A horse race is more than a sport—it’s a culture steeped in elegance and spectacle. With centuries of tradition and time-honored customs, it continues to capture the imagination of spectators around the world. Whether you enjoy watching the beautiful horses, betting on your favorite, or both, there is something to appeal to everyone at a horse race.

The sport is a multibillion-dollar industry and, as a result, is highly subsidized by taxpayers. Those dollars pay the purses at Yonkers and other tracks, fund local breeders, dole out a million or so to Faraldo’s group, as well as support the multibillion-dollar equine economy that includes everyone from trainers to farmers who grow carrots and hay.

Whether or not you believe that horse racing should be subsidized, it is not in the interest of the animals to force them to run faster than their bodies can handle. Even if a horse’s owners and trainers believe they can make the animals “race ready,” those efforts may backfire. When a horse is forced to run faster than its body can handle, it can develop severe injuries such as lameness, bone fractures and tendon rupture. Injuries to the bones, joints and tendons of a racehorse often result in long periods out of action.

In the wild, horses love to run—they are prey animals, after all, and running fast is what they do best. But in order to win a race, a horse must run much faster than it can naturally.

A horse’s condition, the track’s surface and other factors can impact a race. If the weather is rainy, for example, the track may be muddy and slow down the runners. If the track is icy, it can also hinder the runners’ speed. A good racing surface, on the other hand, is firm and allows for rapid acceleration.

Another factor in a horse’s ability to race is its previous training. For example, if a horse is in its maiden race—meaning it hasn’t won any races yet—it will likely be assigned a high weight. If the horse has been winning allowance races, it might be assigned a lower weight.

Lastly, a horse’s medical and drug history can also affect its chances to win a race. During the postmortem examination of Havnameltdown, a horse that died during the Preakness Stakes, veterinarians found bone cysts (holes in the bones) and severe degenerative joint changes in all four limbs. Those findings raised concerns among some outside of the horse-racing industry.