A horse race is a sport in which humans perched on the backs of animals compel them to run at breakneck speed. In the wild, horses love to run and move fast, but they are prey animals who instinctively prefer to stay together for safety. On a racetrack, horses are pushed by their jockeys, who use the whip to keep them moving through an artificial herd. This is not a natural form of racing, and the results can be devastating for the animal and the human.
A solitary race is called a sprint, while long-distance races are known as routes or staying races. Individual flat races can range in length from 440 yards (400 m) to more than four miles (6.4 km). Short races are generally seen as a test of speed, while longer races are viewed as a test of stamina. Thoroughbreds, which can weigh up to twelve hundred pounds, have delicate ankles, making the sport a demanding physical challenge for both animal and human.
Horses can be categorized by their ability, age, sex, training, and other factors. The most prestigious races are called conditions races, and the biggest purses are offered in these competitions. In addition to class-related restrictions, horses are assigned weights for fairness purposes. The higher the number of weights a horse has to carry, the harder it is for it to win.
The horses lined up in the starting gate for a race at Santa Anita on a bright summer morning, their coats gleaming with muscled sweat and excitement. The stewards looked at the horses’ eyes and ears, checking for any signs of discomfort. At the front of the pack was War of Will, last year’s Preakness champion, with McKinzie, a small-framed bay, and Mongolian Groom close behind.
On the clubhouse turn, War of Will held a slim advantage over the other three. But at the top of the stretch, the big chestnut colt Vino Rosso made a strong move to the outside, and soon the field was whirling in a hypnotic blur.
As the horses galloped toward the finish line, the crowds went crazy. Some were cheering, but others were shrieking. The shrieking was the result of an emotional response to the race, which the media has long framed as a competition for spectators’ attention. To find out whether or not newspapers framed elections in the same way as they do horse races, researchers Johanna Dunaway and Regina Lawrence studied newspaper coverage of governor and U.S. Senate races in 2004, 2006, and 2008. They found that the more corporate-owned a paper was, the more it tended to frame campaigns as horse races, especially in tight contests. This framing of political events is often seen as a major contributor to partisanship and the polarization of the country.