A horse race is a close form of competition where horses are pitted against one another in a series of races. The term has also been applied to other forms of competitive activities involving humans, including political contests and sporting events.
Horse racing is a popular and lucrative pastime for many people. People bet on the outcome of a horse race by placing a bet with bookmakers. The odds are fixed by the bookmakers and may be as low as 1:1 or as high as 20-1. The higher the odds, the more money a person can win if the horse wins the race.
However, there are many concerns about the animal welfare issues associated with horse racing. One of the biggest concerns is that horses can suffer injuries and even die during a horse race. Other concerns include the use of drugs and medications on horses, and the exploitation of horses in the racing industry. Despite these concerns, the vast majority of people continue to place bets on horse races.
Many of the industry informants in this research naturalised, normalised and downplayed some racing practices and their impacts on horses. For example, most industry informants did not mention the behavioural evidence that many horses exhibit resistance and fear to entering the starting gate, which is depicted in the image in Figure 3. Rather, they emphasised how natural it is for a horse to resist being pushed forward into a confined space and asserted that such behaviour is “normal” in thoroughbred racing.
In addition, most of the industry informants neglected to describe the impact of equipment and human handling on the mental and behavioural expressions of the horses. This tendency to ignore or downplay these aspects of the equine welfare issue could be a function of the informants’ interests in conveying that the racing industry treats horses as naturally as possible.
This is in contrast to the animal advocacy informants in this study who emphasised that, “The most important thing we can do is engage with layers 7 and 8.” This refers to a shift toward addressing human attitudes, beliefs and paradigms to promote engagement with animal protection on the animals’ own terms.
In order to achieve this, it is necessary to go beyond the species and acknowledge individual temperaments, preferences, abilities and boundaries. This, in turn, will allow for structures and processes to be implemented to represent the horse on its own terms.
The Everest – Sydney, Australia
The Everest is the newest and richest race in world horse racing offering $10 million in prize money. The 1200 meter (five furlong) event is expected to become the leading turf race in the world. Unlike most Australian horse races, the field of runners is limited to 12 horses. The majority of the entries are purchased by wealthy foreign owners. In order to secure a place in the race, owners must pony up $600,000 for each entry. This makes the race the most expensive in world history.