What Happens Behind the Scenes of a Horse Race?

Whether you’re betting on the winner or just watching the spectacle, a day at the races is always exciting. The sport has entranced spectators for centuries, with evidence of racing in ancient Greek and Roman Olympics and even in the 17th and 18th century, when King James I of England established Newmarket as a hub for equine breeding and racing.

But behind the glamour of a race is a world of drug abuse, gruesome breakdowns, and slaughter. The animals are drugged, whipped, and trained to sprint, often against their will. And if they don’t die from injuries or hemorrhage from their lungs, many, according to animal rights group Horseracing Wrongs, will be slaughtered.

Before the race, onlookers watch the horses warm up by jogging around the track. They take note of their behavior and running style, looking for any signs of discomfort or tension between the horse and its jockey or driver. Then they make educated guesses about who might win and lose.

When the race begins, it’s important to know what each horse’s form is like. The simplest way to figure this out is by examining the horse’s speed figures, which are determined by measuring the distance between the imprints of the horse’s hooves. If a horse has a bad form, it will likely struggle to keep up with the pack or get ahead of it on the turn and in the stretch run.

Another key factor in a horse’s performance is its jockey or driver, who controls the pace of the race. If a horse is being ridden by an inexperienced or unathletic jockey, it’s unlikely to perform well. If a horse is being driven by an experienced jockey or driver, it’s more likely to maintain a steady pace and finish strongly.

Once the race is over, you’ll hear the crowd roar their approval or curses. The louder the roars, the more money a horse has won or lost. And the louder the boos, the worse a horse has done.

Having watched horse races for decades, I’ve heard every kind of curse imaginable, from Spanish to Chinese and even in the native tongue of Peruvian horses. But the most common boos, the ones that rise with the horses’ stretch runs, are universal imprecations. They are a mixture of envy and regret, as if the winning horse could have been their own. It’s a reminder that, just as in politics, if you focus on two candidates chasing each other to the exclusion of third-party contenders, you’re going to miss the greatest race ever.