A horse race is a contest in which horses compete over a distance and the winner is determined by the first one to cross the finish line. The sport of horse racing has a rich history and has been practiced in many cultures throughout the world.
It is one of the oldest sports and has evolved from a primitive contest of speed and stamina between two horses into a massive public entertainment enterprise that relies on modern medical monitoring technology and immense sums of money. But the basic idea has remained unchanged: The horse that finishes first is the winner.
There are four main types of horse races: flat racing, steeplechasing, harness racing and endurance racing. Flat racing competes over a course without obstacles, steeplechasing includes jumping over hurdles, harness racing involves pulling a cart, and endurance races require horses to run long distances. There are many different breeds of horses, and each has its own unique culture, but in general, a horse’s endurance is measured by its ability to cover large distances while running at a fast pace.
The Breeders’ Cup races at Santa Anita drew tens of thousands of spectators who wore fancy clothes and sipped mint juleps. But behind the glitz, there was a grim reality of horse cruelty, drug abuse and gruesome breakdowns. Pushed to the limit, these equine athletes suffered injuries and even fatal hemorrhages from their lungs. To counteract the bleeding, most horses were injected with cocktails of legal and illegal drugs designed to mask their injuries and artificially enhance their performance.
During the pandemic, horse racing benefited from the fact that major sports leagues were shut down and viewers were left with little else to watch. Channels like TVG, which included racing in its basic cable package, began to air more live races than ever before. A new generation of fans discovered the sport and its colorful vocabulary of terms like “tout,” “weanling” and “sloppy.” The chirp of the horses’ hooves, rising in pitch at the stretch runs, carries the ring of universal imprecations.
At the starting gate, Mongolian Groom balked. It was a common move among the horses to test their readiness for competition. In the walking ring before a race, bettors often glance at a horse’s coat to see whether it is bright and rippling with just the right amount of sweat and muscled excitement.
In the final stages of the race, War of Will pulled ahead on the far turn. Then McKinzie and Mongolian Groom surged past, and the crowd switched from cheering to shrieking. Suddenly, the leaders were a half length apart, and the finish was in sight. This section brings you the fastest results from today’s UK and Irish horseracing, as well as selected French, US, Hong Kong Dubai and other overseas fixtures. Click on a race to view full results and replays. To search for results further in the past, use our date picker above.