A Roundup of Research on Horse Race Journalism

A horse race is a form of close competition between horses or other animals. It is a popular sport that has become a part of our culture and history. The term horse race is also used in a political sense to refer to a close contest between politicians. The mudslinging, name calling and attack ads that characterize a political horse race often distract from the real issues at stake.

When journalists cover elections primarily by focusing on the lead and who is ahead — what’s sometimes called “horse race coverage” — voters, candidates and the news industry itself suffer, according to a growing body of research. This updated roundup of research examines the results of this kind of coverage, which is a longstanding tradition that is protected by First Amendment freedoms.

On a racetrack, horses’ natural instincts are to avoid danger. Instead, humans perched on their backs compel them with whips to run at breakneck speed, often in close quarters. The result can be a fatal blow to the head or a broken leg, pulmonary hemorrhage or other heart-related ailments. Some die from the stress of being whipped, others from a broken neck, spinal fractures or severed legs. Injuries on the track are not rare, either.

Horse races are often crowded, and betting is big business. That makes horse race journalism a numbers game, and pundits spend a lot of time crunching the data. For example, The Post’s racing columnist Andrew Beyer developed his Beyer Speed Figure to compare the speeds of different thoroughbreds. A horse’s pedigree, which requires its sire and dam to be purebreds of the same breed, is another key factor in determining whether it will win.

Despite all the number-crunching, though, many horses die on the track. A fatal blow to the head can be inflicted by a stray hat or other object, but most deaths occur from colliding with other horses or the track’s surface. The pounding of thousands of horses hitting each other with their backs and heads, or the jarring impact of the ground, can cause injuries such as fractured sesamoids.

Before a race, horses are put through a series of exercises. A betor’s eye might fall on the color of a horse’s coat in the walking ring, or its movement when it is brought to the starting gate. If the animal balks at the gate, that is a bad sign and might indicate it is frightened or angry. A sour-smelling breath is also an indication that a horse has been doped. Painkillers, antipsychotics, anabolic steroids and growth hormones are some of the drugs that have been injected into horses for faster, more powerful performance. Racing officials couldn’t keep up with all the medications, and penalties for violations were lax. This led to widespread doping by both professional and amateur trainers. The resulting blood doping scandal tarnished the reputation of the sport. Until recently, when the public became aware of this issue, most people didn’t think about how dangerous horse racing really was.