A Political Horse Race and Thoroughbred Racing

A horse race is a competitive sport that involves horses running on a flat surface. The first horse to cross the finish line wins the race. A horse race can take place on a dirt or grass track. A horse race is popular worldwide, and people can place bets on the outcome of a race.

Political scholars have long studied the impact of news stories that frame elections as a horse race, emphasizing frontrunners and underdogs who gain or lose momentum in their quest for electoral success. This type of journalism can stifle the development of new or unexpected candidates, and it may give a boost to third-party or independent candidates who have slim chances of winning.

More recently, scholars have begun to investigate how this horse-race framing of political campaigns has also impacted thoroughbred racing and breeding. In a study on this topic, researchers interviewed industry and animal advocacy informants via semi-structured interviews and photo-elicitation. Four common images of thoroughbreds on race day were presented to the informants, and their responses were analysed.

The results of this study show that animal advocacy informants conceptualise the idea of naturalness as a critical component of their perceptions of race integrity, the overall image of the industry, and the interaction between humans and horses. The notion of what is “natural” has particular relevance in the thoroughbred race industry because it guides breeding regulations and influences training, husbandry, handling and racing practices that can potentially impact a horse’s welfare. The tendency of industry informants to present these aspects as normal and natural indicates that they are consciously participating in an image-making project to change the public’s perception of the racing and breeding industries. In this way, they are playing a role similar to that of digital image editing tools, which function as a means of “unseeing” and obscuring certain aspects of reality.