A horse race is a method of selecting a company’s next CEO in which several candidates vie for the position. Proponents say that this approach rewards those with strong leadership skills and allows for a wide range of perspectives. In addition, it can help to attract top talent, since candidates know that there is a clear path to the top of the organization. The downside, however, is that the process can stifle innovation and derail the momentum of a new leader’s agenda. Moreover, it can hurt the morale of those who lose out, especially if they feel that their efforts have been disregarded.
In a standard flat horse race, a horse must have a pedigree that includes a sire and dam of the same breed. It also must be able to compete under a specific set of rules — for example, it must have a minimum height requirement and be eligible for the grade races that offer the highest prize money.
To qualify for these races, a horse must have an impressive pedigree and a high finishing position in previous events. A racing secretary or track handicapper assigns a fixed weight, based on the horse’s age, sex, birthplace and previous performance, to give each horse an even chance of winning the event. The races are further divided into stakes races and non-graded stakes, which feature horses that don’t have the same level of quality or history as the better runners.
Behind the romanticized façade of horse racing is a world of injuries, drug abuse and gruesome breakdowns. Often, horses are forced to sprint—often under the threat of whips and illegal electric shock devices—at speeds so fast that they can’t keep up and sustain injuries such as pulmonary hemorrhage, in which blood pools in their lungs. In an attempt to avoid pulmonary hemorrhage, many horses are given cocktails of legal and illegal drugs that mask their pain and enhance their performance.
For animal rights activists, these issues are another reason to seek reform or ban the sport altogether. They argue that the unnatural training and confinement of a racehorse inhibits its natural instinct to run freely and express itself, leading to suffering that manifests in compulsive behavior such as biting on gates or cribbing (bitting at its cheek muscles while pulling backward and grunting). Despite these concerns, supporters of horse racing maintain that the sport is not on welfare. They point to the enormous profits generated by the Yonkers racetrack, which they say supports a multibillion-dollar equine economy that includes breeders, trainers and farmers who grow carrots and hay. And they insist that the industry doesn’t rely on government subsidies, as do many other gambling industries. Besides, they say, horses are just running for their lives. After all, if they didn’t, they wouldn’t be in this business. Several insiders suggested that my negative coverage of the sport was a form of coastal snobbery, trying to impose blue-state urban values on what is essentially a red-state, rural enterprise.