A horse race is a contest of speed or stamina between horses that either are ridden by jockeys or pulled by sulkies and their drivers. As a sporting event, it has developed from primitive contests between individuals or pairs of animals to a modern spectacle with large fields of runners and sophisticated electronic monitoring equipment. But the basic principle of the horse race is unchanged: The horse that crosses the finish line first wins. As the term has expanded in use to encompass all sorts of close competition, it has also come to be used metaphorically in a political sense to refer to any close form of contest.

During the course of a horse race, each competitor must complete the prescribed distance, jump each obstacle (if present) and finish in the money (first three, plus some amount for fourth). A bettor places his bets on one or more horses in the field, which may include Win, Place or Show bets, with the winnings depending on the type of wager and the amount of money placed on each.

The shoulder is an area of the horse’s neck formed by the scapula and the humerus. A horse’s heavily muscled shoulders help produce a rhythmic movement and allow for the forelegs to extend in a smooth motion, with each step of the horse moving its legs at a uniform pace. The shoulder is also the part of a horse’s body that is permitted for a rider to strike with his whip.

Before a race, the jockeys inspect their horses in the walking ring to see whether they are fit to run. A horse with a bright coat that is rippling with sweat and displaying just the right amount of muscled excitement is considered to be ready for action. The horses also receive injections of Lasix, a diuretic that prevents pulmonary bleeding from hard running. Lasix is noted on the racing form with a boldface “L.”

A jockey’s skill and judgment in coaxing advantage from his mount are tested to the limit when his horse is asked to run 100 kilometers at speeds approaching 160 miles per hour. Similarly, a presidential horse race is often a tight affair that requires considerable finesse and precision from the competitors to pull ahead of the pack. As dash racing became the rule, a few yards at the end of a race were often all that separated candidates, and a rider’s ability to gain those few extra inches was a major factor in the outcome of many races. With the advent of expensive and quick polling methods, however, the horse race has increasingly resembled a nail biter rather than a rigorous debate about the nation’s biggest issues.