The Horse Race Is Not Just For Horses
The horse race is one of the most intense and exciting sporting events in the world. Millions of fans and followers flock to the track every year to watch this spectacle of power, speed and beauty. Feeling the earth shake as the horses thunder down the stretch is one of the quintessential Kentucky experiences. The roar of the crowd is enough to make you feel like a part of the action. And if you don’t have the connections to be on Millionaires Row, watching the races from the crowded infield is just as much fun.
In recent years, however, the term has been used quite loosely to refer to any nail-biting contest that might have some resemblance to a horse race. This has even extended to political contests. A number of scholars have criticized journalists for using the term so often and for equating an election to a horse race. This has led to criticism of mudslinging, name calling and attack ads, which can obscure the real issues at stake in the elections.
While it is difficult to determine when horse racing first began, archeological records show that it has been a part of civilizations worldwide since ancient times. The ancient Greeks incorporated the sport in their Olympic Games and it later spread to Egypt, Babylon, Syria, India and Arabia. It was also a popular pastime in the medieval world, including among Vikings. It was common for a Viking hero to win the contest by defeating a monster steed, as is shown in this story of Hrungnir versus Odin.
Horse races are held at tracks that have a dirt or grass surface. The course is oval in shape and has tight turns. The horses are ridden by jockeys or pulled by sulkies and drivers. The horse that is able to gain the most distance wins the race. The most important factors in determining the winner are the horse’s speed, endurance and the skill of the rider.
Other factors may include the horse’s age, sex, money won or races won and the amount of weight carried. The latter is determined by the handicappers, who assign each horse a value based on its performance in past races. This allows the horses to be objectively compared with each other.
A horse that is short of the winning distance, or a “short race,” will require more training and racing to reach peak form. The trainer must use her or his best judgment in order to coax the horse to its fullest potential.
auxiliary starting gate: A second starting gate that is used when the number of horses entering a race exceeds the capacity of the main gates. condition book(s): A series of booklets issued by a racing secretary which set forth the conditions for a race.
condylar fracture: A break in the lower knobby end of a long bone such as a cannon or humerus. There are four common types of condylar fractures: apical (along the top), abaxial (away from the fetlock joint), mid-body and basilar (through the bottom).
trip: The course followed by a horse during the running of a race. A horse that had a good trip encountered no unusual difficulty, while a bad trip might involve going wide or being boxed in by other runners.