Horse racing is a sport that involves running horses around a race course, often at speeds of 30 miles per hour. It’s a brutal and dangerous endeavor for the animals, who are often injured or even killed in the process. The animals are bred for speed at the expense of their bone density and overall health, and they’re pushed far beyond their natural abilities. The results are a litany of debilitating injuries, from bleeding lungs to broken ring bones. It’s also common – and somehow accepted – for horses to develop heart attacks, ulcers, and other serious health conditions.
While some people may gamble on the outcome of a race, most people who love horses would rather boycott the industry that exploits them. If horse racing does not change its abusive practices, it risks losing its core audience of animal lovers and gambling bettors alike.
In most flat horse races, including standardbred and thoroughbred racing, the pedigree of a horse is one of the qualifying requirements for entering the race. The horse must have a sire and dam that are both purebred individuals of the same breed in order to be eligible.
A runner will begin training for a race with routine jogs and gallops in the early hours of the morning at his stable, which is usually located at a racetrack or a private facility. After a few weeks of this exercise, the trainer will ask the runner to go faster and longer on his workouts, known as a breeze. These are typically timed and can indicate a runner’s fitness and readiness for a race.
Runners will move up to more demanding races as they gain experience and prove that they’re ready to compete at higher levels. This progression is usually reflected in the names of the races, which will contain terms such as “a other than,” “two other than,” and “three other than.” Each numbered race gets more difficult to fill as the conditions get more restrictive.
Once a runner has qualified for a race, the trainer will consult a chart called a condition book, which lists all of the available races at a particular track in a certain amount of time. The trainer will then look for a suitable race for his runner by looking at the entries and analyzing the track surface, weather conditions, and the expected pace of the race.
Most races have a maximum amount of weight that each runner can carry. However, some have optional claiming clauses that allow anyone to purchase a running horse in the race for a set price. Once a horse is claimed, it changes owners as soon as the race begins although the original owner still retains any purse money won by the runner. This allows a trainer to place his best runner in the race and earn the highest possible payout on wagers.