On the 25th of March, we will celebrate the running of the Dubai World Cup, a horse race that hosts some of the best horses in the world running in a country with a great heritage tradition in this sport. Many people love to attend and follow this race, but many also want to know more, simple things that would make their day at the races more exciting and informed. Often there are questions that may seem to basic to ask, and the books and accounts on horse racing are to specific and purist based to explain to a newcomer what this incredible sport is all about. In a countdown of articles that will run the week up to the Dubai World Cup I hope that my words will help share the sport with a greater audience.
At its simplest, horse racing is a contest to decide whose horse is the fastest.
The multibillion-dollar Thoroughbred racing industry that we know today came from humble beginnings some 300 years ago.
The sport was built around a new breed of horse, the Thoroughbred, this breed is directly descended from three Purebred Arabian Horses: The Godolphin Arabian, the Darley Arabian, and the Byreley Turk.
Every racehorse in the modern sport of Racing has its own breeding papers, and a passport that trace its ancestry back to these three horses that come from our desert.
It is a pastime that has captured the imagination of millions of people from all walks of life, and I am among them.
Horse racing is an industry, a sport, and an art. But global scale aside, its essence lies within the most regal of animals, one that has worked alongside humanity through the ages. Our world has been shaped in so many respects by the horse.
The sport of modern Horse Racing takes place in various forms across the globe, from its heartland on the historic tracks of England to the barren outback of Australia and the vast steppes of Mongolia.
Everyone involved with a racehorse is driven by ambition, from the breeders who watch a newborn foal take its first tentative steps to the owners and trainers working to turn the young horses into what they hope will be a race-winning athlete.
It is this dream that has drawn people and Thoroughbred horses to our country for one of the world’s showcase racing events, the Dubai World Cup.
In only a few years it has become one of the most coveted races for racehorse owners and trainers. Indeed, it is the pinnacle of racing achievement for a horse to make the field of this prestigious race.
Racing is an industry that employs thousands globally. It has a unique sporting heritage and is steeped in tradition. However, it is also a business which must prove sustainable for its long-term success.
Broadly, the industry is composed of racehorse breeders, owners, trainers, jockeys, and regulators, with, of course, a myriad of support staff and legions of fans.
Breeders operate in what is more commonly called the bloodstock industry, with HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s interests represented globally by the Darley brand.
Breeders produce foals through carefully judged matings. These youngsters are generally sold at auction when around a year old. The best-bred yearlings can command large sums. These horses are bought by individuals, or groups organized into syndicates, with the intention of having them trained and raced.
These youngsters generally enter training as two-year-olds, when they become the day-to-day responsibility of the trainer. They are introduced to riding and the paraphernalia of racing, ranging from the riding gear to the starting gates at the racetrack.
Trainers take responsibility for the exercising, feeding and housing of the horses, as well as organizing appropriate health care. The owners pay the bills and often help dictate where the horses will run and how they will be produced.
Race meetings will often feature contests that cater to these inexperienced horses. We all have to start somewhere, after all.
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