Horse racing is the world’s oldest and most prestigious sport. Steeped in time-honored traditions, it celebrates the human spirit and reflects a long history of competition and elegance. Whether for the fashion or the thrill of betting, horse races attract a global audience and inspire fans with their elegance and spectacle. But the sport is not without controversy. Despite improvements in safety and quality, it still exposes horses to excessive physical stress with little chance for recovery. Injuries, breakdowns, and drug misuse are commonplace. The sport is also plagued by outdated racetrack facilities and declining attendance. Growing awareness of the dark side of racing has led to calls for reform.
A horse-race is a flat race over a set distance of two to four miles on a dirt track or over grass. Depending on the type of race, it can be run at speeds up to four furlongs per second (1.0 km/sec). In the United States, flat races are referred to as sprints or routes, while in Europe they are called long-distance races. Shorter races require fast acceleration, while longer races test a horse’s stamina.
During a horse-race, jockeys mount a racehorse and guide it to victory in a number of ways. They are not only required to control the speed of the horse, but must also anticipate what other riders will do. Jockeys must be skilled in a range of riding styles, including pacing, speeding up and slowing down, and using the whip to encourage or discourage their riders.
In the US, horse races are governed by the New York Racing Authority, or NYRA. In exchange for the right to race, NYRA imposes high taxes on purses, or prize money. These are intended to attract higher-quality runners and ensure the sport’s financial viability. A higher-quality racing population results in greater interest in the sport, which in turn leads to more bets and bigger purses.
After horses break their maidens, they are often moved up into the stakes classes. These are the top levels of competition, offering the most prize money and prestige. They are usually crowded with horses that have already won multiple races. Those that aren’t quite ready for the big leagues are often sent into allowance races, which are less competitive.
In a study of thoroughbred racing, animal advocacy informants identified three groups of racing-related welfare issues. These included injuries and deaths on the track, the use and overuse of drugs in training and racing, and the retirement and transport of horses to slaughter. They additionally identified routine training and husbandry practices, and human-horse interactions as areas of concern for the welfare of thoroughbreds. The concept of naturalness was central to how the informants conceptualised these issues, and therefore is also important for understanding how they are perceived and regulated. The article utilised semi-structured interviews and photo-elicitation to analyse the data. The following four common images of thoroughbreds on race day were presented to elicit the informants’ responses.