Talk:Horse racing

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Contents

[edit] Title

Is this title correct? With the hyphen? -- Zoe

This article has been renamed as the result of a move request. violet/riga (t) 10:59, 1 May 2005 (UTC)

For the record, I was going to move the page, but can't. Horse racing currently can't be deleted, due to a server error having to do with block-compression. The error message says the problem will be fixed "in a month or two". Lachatdelarue (talk) 02:01, 30 Apr 2005 (UTC)

There are ways around such things, moving the article out of the way and labelling it {{pending deletion}}. violet/riga (t) 10:59, 1 May 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Controversy

Note: Split to new Controversy in horse racing article.
Facts that show horse racing in a bad light were moved off to a seperate page, which has now been deleted. It is clear that both the good and the bad should receive equal show on the Horse racing page. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 82.152.209.197 (talk) 13:28, 13 March 2007 (UTC).
Does anyone know what the term is for the practice of deadening the nerves in the hooves and ankles of horses , so that if they are injured during a race they will continue to run often resulting in the horse finishing the race but then needing to be euthanized . I don't want to go off on a rant but it's definitly an obvious sign that a races results are more important to alot of these owners and trainers than the welfare of the animals .96.234.176.72 (talk) 10:10, 16 May 2008 (UTC)
Um, if they actually did that, they wouldn't be able to effectively run. They sometimes DO cut certain nerves on some horses who develop certain degenerative diseases in an attempt to keep them comfortable in the pasture, but such horses can't race. What is sometimes a problem in racing and other sports is overuse of overall analgesic and antinflammatory NSAIDS like bute to mask milder pain, inflammation and fatigue. If a horse needs painkillers, it probably shouldn't be running. Montanabw(talk) 23:15, 16 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Trivia

Oldest jockey club (founded 1734): Charleston Jockey Club, VA. Shortest odds ever for a winning horse: Dragon Blood (Lester Piggot up) 1 June 1967, at 10000:1. Trekphiler 04:42 & Trekphiler 04:47, 9 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Negative slant

Is it really appropriate for the kidnapping of Shergar to be the only fact mentioned concerning Irish horse racing? Surely there are more germane facts to mention, like listing Irish Classic races or a list of great Irish racehorses?

I've made a start on implementing your suggestion but I wouldn't consider myself knowledgable enough to expand any more than what I've already written. I don't think the Shergar incident deserves mention at all; Irish racing is much bigger than a kidnapping that happened over 20 years ago. Jimg 14:38, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Sounds & terminology

Can someone add a section on sounds and jargon? Ewlyahoocom 02:54, 30 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Harness racing more popular than thoroughbred racing in Europe?

"Harness racing is also popular in the eastern United States and more popular than thoroughbred racing in Canada and Europe." I don't know about Canada but I cannot believe that this is the case in Europe. I'm not sure what measure was being used make this judgement but in terms of television and newspaper coverage, crowds, levels of betting, amounts paid for horses, etc. thouroughbred racing dwarfs harness racing in Europe. I am proposing to remove this claim from the article.

[edit] American circuits

The claim "Just as Americans differ from the British on which side of the road they drive, so too do they differ on which way a horse race is run around a track" simply can't be true, as there are many both left-hand and right-handed British circuits. As well as at least three (like Brighton and Epsom) which aren't circuits at all, some (like Cheltenham and Newmarket) where there are different courses possible over a large complex of tracks, and two figure-of-eight circuits where the horses cross their own path.

Also it doesn't say which way round American races are run.

Also it does not include enough about the contributions of Colonel William Whitley to the introduction of horse racing to Bluegrass Kentucky.

So I delete that paragraph. --KenBrown 08:25, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

The real difference between US and British courses is that the British are varied in shape, often quite hilly, and have a wide variety of distances. American courses tend to be flat with gentle turns and all pretty much the same short distance. But someone who knows more about them than I do can document that. And perhaps they can say whether American courses are raced clockwise or anti-clockwise as well.

[edit] History??

shouldn't there be a history section? Hostile Hams 12:55, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

I was just coming here to suggest the same thing! This article is very focused on modern racing, but horse racing has occurred in various forms for millennia! Also, what about the changing culture around racing: at times it has been a very popular sport, a "lower-class" sport, or an elitist entertainment. I don't know enough to write this, but someone should. Cmadler 17:18, 28 December 2006 (UTC)
Good points, it seems to have some history per country but no overview. Also it looks like it might have lost continuity when/if the Horseracing in Great Britain section was split out. As the North American one starts with "Horse racing in the United States and on the North American continent dates back to the establishment of another course named Newmarket... without article having mentioned the British Newmarket -Hunting dog (talk) 13:42, 18 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Palio di Siena

Palio di Siena has nothing to do with sport horse racing. It is an historical race. So, it should be removed from this page.

[edit] Copyright infringement?

I suspect a copyright infringement in the Korean section of the article in that most of the text appears to have been copied from this Asian Racing Federation page. Could someone with knowledge of copyright check it out. - Cuddy Wifter 01:17, 5 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Racecourse grade

Can anyone explain the system of grades for racecourses? Maybe put this explaination in the article if it deserves a mention. For example, the lead for the Epsom Downs Racecourse describes it as a grade-one racecourse. I'm a horse racing layman and I'm unclear. This would certainly be informative for other readers. Sloman (talk) 09:25, 17 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Clean up

Added clean up guys, the article needs more organization with topics and subtopics. Thanks Camilo Sanchez (talk) 07:48, 31 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Horse racing in Mauritius

Anyone notice that the Horse racing in Mauritius section reads like an ad... and the entire references section for the Horse Racing page seems to be ad's for the same course 'Champs de Mars' in Mauritius! Any ideas on rejigging that? -Hunting dog (talk) 07:45, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

note to self [1] and [2] closest thing I can find to neutral secondary sources at moment. -Hunting dog (talk) 08:09, 29 May 2008 (UTC)
Agree. I found one reference for the info I left, then dumped the rest. It was just an ad. Bob98133 (talk) 13:16, 29 May 2008 (UTC)
That definitely seems the right sort of tone now. Unfortunately I'm fairly sure the claim the reference makes that its the second oldest racecourse in the world is wrong.... (there's at least two early 1700's claims for British courses alone). Champ de Mars Racecourse claims the 'club' is second oldest, which might be more plausible, the ref's that gives are timing out on my internet at moment though. Seems this section (and the Champs de Mars article) might still need a bit of work. I'll see if I can find anything more conclusive, unless you have any inspiration first. -Hunting dog (talk) 18:50, 30 May 2008 (UTC)