Horse racing is a sport where competitors ride horses to compete in a race. The winner is the first horse to cross the finish line. The sport is popular around the world and betting on horse races is a common activity among fans. Those who bet on the outcome of a horse race can place different bet types including straight bets, parlays, and accumulator bets.

The sport has seen a series of technological advances in recent years that have improved safety for both horses and jockeys. While the industry has kept many of its rules, traditions, and the majesty of its facilities, modern technology has brought new innovations to racetracks. Thermal imaging cameras can detect overheating post-race, MRI scanners and X-rays can spot minor injuries that may deteriorate before a race, and 3D printing can produce casts, splints, and prosthetics for injured or ailing horses.

As a result, racetracks have become safer and more humane places to be for both the horses and their owners. Protocol now calls for a necropsy when a horse dies on-track and an examination of contributing factors by veterinarians, racetrack personnel, and stakeholders. The death of 30 horses at Santa Anita in California in 2019 sparked a wave of safety reforms across the country.

However, the sport still has a long way to go to ensure that all horses are treated humanely and that the health and wellbeing of horses is taken into consideration at every stage of the business, from breeding and training to racing and retirement. To do so would require a profound ideological reckoning at both the macro business and industry level as well as within the minds of horsemen and women.

The earliest recorded accounts of horse racing date back to ancient civilizations, including Greece and Rome, Babylon, Syria, and Arabia. But it wasn’t until the 1600s that Newmarket became the center of British horse racing and breeding, and Thoroughbred racehorses began to evolve into the breed we know today.

Horse racing continues to be a beloved pastime for millions of people around the globe, but some have been critical of its practices. Some think that it’s a dishonest and inhumane sport that involves dangerous drugging, overbreeding, and other forms of corruption. Others have defended the sport, saying that it represents the pinnacle of achievement for its competitors.

The most important thing that the sport can do to make itself more ethical is to change how it treats its horses. If you can watch a video of a young, top-tier racehorse dying catastrophically in a race or in training and move on with no more than a pang of sadness or empathy, you are a detriment to the racing industry and its future. Let the deaths of Eight Belles, Medina Spirit, Creative Plan, and Laoban not be in vain and let them stand as a warning to others that we can only go so far before the public becomes disinterested in this beautiful, historic, and complicated game.