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| Understanding The Basic Of Horse Racing Date Added: December 22, 2008 06:58:56 AM |
| The sport of horse racing is popular in many countries of the world. This sport is also linked with one of the most common betting game. The game first originated in England and then it became quite popular in the United States when it was a colony of Great Britain. Slowly, this game has spread over many other parts of the world. There are mainly three types of horse racing. They are flat racing, harness racing and steeplechasing. Flat races are generally speed contest between two or more saddle horses. These horses are generally Thoroughbreds and ridden by jockeys and run on specially built tracks over a distance which could range from 440 yards to 1½ miles. This type of racing is known as flat racing to distinguish from steeplechasing, which involves jumping over obstacles while racing. In an effort to equalize the competition between horses of a given class, each animal is assigned a weight handicap based on such factors as its age, sex, and past record, and the jockey's experience. To make up the difference between the assigned weight and the jockey's weight, lead bars are carried under the saddle. All modern Thoroughbred horses share the common ancestry from one of the three stallions, The Byerly Turk, the Darley Arabian, and the Godolpin Barb. They were imported into Great Britain from the Middle East and North Africa between 1689 and 1724. They were mated with strong English mares to produce offspring with both speed and endurance. These Thoroughbreds that compete in organized racing are registered in national stud register of their country of birth. Such a register is being maintained in Great Britain since 1791, while in the United States it goes back to 1873. A Thoroughbred horse starts taking training for horse racing from the age of two years. Though some of the two-year-old horses take part in horse racing, they provide their best performance from the age of three to five years. They continue to take part in racing till the age of ten. Some of the race is meant for single sex but most of these races are open to both the sexes. A female horse is known as a filly up to the age of five and thereafter as a mare. An unsexed male horse of any age is called a gelding and an ungelded male horse is known as a colt up to age of five years. Thereafter, it is referred to simply as a horse or a stallion, regardless of its age. |