A horse race is a contest of speed between horses that are ridden by jockeys or pulled by sulkies and their drivers. Horse racing is a spectator sport, and it has also become an increasingly popular form of gambling. The horse races take place in various locations around the world, including tracks in the United States, Europe, and Asia.
There are many factors that go into making a winning bet, including the horse’s recent performance and track conditions. The challenge of handicapping, and the possibility of life-changing payouts, attract many serious bettors to the sport. Upsets keep the sport unpredictable and prevent it from becoming dominated by a small group of favorites.
Despite its glamourous image, horse racing is a cruel sport. The animals are bred for speed at the expense of their bone mass and health, and in races they are pushed far beyond their natural abilities. The injuries and breakdowns they suffer are numerous, often fatal. Horses are also subjected to gruesome slaughter after their racing careers end, and even before that, many horses die in training due to improper feed or abusive training methods.
In an era when the presidential election feels more like a horse race than a fair fight, political analysts and pundits are deluged with polling data and statistics. The art of parsing all that information has earned a new name: horse-race journalism. Poynter reporter Annie Aguiar had a little fun with the genre recently by asking actual horse-race journalists what they thought of it. Their responses are as entertaining as they are insightful.
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.