to five pounds less than males in races. This gave females a better chance of winning and increased the number of entries in certain races. A system of weights for different races was established in the early 1700s, so that the highest-rated horse would win. This led to the formation of a series of championship races for different breeds of horses, each requiring a higher weight than its predecessor.
Most modern racehorses are trained using cocktails of legal and illegal drugs designed to mask injuries and enhance performance. Many of these horses bleed from their lungs during workouts, a condition known as exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage. To combat this, many are given a drug called Lasix or Salix, which works by decreasing blood flow to the lungs.
The equine industry has been plagued by allegations of corruption and doping, although the evidence is inconclusive. Nevertheless, racing is considered by some to be one of the most unethical sports in the world. It is also the only major sport in which horses are routinely administered illegal drugs to mask injuries and increase their speed and endurance. Moreover, racehorses are subjected to pain and discomfort for extended periods of time during their careers and are often killed prematurely, usually in the final stages of a race, despite being fit to compete. This has led to protests by animal rights activists. Nonetheless, the popularity of horse racing continues to grow.