A horse race is a contest of speed, skill and judgment in which the best jockey or driver wins. It’s an approach that’s often applied to leadership succession, with top managers competing over the job of CEO and trying to outpace their peers. Proponents say it’s effective, but some boards and current CEOs are apprehensive about an overt competition between several recognized candidates within a defined time frame.
When a horse is in the middle of a pack, it’s easy to see why its handler might be worried. It’s the most dangerous place to be, where horses can kick and bite, and even the strongest of horses can fall and break a leg. To stay safe, a horse might veer off the track or buck its rider to avoid getting kicked in the head or backside, potentially injuring itself and causing the rider to lose control. To prevent such a collision, the horse and rider are positioned with their feet in a tight box, and the rider has to be careful not to get too close to the horses on either side.
In a horse race, horses are allocated different amounts of weight to carry based on their ability, with allowances for older and female horses when running against males and other factors. This allows for more competitive races in which all horses have a reasonable chance of winning, although the odds on each horse remain highly variable and often involve large wagers.
To help their horses improve their performance, trainers rely on various techniques, such as varying the distances and types of races that they run, increasing or decreasing the number of runners in each race, changing the starting gate position and making other adjustments to the field. The horse’s health and fitness are also important considerations. Some trainers have found success in giving their horses a few weeks to rest after an intense race, as well as reducing the amount of grain they eat.
The day of the race at Santa Anita, eleven horses lined up at the starting gate, their coats glistening in the morning sun. They were surrounded by people wearing hats and sipping mint juleps. Behind this romanticized facade, however, there is a world of racing cruelty: injuries, breakdowns and slaughter. Activists have documented abusive training practices for young horses, drug abuse, and illegal electric-shocking devices used to encourage the animals to run faster and longer.
As they moved into the first turn, Ruth broke cleanly and stayed in the middle of the pack. On the backstretch, he started to catch up to War of Will, and by the clubhouse turn, was a few lengths back with McKinzie and Mongolian Groom just ahead. In the stretch, he surged wide with Cedillo whipping non-stop, and snuck past a gelding named Tropical Terror and a bay colt called Vino Rosso to take the lead. The crowd roared. It was the closest Ruth had ever come to victory in a major race.