A horse race is a contest between two or more horses that either are ridden by jockeys or pulled by sulkies and their drivers. Horse races are popular spectator sports with a long history around the world. They are held in a variety of settings and can be very lucrative to bettors who place winning bets on their favorite horses. The sport has also become a major industry for the horses involved. It is important to note that horse racing can be very dangerous for the horses and many of them suffer from serious injuries or even death during the course of a race.
The early race events were match contests between just a few, or at most three, horses. Pressure by the public eventually produced open races with larger fields of runners. During this time, the sport became more focused on speed and less about stamina, with races of 4 miles (6.4 kilometers) or more becoming the norm. As dash, or one-heat, racing became the standard, the rider’s skill and judgment in coaxing a few extra feet gained from his mount became vital.
Most modern Thoroughbreds are bred to be fast, which requires an enormous amount of physical stress. The animals’ delicate skeletal systems are often unprepared to handle the strain of running on hard tracks at high speeds. As a result, horses routinely break bones in their limbs and can die from cardiac or respiratory failure in the midst of a race. The death of Eight Belles in the 2008 Kentucky Derby and that of Medina Spirit this year sparked a reckoning of the sport’s ethics and integrity.
While many racing fans remain loyal, the industry is suffering a loss of fans and revenue. In addition, a growing number of people are being turned off by the scandals surrounding animal cruelty in the sport. As a result, it has been difficult to attract new would-be fans to the sport.
In the backstretch, it was obvious that the horses were thirsty. Each had been injected that morning with Lasix, a diuretic marked on the racing form with a boldface “L.” Lasix helps to prevent pulmonary bleeding that hard running can cause in some horses. Every race day, nearly every thoroughbred in America receives it.
A classic succession “horse race” pits several qualified candidates in a head-to-head battle to become a company’s next chief executive officer. While some executives and governance observers are uncomfortable with this approach, it can be a powerful way to choose an exceptional leader. Companies that successfully use the horse race method cultivate a culture in which employees embrace competition for the top job and believe that the best leader will emerge from the process. In addition, the system can help a company establish a leadership pipeline in which future stars are spotted and groomed through a series of critical roles that give them the skills and seasoning to lead the business.