Governance observers often express discomfort with the horse race approach to selecting a CEO, which pits several senior executives in an intense competition that ends with one emerging as the company leader. But proponents argue that an overt race for this role serves to motivate those further down within an organization who see a clear pathway into more senior roles; furthermore, having multiple strong internal candidates competing shows the board is committed to cultivating high performers through functional assignments, stretch opportunities, and testing them against ever-increasing demands in new roles.
Racing world, which relies heavily on donations from both the public and gamblers to survive, has taken some admirable steps to make its sport safer for horses. But that can never change the fact that racehorses are often pushed beyond their limits, sometimes beyond any point of no return. Recent deaths include Eight Belles, Medina Spirit, Keepthename Creative Plan as well as untold thousands that have vanished without trace – an existential crisis that can only be resolved by admitting truth: horse racing kills horses!
To prevent such tragedies from occurring, horse racing has developed an intricate set of rules governing its races and who may participate. These include regulations regarding age, sex and place of birth of runners as well as weights assigned to horses to ensure fairness across a field and handicap races (in which allowances may be made for younger horses or female horses running against males). Furthermore, many of the most prestigious flat races worldwide restrict entry only to horses who have won multiple races already.
As such, horse ratings can become very complex systems; horses are judged by an independent panel known as the racing commission and assessed based on past performances, speed figures, race results and even their jockey/trainer/owner’s success with similar horses in similar conditions.
A horse’s rating can also be determined by its position on the track, distance from the finish line and whether or not it is carrying extra weight. A runner’s position on a chart includes markers at different distances around the track that designate different distances from its finish; quarter pole is one such marker which marks midrace positioning for instance.
An additional factor affecting horse performance is the use of drugs and performance-enhancing agents known as “juice.” Ancient Romans would utilize water mixed with sugar for increasing endurance in horses; by the early 19th century horse racing became famous for other juicing techniques involving cocaine, heroine and strychnine as performance enhancers.