Horse racing is one of the oldest sports in the world, and it has evolved into a spectacle involving large fields of runners and sophisticated electronic monitoring equipment. But its basic concept remains the same: the horse that crosses the finish line first is the winner. While horse racing has evolved into a multibillion-dollar industry, its popularity has waned over the decades. New-would-be fans have been turned off by controversies involving safety and doping. The sport has also suffered from the declining availability of legal gambling opportunities.
Many of these changes have been driven by an increasing awareness that the horses involved in racing are not simply pawns to be raced and then sent away to spend their brief lives at stud in search of a big payday. Behind the romanticized facade of thoroughbred racing is a world of drugs, injuries and gruesome breakdowns, and a good deal of exploitation and slaughter. According to PETA, the animal rights organization, ten thousand American racehorses are slaughtered each year. Those who aren’t killed at the track often end up in foreign slaughterhouses.
As more people have become aware of the dark side of racing, public opinion has begun to change. Some state governments have passed laws requiring that racing meet certain minimum standards of care and treatment. The industry has responded with a series of improvements. But racing is still a dangerous sport, and there’s no guarantee that the public will continue to support it.
This article explores the history of horse racing, how it has changed over the years, and why. It also provides an overview of current issues and challenges facing the industry.
Horse Race Results – Instant HTML and PDF Horse Racing Results including conditions, weather, fractions, payoffs, exotics, winner details and more. Also includes full race charts, pedigrees, full summary and owners, trainers, breeders and race notes dating back to January 1991. Flash Results and Exotic Carryover Watch are included.
Race results from today’s horse races across the UK and Ireland plus selected French, US, Hong Kong Dubai and other overseas races. Get fast race results with starting price and betting prices, expert analyst comments and archived video replays from each race. To see more detailed race charts including full finishing order, full equine analysis and expert analyst comments click on the horse’s name below.