What Is a Horse Race?
When a horse race is talked about in the context of business, it refers to a competitive contest where the winner is crowned with a leadership role. This is a common method of succession planning that has served many admired corporations well. Some executives and governance observers, however, are uncomfortable with the horse race model because of concerns that it will detract from a company’s business momentum.
The horse racing industry has been around for centuries, attracting millions of fans worldwide and generating billions of dollars in revenue. The sport has undergone significant changes over the years, including technological advancements and updates in racing regulations. In addition to the sport’s popularity, it has also come under scrutiny for animal welfare issues, such as abusive training practices for young horses, drug use, and the slaughter of thousands of American racehorses in foreign slaughterhouses every year.
A horse race is a competition between two or more thoroughbred horses over a set distance, with a purse as the reward for bettors. The earliest races were match races, with owners providing the purse and bets coming in the form of a simple wager. In the early 18th century, a system of match book keeping emerged wherein disinterested third parties recorded agreements on betting. Eventually, the match book became the primary source for information on betting at specific race tracks.
In the United States, organized horse racing was founded in 1664 when Col. Richard Nicolls, commander of the British occupation forces in New Amsterdam (now Manhattan), laid out a 2-mile course on the plains of Long Island and offered a silver cup to the winners. The early hallmark of excellence for American Thoroughbreds was stamina, and until the Civil War a horse’s winning record was determined by its finishing position in a race rather than its speed.
During the Civil War, American racing adapted to the new reality of the Union’s victory in the Civil War and began focusing on speed. The emphasis on speed was further accelerated after World War II, when the United States became a major exporter of military vehicles and technology. As a result, the American racing industry was transformed into a series of fast-paced sprint races that required horses to be at peak performance throughout the year.
The rise of the modern horse race was also aided by the development of pharmaceuticals that enabled horse trainers to maximize each horse’s potential without the need for exercise or rest. The most popular of these pharmaceuticals, Lasix, is a powerful diuretic that helps prevent water retention and reduce the risk of injury. Nevertheless, Lasix has been linked to the deaths of some 1,500 racehorses in recent years.
As political journalists, we have a responsibility to examine how our coverage of elections and campaigns has been influenced by the horse race mentality. In an era of partisanship and hyper-polarization, the tendency to frame all close elections as a horse race could be hurting our democracy. At the very least, it could be giving novel or unusual candidates an unfair advantage, and harming third-party contenders.
When a horse race is talked about in the context of business, it refers to a competitive contest where the winner is crowned with a leadership role. This is a common method of succession planning that has served many admired corporations well. Some executives and governance observers, however, are uncomfortable with the horse race model because of concerns that it will detract from a company’s business momentum. The horse racing industry has been around for centuries, attracting millions of fans worldwide and generating billions of dollars in revenue. The sport has undergone significant changes over the years, including technological advancements and updates in racing regulations. In addition to the sport’s popularity, it has also come under scrutiny for animal welfare issues, such as abusive training practices for young horses, drug use, and the slaughter of thousands of American racehorses in foreign slaughterhouses every year. A horse race is a competition between two or more thoroughbred horses over a set distance, with a purse as the reward for bettors. The earliest races were match races, with owners providing the purse and bets coming in the form of a simple wager. In the early 18th century, a system of match book keeping emerged wherein disinterested third parties recorded agreements on betting. Eventually, the match book became the primary source for information on betting at specific race tracks. In the United States, organized horse racing was founded in 1664 when Col. Richard Nicolls, commander of the British occupation forces in New Amsterdam (now Manhattan), laid out a 2-mile course on the plains of Long Island and offered a silver cup to the winners. The early hallmark of excellence for American Thoroughbreds was stamina, and until the Civil War a horse’s winning record was determined by its finishing position in a race rather than its speed. During the Civil War, American racing adapted to the new reality of the Union’s victory in the Civil War and began focusing on speed. The emphasis on speed was further accelerated after World War II, when the United States became a major exporter of military vehicles and technology. As a result, the American racing industry was transformed into a series of fast-paced sprint races that required horses to be at peak performance throughout the year. The rise of the modern horse race was also aided by the development of pharmaceuticals that enabled horse trainers to maximize each horse’s potential without the need for exercise or rest. The most popular of these pharmaceuticals, Lasix, is a powerful diuretic that helps prevent water retention and reduce the risk of injury. Nevertheless, Lasix has been linked to the deaths of some 1,500 racehorses in recent years. As political journalists, we have a responsibility to examine how our coverage of elections and campaigns has been influenced by the horse race mentality. In an era of partisanship and hyper-polarization, the tendency to frame all close elections as a horse race could be hurting our democracy. At the very least, it could be giving novel or unusual candidates an unfair advantage, and harming third-party contenders.