Horse racing: A once-in-a-year habit

Dubai: This weekend, we enter the very unique and exquisite world of horse racing. We do it once a year, covering anything and everything related to the “sport of kings”.

At times, I cringe at the thought of meeting friends, as nearly all of them have this common grouse that there is “too much coverage” of horse racing. And so, this week I thought why not delve a bit into the world of horse racing and get to understand it more?

For starters, there are two main types of racing: flat racing and jump racing. Flat races are normally run over a distance of between four to 20 furlongs (one furlong is 200 metres) and the oft-mentioned ‘Classic’ distance is a mile and a half or 2,400 metres. The most famous race is the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

In flat racing, the horses have to carry a weight of between 51 and 65 kgs, which includes the weight of the jockey and the leather saddle that he needs to sit on while riding.

For the record, there are three types of jump races: hurdles, steeplechase and cross-country. But we can perhaps gloss over jump races, as to date we have never ever had such events in the UAE.

Flat racing is by far the world’s most popular type of racing. But it is also so simple to understand. The starting gates are thrown open to signal the start of the race and the horses run, with the winner being the first one to cross the finishing post.

However, easy as it may sound, there are other factors such as the position of the horse in relation to the rails, the weight the horse is carrying and the distance of the race that all come into play when actual racing is held.

Traditionally, racehorses are owned by very wealthy individuals. However, the new trend is that of horses being owned by syndicates or partnerships. A horse will run in colours chosen by its owner and these colours are always registered under the national governing bodies. The rights to certain colour arrangements are valuable in the same way as having a distinctive car registration number.

And if an owner has more than one horse – like Dubai’s Godolphin has five horses in the main Dubai World Cup race on Saturday – then some slight variant in colours is often used to make out the difference between the horses.

So on Saturday, when a total of 125 horses take off from the starting gates, be ready to welcome a brand new winner in each of the new nine races. And, of course, you will get the full, detailed and extensive coverage of the races in Sunday’s edition.

Just one more day of extensive horse racing coverage – until next year!