Horse races are competitions between two horses over an established distance. The winner is decided by which horse crosses the finish line first; one of the oldest sports ever created and it has changed very little since its origins over centuries. While modern versions involve large fields of runners, electronic monitoring equipment and huge sums of money, its core principle remains unchanged.

To win a horse race, jockeys must mount their mount and ride it safely along a prescribed course, including jumping any hurdles present and reaching the finish line at its conclusion. Prize money is awarded to first, second and third place finishers respectively.

Stakes races are among the world’s premier and competitive horse racing events. Held at some of the highest facilities at any racetrack, these exclusive competitions typically attract only limited participants and often follow similar regulations across national horse racing organisations.

Races can be divided into various categories, depending on age, sex, distance and time of year. Thoroughbred horse racing is by far the most prevalent form, although harness and quarter horse races are popular across various regions in America.

Stakes races differ from other horse racing in that their rules do not allow public access and boast much larger prize pools.

Trainers typically prepare horses that are candidates for stakes races by entering them in smaller events known as condition books. These races take place over an extended period, typically several weeks or months. Trainers use this framework to hone their horses’ training regimen during this period – its frequency depending on how many entries each condition book draws.

Although these races do not guarantee that a horse is ready to race, they do provide trainers with an idea of their horse’s potential performance in future races. These races play an essential part of equine training as trainers gain an idea of their performance levels and what needs to be done to enhance them.

Trainers in the race industry push horses hard in order to make them competitive, often to their limits, which can result in injury to both body and lungs. When exercising these horses may experience exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage – which causes their lungs to bleed – which must be managed with cocktails of legal and illegal drugs that mask pain while improving performance; many of which have also been found harmful over time and can cause significant lasting harm.