The horse race is a form of gambling in which players place bets on the outcome of a specific event. The winners of a race receive a prize determined by the rules of the game, which vary between national organizations. The term horse race is also used more generally to refer to any close contest, such as a political election or sporting competition.
While some people enjoy the excitement of betting on a horse race, many others find it morally and ethically wrong to make money off of exploiting these animals. Despite the romanticized image of a glamorous racetrack, where spectators show off their fancy outfits and sip mint juleps, it is a brutal and dangerous sport for the horses involved. Bred for speed at the expense of their bones and well-being, they are pushed far beyond their limits and frequently suffer debilitating injuries, including bleeding lungs, heart attacks, and broken backs and necks.
Horses in races are given cocktails of legal and illegal drugs designed to mask injuries and artificially enhance performance. This includes a number of substances that are banned in human athletes. In addition, many of these horses bleed from their lungs during a race, a condition known as exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage. This is an extremely painful and potentially deadly condition, and it can be prevented with a simple medication called Lasix.
The stewards of a horse race are responsible for investigating any violations that occur during the course of a race. A violation could include a jockey using excessive whipping, the use of illegal drugs, or another serious infraction. In the case of a dead heat, a photograph of the finish is studied by stewards to determine which horse crossed the line first. The winning horse is then declared by the stewards.
A race in which a horse is entered for a specific price, which can be bought by any licensed owner at the track, is known as a claiming race. These races make up approximately 70 percent of all horse races run. Horses that have been claimed are noted in the past-performance lines with a “C” before their name.
During the course of a race, a horse will be ridden by an experienced rider who is known as a jockey. In order to win the race, a jockey must direct his or her mount in a safe and efficient manner while jumping every hurdle, if present. A jockey must also be capable of urging the horse on without the use of the whip, an action known as hand riding.
When journalists focus on who’s in the lead and who’s behind instead of examining the actual policy issues at stake in an election -what’s called horse race coverage – voters, candidates and the news industry itself suffer, according to a growing body of research. The following collection of studies examines the effect of this type of reporting on election results, as well as the costs to society of ignoring the real issues at stake in an electoral process.