Horse races are competitions in which horses and riders must race over an established course while jumping any hurdles or other obstacles, if present. Horse racing events are usually open to the public and offer prize money for first, second and third place finishers as well as “buying the race”, whereby a player uses all horses running in one race in various combinations (e.g. a Daily Double).
In order to be eligible to run in horse races, a horse must have purebred members as parents – sire and dam – of its breed as parents and meet other criteria including race history, earnings and pedigree requirements. Speed and stamina play an integral part in its potential winning ability; these characteristics become increasingly crucial as races get longer.
Grading a race means that the racing secretary has assigned weight allowances to all participants in order to create an even playing field and ensure fair competition. These allowances depend on previous track performance, wins and purse earnings of each horse involved – the higher its class, the more valuable its prize pool will be.
At the walk ring before each race begins, bettors carefully inspect horses’ coats to see if they rippling with sweat and muscled excitement, an indicator that they are ready for competition. A bright coat indicates readiness. If it does not look bright enough then its trainer may opt to scratch them from running instead and save their horse for another day.
War of Will took an early lead and led around the clubhouse turn, with McKinzie and Mongolian Groom close behind. At the top of the stretch Vino Rosso made a move on Vino Rosso – prompting an exciting surge from behind while both leaders began to tire.
At this point, many bettors were hoping that one of the three would falter and allow another horse to win, but on this July day that did not transpire; during an already deadlocked race Mongolian Groom, with its dark coat fell to his death due to injuries incurred while racing against his rivals.