A horse race is a competition of horses, usually ridden by jockeys or pulled by sulkies and their drivers, in which the horse that crosses the finish line first wins. The sport evolved from primitive contests of speed or stamina between two or at most three animals to its modern incarnation as a huge public-entertainment business with fields of thousands of runners and sophisticated electronic monitoring equipment, but the basic principle of the event remains unchanged: There can only be one winner.
Flat races are generally run over distances from 440 yards to more than four miles (6.4 kilometers), with shorter races known as sprints and longer ones as routes or staying races. Speed is the key to winning a sprint, but a turn of foot is also important in a long-distance race.
The earliest races were match contests between two or at most three horses, but increased pressure from the public led to events with larger fields of runners. As dash racing became the norm, a rider’s skill and judgment were less vital to a victory than gaining a few feet ahead of the field, making the ability to sprint a furlong or two in the last few strides a crucial component of success.
In the late 19th century, increased interest in motor cars led to the adoption of rules that allowed racehorses to run more than a mile, and this change greatly expanded the popularity of horse racing in America. By the first decades of the 21st century, however, mounting public awareness of the cruelty inherent in the industry and the suffering experienced by many racehorses led to a dramatic decline in popularity.
While race fans show up in their finest outfits, sip mint juleps, and cheer on their favorite mounts, horses are forced to sprint—often under the threat of whips or illegal electric-shocking devices—in conditions that lead to gruesome injuries and breakdowns and ultimately end with them being shipped abroad for slaughter. But, as the following article demonstrates, a growing movement to ban horse racing is fueling improvements in animal welfare for the animals that live and die in this cruel industry.
A starter is a racing official responsible for overseeing the loading of horses into the starting gate through a gate crew, and for releasing the stalls’ confined front doors at the beginning of a race. A starter’s duties also include ensuring that all entrants are properly matched by weight and class to the correct races.
