A horse race is a sport where humans perch on horses’ backs and use a whip to coax them into a frantic sprint, often at speeds that can be life-threatening. Despite the industry’s claim that horses are “born to run and love to compete,” what is revealed behind this facade is a world of injuries, drugs, gruesome breakdowns, and death by slaughter. Eight Belle’s death in the 2008 Kentucky Derby sparked a call for a reckoning of racing’s ethics and integrity, but it is clear that not much has changed. Horses routinely die from the exorbitant physical stress of racing and training, as well as from other catastrophic events such as broken limbs and heart attacks, even in their prime.

Before a race begins, the horses are led to the paddock (the area at the track where horses are saddled) and past the stewards for inspection. Then they are paraded into the starting gate, which is electrically operated at most tracks. Once the race starts, the jockeys mount their horses and are given instructions from their trainers. Then the stewards and patrol judges watch the race from various vantage points around the track for any rule violations or other issues that may arise during the course of the race.

In the earliest days of organized horse racing, races were match contests between just two horses. However, pressure from the public caused them to expand and grow into more and more elaborate spectacles that required a combination of skill, judgment, and brute strength on the part of the jockey. To gain a winning edge in these early races, the jockey would need to be as fast as his or her opponents, and the horses needed to have sufficient stamina for a long race.

Eventually, horses began to be trained to run faster and longer than ever before. This increased the importance of a rider’s judgment and ability to pace the race. It also enabled the development of a more complex form of racing called dash racing, where the winner was determined by the first horse over the finish line, rather than the overall leader.

The modern horse race is a global industry involving hundreds of races, many on foreign soil, and billions of dollars in wagers. The races are regulated by the sport’s governing body, the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities. The rules of the game are set out in the IFHA’s Rule Book, which is available for free on its website.

A number of factors make it possible for a person to be successful at placing a horse race wager, but deciding which bets to place can be a daunting task. The following is an overview of some of the most popular bets in horse racing:

Pick 3: A three-horse exotic wager that requires the player to choose the winner of each of the first three races in a series. Pick 4: A four-horse exotic wager that requires a bet on the winners of each of the first four races in a series.