A horse race is a contest in which a number of horses compete against each other in a speed test. It is a popular spectator sport in many countries. The races are usually run on a flat surface, and the horses may be ridden by jockeys or pulled by drivers of sulkies. The races are timed to the nearest fraction of a second, and the winner is determined by whichever horse crosses the finish line first. In many cases, the winning horse is awarded a prize.
A company’s horse race is a method of choosing a new leader from among several highly skilled executives. The process can help the board select a new CEO from within the organization, and it can also provide valuable leadership experience for the losing candidates. However, if the process is not handled properly, a company’s horse race can have negative consequences. For example, a successful candidate may alienate the other executives who were vying for the position and weaken the power base of the organization. In addition, the race can have a lingering impact on the ability of the company to fill other critical management positions.
While some people enjoy watching a horse race while sipping mint juleps, behind the romanticized facade of Thoroughbred racing is a world of injuries, drug abuse, gruesome breakdowns, and slaughter. Growing awareness of the cruelty that ravages the industry has fueled improvements, but more must be done to protect animals from being forced to sprint—often under the threat of whips and illegal electric-shocking devices—at speeds so fast they often sustain catastrophic injuries and hemorrhage in their lungs.
Despite the popularity of horse racing, there are three types of people in the industry: crooks who dangerously drug their horses, dupes who labor under the fantasy that the sport is broadly fair and honest, and honorable souls who know the industry is more crooked than it ought to be but don’t do enough to fix it. The crooks are the ones who take shortcuts to win at all costs, while the dupes do all they can to keep their jobs and support the crooks; and the honorable souls sometimes fall prey to corruption as well.
The horse race procedure begins when the riders weigh in and report to the paddock, where the horses are saddled and paraded past a steward who confirms their identities. Then the horses are led to the starting gate, which is electrically operated at most tracks. During the race, a team of stewards and patrol judges, aided by a video camera that photographs the finish, look for rule violations. Saliva and urine samples are also taken from the horses after the race, and winners are disqualified if they have been injected with prohibited substances. The horses are then given a race number and lead out of the paddock into the stretch. Depending on the type of race, some of the tracks include markers at measured distances around the course.
