The Basics of Horse Race Betting
Horse race is one of the oldest of all sports, and though it has evolved into a modern spectacle involving large fields of runners, sophisticated electronic monitoring equipment, and immense sums of money, its basic concept remains unchanged: the horse that crosses the finish line first is the winner. Yet despite its vast popularity as a form of public entertainment, horse racing continues to ignore the concerns of animal rights activists and the larger public about the horrific conditions under which horses are forced to run.
While the sport’s aficionados show off their fancy outfits, sip mint juleps, and watch the beautiful horses parade across the track, behind this romanticized facade lies a world of broken bones, drug abuse, gruesome breakdowns, and slaughter. These horses are running for their lives, subjected to the exorbitant physical stress of racing and training while being plied with cocktails of legal and illegal drugs meant to mask injuries and artificially enhance performance. Many bleed from the lungs as a result of this pressure and are known as “bleeders.”
Before a horse race begins, stewards make sure all participating horses are properly positioned in their starting stalls or in front of a gate and then announce a start time. Then, the horses begin to run, and jockeys help guide them around the course, leaping any hurdles (if present) and crossing the finish line before any other competing horse and rider. Prize money is awarded to the winner, second, and third place finishers. If two or more horses cross the finish line simultaneously, a photo finish is declared and stewards examine a snapshot of the race to determine who won.
In addition to placing bets on who will win a particular race, fans can also bet on accumulator bets in which they try to predict the winners of several races. This type of betting is available at most major racetracks worldwide.
Betting on horse races began as private bets between friends, but the practice grew in popularity and eventually became more formalized in the 19th century with a system called pari-mutuel betting. This involves pooling bets and sharing the total amount of money bet minus a management fee. This is the model currently used in horse racing throughout the world.