The words ‘great race’ are uttered a thousand times a day on the track and in betting shops, but only a handful of races deserve to be considered truly great. To make the grade, a horse must be at the peak of his powers, on one of the world’s biggest stages, and in competition against the best in his generation. Greatness in horse racing is defined by the most prestigious races, and occasionally – like Secretariat at the Belmont or Mandarin in Paris – a great race can transcend ordinary greatness and achieve legendary status.
The history of horse racing is a tale of blood, sweat and tears. Horses used for racing are often drugged, whipped, trained and raced too young, and pushed to the brink of their physical limits. Their bodies are prone to injuries, and a large number of them will ultimately be slaughtered, even those who are not fatally injured. But the sport is also a game of wits, where trainers attempt to outwit their rivals in a never-ending quest for glory and riches.
There are several different types of horse races, all with their own unique rules and procedures. There are stakes races, open races and allowance races. Each type of race has a set of rules that determines the eligibility of horses and the prize money that will be awarded to the winners. The conditions of a race are defined by its distance, surface and sex or gender (if applicable). In addition to these restrictions, there are often additional specifications such as the age limit for horses.
The condition book is the schedule of races that a track will host for a given time period, usually a few weeks or months. The schedule provides a framework for trainers to develop the training regimen for their horses over this period. These races can be categorized as either dirt or turf, and they can be open to horses of all levels or restricted to maiden special weight, stakes or fillies & mares. Some of these races have optional claiming clauses, which allow for horses that are already eligible for a certain level of race to be entered into a higher-level event. This allows trainers to get a feel for the talent in their stables.