Horse racing is a popular sport that has shaped culture, history and the world. It is a sport that has ebbed and flowed with economic prosperity, war, depression and peace. Yet, throughout its long history, people have been fascinated with the thrill and intrigue of the horse race.
The earliest races were match contests between two or at most three horses. Then, pressure from the public grew to produce events with larger fields of runners. As dash racing became the rule, gaining a few yards in a race gained increasing importance and a jockey’s skill and judgment become critical in coaxing an advantage from his mount.
Before a horse can race, its pedigree must be verified and it must have a sire (father) and dam (mother) who are purebred individuals of the same breed. Those who want to place a bet on a particular horse must purchase a ticket (also called a bet) from the bookmaker. The odds of the horse winning are then determined based on how many bettors think the horse has a good chance of victory. The highest odds are assigned to the favorite. The lowest odds are assigned to the underdog.
While a horse’s natural instinct is to stay safe, on a track humans perched on their backs compel them with whips to run at breakneck speed, often in close quarters. As a result, injured horses are often euthanized. In nature, if a horse is in pain, it will stop and rest so that it can heal. On a racetrack, however, horses are pushed beyond their limits and are subjected to cocktails of legal and illegal drugs intended to mask injuries and enhance performance. Many horses bleed from their lungs after races—fittingly, they are sometimes called “bleeders” by the industry—and can suffer from shattered bones, ruptured ligaments and broken necks.
In addition to being physically exhausting, horse racing is mentally taxing for the animals involved. Their unnatural training and confinement inhibits their normal instincts from expressing themselves, and this can lead to behavioral problems. These include biting on their gate, cribbing, excessive grunting and pacing, kicking and self-harming.
Despite this, most horses love to race and are well cared for by their trainers. While donations by industry folks and gamblers are vital to the survival of these animals, they do not cancel out participation in the ongoing exploitation of younger running horses who will eventually replace them on the racetrack. Each year, an estimated 10,000 unwanted or unprofitable Thoroughbred foals are trucked to Canada and Mexico where they are slaughtered. The only way to end this cruelty is to ban horse races in the United States. Until that happens, activists like Maryland organizer Jennifer Sully of the Horseracing Wrongs will continue to organize demonstrations on weekends at Laurel and Pimlico. These protests are supported by thousands of people.