Horse racing

Horse racing at Golden Gate Fields, 2017
Highest governing body	Generally regulated by assorted national or regional governing bodies, International Federation of Horseracing Authorities
Characteristics
Contact	Yes
Mixed-sex	Yes
Type	Outdoor
Equipment	Horse, appropriate horse tack
Venue	Turf, dirt or synthetic surface race track suitable for horses
Presence
Country or region	Worldwide

Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic premise – to identify which of two or more horses is the fastest over a set course or distance – has been mostly unchanged since at least classical antiquity.^[1]

Horse races vary widely in format, and many countries have developed their own particular traditions around the sport. Variations include restricting races to particular breeds, running over obstacles, running over different distances, running on different track surfaces, and running in different gaits. In some races, horses are assigned different weights to carry to reflect differences in ability, a process known as handicapping.^[2]

While horses are sometimes raced purely for sport, a major part of horse racing's interest and economic importance is in the gambling associated with it,^[3] an activity that in 2019 generated a worldwide market worth around US$115 billion.^[4]

World Championship

International Federation of Horseracing Authorities was founded in 1961 and 1983 but now (2024) have not an official World Horse Racing Championship.^{[5][6][7][8][9][10]}

History

Horse racing has a long and distinguished history and has been practiced in civilizations across the world since ancient times. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Babylon, Syria, Arabia, and Egypt.^[11] It also plays an important part of myth and legend, such as in the contest between the steeds of the god Odin and the giant Hrungnir in Norse mythology.

Chariot racing was one of the most popular sports of ancient Greece, Rome and the Byzantine Empire. By 648 BCE, both chariot and mounted horse racing events were part of the ancient Greek Olympics,^[12] and were important in the other Panhellenic Games. Chariot racing was dangerous to both driver and horse, often leading to serious injury and even death. In the Roman Empire, chariot and mounted horse racing were major industries.^[13] From the mid-fifth century BCE, spring carnival in Rome closed with a horse race. Fifteen to twenty riderless horses, originally imported from the Barbary Coast of North Africa, were set loose to run the length of the Via del Corso, a long, straight city street. The race lasted about two-and-a-half minutes.

In later times, Thoroughbred racing became popular with British royalty and aristocrats, earning it the title of "Sport of Kings".^[14]

Historically, equestrians honed their skills through games and races. Equestrian sports provided entertainment for crowds and displayed the horsemanship required for battle. Horse racing evolved from impromptu competitions among riders and drivers. The various forms of competition, which required demanding and specialized skills from both horse and rider, resulted in the systematic development of specialized breeds and equipment. The popularity of equestrian sports throughout the centuries has resulted in the preservation of skills that would otherwise have vanished once horses were no longer used in combat.^[15]

In Britain, horse racing became well-established in the 18th century, and continued to grow in popularity. King Charles II (reigned 1649 to 1685) was an avid sportsman who gave Newmarket its prominence. By 1750, the Jockey Club was formed as a way to control the Newmarket races, set the rules of the game, prevent dishonesty, and create a level field.^[16] The Epsom Derby began in 1780. The first of the five classic races began with the St Leger Stakes in 1776. In 1814, the system was complete with five annual races.^[17] While Newmarket and the Jockey Club set the standards, most of the racing took place in landowners' fields and in rising towns for small cash prizes and enormous local prestige. The system of wagering was essential to funding and growing of the industry, and all classes, from paupers to royalty participated. Members of high society were in control, and they made a special effort to keep out the riff-raff and to keep the criminal element away from the wagering. With real money at stake, the system needed skilled jockeys, trainers, grooms, and experts at breeding, which opened up new careers for working-class rural men. Every young ambitious stable boy could dream of making it big.^[18]

In addition to its rich history, horse racing is marked by noteworthy statistics. The Thoroughbred Secretariat still holds the fastest times in the 1973 Triple Crown races. Jockey Russell Baze demonstrated exceptional skill with an unmatched 12,842 victories. Economic significance is reflected in the career earnings of the American Pharoah, totaling over $8.6 million. These quantifiable achievements add another facet to the captivating history of horse racing."

Horse racing was one of the few sports that continued during the 2020 COVID-19 crisis,^[19] with the Australian and Hong Kong racing jurisdictions carrying on, albeit with no crowds. The United States, the United Kingdom, and France were some of the more prominent racing bodies to either postpone or cancel all events.

Types of horse racing

There are many types of horse racing, including:

• Flat racing, where horses gallop directly between two points around a straight or oval track.
• Jump racing, or Jumps racing, also known as Steeplechasing or, in Great Britain and Ireland, National Hunt racing, where horses race over obstacles.
• Harness racing, where horses trot or pace while pulling a driver in a sulky.^[20]
• Saddle Trotting, where horses must trot from a starting point to a finishing point under saddle
• Endurance racing, where horses travel across the country over extreme distances, generally ranging from 25 to 100 miles (40 to 161 km). Anything less than 25 miles qualifies as a limited distance ride or LD.

Different breeds of horses have been bred to excel in each of these disciplines. Breeds that are used for flat racing include the Thoroughbred, Quarter Horse, Arabian, Paint, and Appaloosa.^[21] Jump racing breeds include the Thoroughbred and AQPS. In harness racing, Standardbreds are used in Australia, New Zealand and North America. In Europe, Russian and French Trotters are used with Standardbreds. Light cold blood horses, such as Finnhorses and Scandinavian Coldblood Trotters are also used in harness racing within their respective geographical areas.

There are also races for ponies: both flat and jump^[22] and harness racing.^[23]

Flat racing

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Flat racing is the most common form of horse racing seen worldwide. Flat racing tracks are typically oval in shape and are generally level, although in Great Britain and Ireland there is much greater variation, including figure-of-eight tracks like Windsor and tracks with often severe gradients and changes of camber, such as Epsom Racecourse. Track surfaces vary, with turf most common in Europe and dirt more common in North America and Asia. Newly designed synthetic surfaces, such as Polytrack or Tapeta, are seen at some tracks.

Individual flat races are run over distances ranging from 440 yards (400 m) to more than four miles (6.4 km), although races longer than two miles (3.2 km) are quite rare, and distances between five and twelve furlongs (1.0 and 2.4 km) are the most common. Short races are generally referred to as "sprints", while longer races are known as "routes" in the United States or "staying races" in Europe. Although fast acceleration ("a turn of foot") is usually required to win either type of race, in general sprints are seen as a test of speed, while long-distance races are seen as a test of stamina. The most prestigious flat races in the world, such as the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, Melbourne Cup, Japan Cup, Epsom Derby, Kentucky Derby and Dubai World Cup, are run over distances in the middle of this range and are seen as tests of both speed and stamina to some extent.

In the most prestigious races, horses are generally allocated the same weight to carry for fairness, with allowances given to younger horses and female horses running against males. These races are called conditions races and offer the biggest purses. There is another category of races called handicap races where each horse is assigned a different weight to carry based on its ability.^[24] Besides the weight they carry, horses' performance can also be influenced by position relative to the inside barrier, sex, jockey, and training.

Jump racing

Jump (or jumps) racing in Great Britain and Ireland is known as National Hunt racing (although, confusingly, National Hunt racing also includes flat races taking place at jumps meetings; these are known as National Hunt flat races). Jump racing can be subdivided into steeplechasing and hurdling, according to the type and size of obstacles being jumped. The word "steeplechasing" can also refer collectively to any type of jump race in certain racing jurisdictions, particularly in the United States.

Typically, horses progress to bigger obstacles and longer distances as they get older, so that a European jumps horse will tend to start in National Hunt flat races as a juvenile, move on to hurdling after a year or so, and then, if thought capable, move on to steeplechasing.

Harness racing

A type of racing where horses go around a track while pulling a sulky and a driver behind them. In this sport, Standardbreds are used. These horses are separated into two categories, trotters and pacers. Pacers move the legs on each side of their body in tandem, while trotters move their diagonal legs together. The latter are typically faster than the former due to the gaits used.^[25] Occasionally a horse will break their gait into an actual canter or gallop. This could cause the loss of a race or even a disqualification.^[26] Notable races include the Hambletonian and the Breeder's Crown series.^[27]

Saddle trot racing

Ridden trot races are more common in places such as Europe and New Zealand. These horses are trotters who race on the flat under saddle with a jockey on their backs.^[28]

Endurance racing

The length of an endurance race varies greatly. Some are very short, only ten miles, while other races can be up to one hundred miles. There are a few races that are even longer than one hundred miles and last multiple days.^[29] These different lengths of races are divided into five categories: pleasure rides (10–20 miles), non-competitive trail rides (21–27 miles), competitive trail rides (20–45 miles), progressive trail rides (25–60 miles), and endurance rides (40–100 miles in one day, up to 250 miles (400 km) in multiple days).^[30] Because each race is very long, trails of natural terrain are generally used.

Contemporary organized endurance racing began in California around 1955, and the first race marked the beginning of the Tevis Cup^[31] This race was a one-hundred-mile, one-day-long ride starting in Squaw Valley, Placer County, and ending in Auburn. Founded in 1972, the American Endurance Ride Conference was the United States' first national endurance riding association.^[30] The longest endurance race in the world is the Mongol Derby, which is 1,000 km (620 mi) long.^[32]

Breeds

In most horse races, entry is restricted to certain breeds; that is, the horse must have a sire (father) and a dam (mother) who are studbook-approved individuals of whatever breed is racing.^{[citation needed]} For example, in a normal harness race, the horse's sire and dam must both be pure Standardbreds. The exception to this is in Quarter Horse racing, where an Appendix Quarter Horse may be considered eligible to race against (standard) Quarter Horses. The designation of "Appendix" refers to the addendum section, or Appendix, of the Official Quarter Horse registry. An Appendix Quarter Horse is a horse that has either one Quarter Horse parent and one parent of any other eligible breed (such as Thoroughbred, the most common Appendix cross), two parents that are registered Appendix Quarter Horses, or one parent that is a Quarter Horse and one parent that is an Appendix Quarter Horse. AQHA also issues a "Racing Register of Merit", which allows a horse to race on Quarter Horse tracks, but not be considered a Quarter Horse for breeding purposes (unless other requirements are met).^[33]

A stallion who has won many races may be put up to stud when he is retired. Artificial insemination and embryo transfer technology (allowed only in some breeds) have brought changes to the traditions and ease of breeding.

Pedigrees of stallions are recorded in various books and websites, such as Weatherbys Stallion Book, the Australian Stud Book and Thoroughbred Heritage.^{[citation needed]}

Thoroughbred

There are three founding sires that all Thoroughbreds can trace back to in the male line: the Darley Arabian, the Godolphin Arabian, and the Byerley Turk, named after their respective owners Thomas Darley, Lord Godolphin, and Captain Robert Byerly. They were taken to England, where they were bred with mares from English and imported bloodlines.^[34] The resultant foals were the first generation of thoroughbreds, and all modern thoroughbreds are their descents. Thoroughbreds range in height, which is measured in hands (a hand being four inches). Some are as small as 15 hands while others are over 17. Thoroughbreds can travel medium distances at fast paces, requiring a balance between speed and endurance. Thoroughbreds may be bay, black, dark bay/brown, chestnut, gray, roan, white or palomino. Artificial insemination, cloning and embryo transfer are not allowed in the Thoroughbred breed.^[35]

Standardbred

The standardbred is a breed of horse used for a variety of purposes, but they are largely bred for harness racing. They are descended from thoroughbreds, morgans, and extinct breeds. Standardbreds are typically docile and easy to handle. They do not spook easily and are quite versatile in what they can do. They can be jumpers, dressage, and pleasure riding horses.^[36]

Arabian horse

The Arabian horse was developed by the Bedouin people of the West Asia specifically for stamina over long distances, so they could outrun their enemies. It was not until 1725 that the first Arabians was brought to North America,^[37] and not until about the time of the Civil War that they were bred as purebreds. Until the formation of the Arabian Horse Registry of America in 1908, Arabians were recorded with the Jockey Club in a separate subsection from Thoroughbreds.

Arabians must be able to withstand traveling long distances at a moderate pace. They have an abundance of type I muscle fibers, enabling their muscles to work for extended periods of time. Also, the muscles of the Arabian are not nearly as massive as those of the Quarter Horse, which allow it to travel longer distances at quicker speeds. The Arabian is primarily used today in endurance racing but is also raced over traditional race tracks in many countries.

Arabian Horse Racing is governed by the International Federation of Arabian Horse Racing.^[38]

Quarter Horse

The ancestors of the Quarter Horse were prevalent in America in the early 17th century. These horses were a blend of Colonial Spanish horses crossed with English horses that were brought over in the 1700s. The native horse and the English horse were bred together, resulting in a compact, muscular horse. At this time, they were mainly used for chores such as plowing and cattle work. The American Quarter Horse was not recognized as an official breed until the formation of the American Quarter Horse Association in 1940.^[39]

In order to be successful in racing, Quarter Horses need to be able to propel themselves forward at extremely fast sprinter speed. The Quarter Horse has much larger hind limb muscles than the Arabian, which make it less suitable for endurance racing.^[40] It also has more type II-b muscle fibers, which allow the Quarter Horse to accelerate rapidly.

When Quarter Horse racing began, it was very expensive to lay a full mile of track so it was agreed that a straight track of four hundred meters, or one-quarter of a mile, would be laid instead.^[41] It became the standard racing distance for Quarter Horses and inspired their name. With the exception of the longer, 870-yard (800 m) distance contests, Quarter Horse races are run flat out, with the horses running at top speed for the duration. There is less jockeying for position, as turns are rare, and many races end with several contestants grouped together at the wire. The track surface is similar to that of Thoroughbred racing and usually consists of dirt.

In addition to the three main racing breeds above and their crosses, horse racing may be conducted using various other breeds: Appaloosa, American Paint Horse, Selle Français, AQPS^[42] and Korean Jeju.^[43]

Horse breeds and muscle structure