Thoroughbred horse race

The HRA or the Horseracing Regulatory Authority governs the Thoroughbred horse
racing in the United Kingdom. The HRA governs and enforces the laws and rules for the
races. They also issue permits or licenses to the jockeys and trainers. They also run the
races conducted by the race course officers or race course officials.

The most important part of the work that the Horse racing Regulatory Authority does is
that which is related to the training and disciplining the jockeys and the trainers. This
includes appeals from the decisions previously by race course stewards. They also handle
disciplinary inquiries that are usually related to running of horses, like for example:
interference with other runners or failure to run a horse on the merits provided and the
using the whip excessively. The advent of the internet online betting made opportunities
for the greater public to bet on horses and this technological development has been
associated with some of the higher proceedings for disciplinary actions.

The Irish Jockey Club governs the races held in Ireland and the United Kingdom was
released from most of the regulatory functions it previously performed. The United
Kingdom still provides different role in supporting the Irish Jockey Club.

In order for one to run a horse, the horse must be registered first at Weatherbys. It should
be registered as a thoroughbred. The horse must also live permanently at the yard of the
trainer. The yard must be licensed by the Horseracing Regulatory Authority. The owner or
owners of the horse must also be registered owners.

Tradition has it that the race horses are owned by very wealthy persons who are from a
small population only. Nowadays it has become growingly common for the horses to be
owned by the partnerships or the syndicates. Some of the notable horses is owned by the
Royal Ascot Racing Club which is the 2005 Derby winner named Motivator. Soviet
Song, a race horse is owned by the Elite Racing Club and is a winner of the group 2 race
at the Royal Ascot last 2006.

A horse can run in the distinct colors of the owner. These colors assigned to the horses
must also be registered at the Weatherbys every year and no two horse owners may carry
the same color. The rights to specific arrangements for the colors are known as the
“cherished colours”. The cherished color is also very significant in the same manner that
car registration numbers are also of value. It is told that Mrs Sue Magnier paid the
amount of £50,000 for the distinctive dark blue colours of her horse. If for example an
owner has more than just one horse running for the same race then some slight difference
in colours should be used.

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Horse owners usually pay a retainer fee to the trainers of the horse monthly retainer to his
trainer along with fees for using the gallops, the veterinarian fees and other expenses like
jockey’s fees where there is a retained professional jockey for his services and entry fees.
A typical cost of owning a horse to be trained to run under the current rules is around
£15,000 for a year or so.

There are also huge variations to the facilities available and utilized by the trainers. Some
of the trainers have a small number of horses in their yard and they just pay other
trainer’s gallops for the training. While the other trainers own every training equipments
or assets there is. It is this feature of the horse racing that some of the modest institutions
hold against the larger players in the race. A best example of this is Evan Williams who
won the Hennessy in November 2006 with the State of play.

In American-style races the horses are judged based on their weight which means that a
horse that can carry 52 kg has better chances than the horse which can carry 58 kg. The
draw or the barrier gate are horses that have lesser distance to make only if they begin
from the inside barrier. It is also known as the “stall” in Ireland and United Kingdom like
one rather than the one coming from the outside like fifteen. The jockey statistics and
time ratings become factors also in the performance of the horse involved in the race but
are considered not so significant.

The draw is of lesser importance in the Irish and United Kingdom racing competition
which is races ran longer than a mile, even though it is an important course for races like
the “sprints”. The "sprints" are typical races of five furlongs equivalent to 1006 m up to a
mile or 1609 meters. With the National Hunt races, the horses don’t have the draw
because they begin by lining up with a flag, starting behind the tape.

The attention of most of the media and the horseracing fans is usually focused almost
entirely on the horses’ performance while on the race course or race track as for the male
horses, the attention is focused on the success of a horse becoming a sire, there is
however little publicity accorded to the brood mares. Like La Troinne’s case, being an
important mare in the twentieth century the mother to most of the top thoroughbreds.

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Horse racing is divided into two codes: the steeplechase racing and flat racing

Flat races are races than can be undertaken with different terms as well as in a variation
of distances. The most important flat race falls in the category of group one races and this
includes the Derby, the Breeder’s Cup and the Arc. Newmarket is the center of the flat
races in the United Kingdom. Newmarket became famous while racing in the time of the
reign of Charles II. During the rein of Queen Anne, Ascot became popular. Newbury,
Epsom and Goodwood are other significant race courses in the United Kingdom which
provides racing for flat races. Even though England has always been historically known
as the center for racing, the most important flat races are also all outside the United
Kingdom, specifically in the Middle East, Far East and the United States.

The National hunt races have further divisions namely; hurdle races, national hunt flat
races also known as bumpers and the steeple chases.

The National Hunt capital of racing in United Kingdom is the Cheltenham race course,
located in the Cotswolds. Cotswolds hosts the Cheltenham Festival every year during the
third week of March. It also hosts the other significant fixtures during the National Hunt
calendar.

In the Cotswolds there are many famour trainers operating like Richard Phillips, Jonjo
O’Neil, Tom George, Nigel Twiston Davies and Kim Bailey. In recent year however, the
festival has been dominated by Ireland trained and bred horses.

The highlight of the Cheltenham Festival is the Gold Cup (qv). All races run at
Cheltenham finish with a long uphill run-in in front of the stands. The Gold Cup is run
over a distance of about 3 miles 2 furlongs and on numerous occasions the hill at the
finish has found out the brave. All horses carry the same weight in the Gold Cup. Famous
winners of the Gold Cup include Dawn Run (mare, ridden by Jonjo O'Neil), Arkle
(arguably the greatest horse of all time), Golden Miller (ditto), Best Mate and Desert
Orchid.

The most famous NH race is probably the Grand National (qv), run at Aintree in April
each year. The race is a different sort of contest to the Gold Cup in that it is run over 4
and a bit miles, there are 40 runners, the course at Aintree is essentially flat, and the
horses are handicapped ie the best horses carry the most weight. Perhaps the most
fundamental difference is that the grand national fences at Aintree are far bigger than any
fence at Cheltenham, and a number of fences incorporate significant drops. The Canal
Turn is a huge fence, with a substantial drop and a 90 degree turn. It is jumped twice and
accounts for many fallers each year.

Famous winners of the Grand National include Red Rum (won 3 times, runner up twice),
Mr Frisk (the last winner to be ridden by an amateur jockey), Aldaniti (ridden by Bob
Champion shortly after he had recovered from cancer; his story was made into a film)

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and Foinavon (winner at 100 to 1 in 1967 when all other horses fell or refused 8 out, a
fence now named after the winner).

1973, the first year that Red Rum won is generally acknowledged as being his most
exciting victory. Crisp, carrying top weight (12 stone), had built up a lead of about 20
lengths from the rest of the field. Red Rum gradually eroded this enormous gap with a
couple of fences left to jump. As Crisp came into the elbow, a slight crook in the course
where the long run-in starts, his jockey brought his whip out to try and encourage the
horse for the final effort required. Unfortunately the effect was to put the horse slightly
off balance allowing Red Rum, carrying 24 lbs less weight, to rob him in the shadow of
the post. Much is made of the huge difference in weight carried by the two horses.
Supporters of Red Rum point out that he carried top weight in all subsequent renewals,
and yet went on to win twice more.

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Other NH races of note include the King George VI run at Kempton Park on 27
December and the Hennessy Gold Cup run at Newbury at the end of November.

• A handicap race is one in which the runners have been "handicapped" by carrying
more weight, according to their performance in other races. Theoretically, all
horses have a chance of being competitive in a race that is correctly handicapped.
Examples include the Grand National at Aintree, the Cambridgeshire Handicap at
Newmarket, the Santa Anita Handicap at Santa Anita Park, the Easter Handicap at
Ellerslie Racecourse, and the Melbourne Cup at Flemington Racecourse.

• Graded stakes races in the United States, or Conditions races as they are referred
to in England and France, are higher-class races for bigger prizes. They often
involve competitors that belong to the same gender, age and class. These races
may, though, be "weight-for-age", with weights adjusted only according to age,
and also there are "set weights" where all horses carry the same weight.
Furthermore, there are "conditions" races, in which horses carry weights that are
set by conditions, such as having won a certain number of races, or races of a
certain value. Examples of a stakes/conditions race are the Breeders' Cup races,
the Two Thousand Guineas Stakes, the One Thousand Guineas Stakes, the Epsom
Derby, the Epsom Oaks, the St. Leger Stakes, the Kentucky Derby, the Kentucky
Oaks, the Preakness Stakes, the Belmont Stakes, the Travers Stakes, and the Prix
de l'Arc de Triomphe.

• A maiden race is one in which the runners have never won a race. Maiden races
can be among horses of many different age groups. It is similar to a stakes race in
the respect that horses all carry similar weights and there are no handicapped
"penalties." This is the primary method for racing a 2 year old for the first time,
although only against other 2 year olds. Three year olds also only race against
their own age in maiden races early in the year.

• An allowance race is one in which the runners run for a higher purse than in a
maiden race. These races usually involve conditions such as "non-winner of three
lifetime." They usually are for a horse which has broken its maiden but is not
ready for stakes company.

• A claiming race is one in which the runners run for a tag and anyone may claim a
runner via the claim box. The intent of this is to even the race, since you may lose
your horse for the given claiming price. Someone may wish to claim a horse if
they think the horse has not been trained to its fullest potential under another
trainer.

• An optional claiming race is a hybrid of allowance and claiming race, developed

to increase field sizes. A horse who does not fit the conditions can still run for the
tag.

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• Jumping races and steeplechases, called National Hunt racing in the United
Kingdom and Ireland, are run over long distances, usually from two miles (3200
m) up to four and a half miles (7200 m), and horses carry more weight. Novice
jumping races involve horses that are starting out a jumping career, including
horses that previously were trained flat racing. National Hunt racing is
distinguished between hurdles races and chases: the former are run over low
obstacles and the latter over larger fences that are much more difficult to jump.