Horse racing is a sport that involves the use of horses either ridden by jockeys or pulled by sulkies and their drivers. It is one of the world’s oldest sports and has been around for thousands of years. It has evolved from a primitive contest of speed and stamina into a modern spectacle featuring huge fields of runners, sophisticated electronic monitoring equipment, and immense sums of money. Its basic concept, however, has remained virtually unchanged.

Horse races are typically divided into two categories, Graded Stakes and Non-Graded Stakes. The higher the grade, the more prestige and history a race has. A committee assigns the grades at the end of each year for the next season. A race may be upgraded or downgraded depending on the results of previous races and the depth and quality of a field.

A Grade 1 is the highest level of a race and is reserved for the most accomplished horses in the game. A Grade 2 and a Grade 3 are the next levels of a race and usually feature excellent horses with limited experience. Then there are the Non-Graded Stakes which feature less accomplished horses and offer smaller purses than a Graded Stakes race.

The horse is a very intelligent and incredibly versatile animal that has served humans in many different capacities throughout history. It is believed that horseracing originated in the Middle East, but it was quickly adopted by civilizations throughout the world. The sport was even featured in the ancient Olympic Games. Archaeological records show that horseracing was also an important part of myth and legend, such as the competition between the gods’ steeds Odin’s and Hrungnir in Norse mythology.

Despite the fact that horse racing is unequivocally an unnatural act, the industry’s claim that “horses are born to run, love to compete” still rings true today. The truth, though, is that it’s an industry that puts a premium on profit over the well-being of the animals. The fact is that, in the eyes of the law, a horse is nothing more than property. As such, it can be ran into the ground and even to death with little or no penalty. This is especially true for a racehorse, which has no meaningful legal protections as an animal. As a result, horsemen can treat the creatures they own with total impunity.