Horse races are one of the oldest forms of sport, dating back centuries. While its rules have evolved over time, its basic principle remains unchanged: The winner is defined as being the first to cross the finish line first.
Horses are bred, trained and fed to run races successfully. When pushed beyond their limits however, they may suffer exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage (EIPH). To combat EIPH bleeding most horses receive Lasix marked as “L.” This diuretic helps them excrete huge amounts of urine which helps avoid EIPH bleeding.
Lasix isn’t the only performance-enhancing drug used in horse racing; other performance boosters include steroids, anabolic steroids and various legal and illegal chemicals aimed at masking injuries, increasing speed and endurance and pleasing bettors are used too. Injecting horses with multiple drugs at once to boost performance is known as juicing; “juicing” involves injecting multiple types of drug at one time in order to enhance performance.
Horse races allow betting enthusiasts to place bets on specific horses that will place in a specific order: first or second. Bookmakers set specific betting prices, with those sporting higher odds considered favorites and the rest of the field considered as afterthoughts; however, some bettors who take part in pool wagering attempt to identify likely winners in order to gain financial advantage by picking likely winners more easily.
Although horse races are widely perceived to be competitive events, they don’t always represent a contest between democratic and republican candidates. Recently, research conducted by professor Johanna Dunaway and Regina G. Lawrence found that newspapers with multiple owners or larger chains were more likely to publish stories that depicted elections as horse races than those with single ownership or smaller chains. This trend was most prominent in close races and during the weeks preceding Election Day, where real issues in a horse race can easily become lost amongst mudslinging, name calling and attack ads. Such an atmosphere creates an ideal environment for horse race metaphors to be used as a diversion from deliberating on how best to move our country forward.