Horse races are equestrian sports in which horses either ridden by jockeys or pulled by sulkies compete against each other to cross a finish line first. One of the oldest and most popular spectator sports, organized horse racing is practiced in a wide range of cultures throughout the world and is an extremely common form of public entertainment. It is considered a sport, not a gambling activity, although it may involve betting, and the prize money awarded to the winner can vary considerably.
Horse racing is a sport which requires enormous physical effort and skill from both the horses and their riders. A successful race requires a keen understanding of the horses’ strengths and weaknesses, as well as the ability to read the track and make decisions at the right times to gain an advantage over the competition. It is considered a dangerous sport, and there have been many fatal accidents in recent years.
The sport was introduced to the United States by immigrants from Europe and it has since grown into a multi-billion dollar industry. Some of the most prestigious races are held in the United States, including the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes. These races are often referred to as the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, and they are contested each spring over distances of about two miles.
There are a number of different types of horse racing, with differing national organizations establishing rules concerning what breeds can participate in which disciplines. The breeds most commonly used in flat racing include Thoroughbreds, Arabians, and Quarter horses. In jump racing, horses of the American Quarter Horse, Paint, and Appaloosa breeds are used, as well as the Standardbreds of Australia, New Zealand, and North America. In endurance racing, light cold blood horses such as Finnhorses and Scandinavian trotters are used.
While knowledge of the first organized horse race is lost in prehistory, there are records of both four-hitch chariot and mounted (bareback) races in ancient Greece over the period 700-40 bce. Horsemanship was highly developed in the Roman Empire, and organized races of chariots and mounted competitors became commonplace. This sport was carried on in other European countries, and it reached the height of its popularity in Britain during the reign of King Louis XIV (1643-1715).
In the early 20th century, a number of rules were established to try to control gambling and the abuses associated with horse racing. These included requiring that horses be entered on the official registry and imposing an extra weight on foreign horses. An act of Parliament in 1740 also prohibited “ringers,” or superior horses being entered fraudulently against inferior horses, and imposed penalties for rough riding.
In China, speed horse racing (Su Du Sai Ma) was introduced into the National Games in 2005 to cater to ethnic minority peoples for whom the sport has been a long-standing tradition. However, due to the use of Western, rather than traditional, breeding and training techniques, the event was discontinued for the 12th National Games in 2013. The same decision was taken for harness racing at the 2014 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games.