Even though horse racing is one of the oldest sports in the world, it is very much different nowadays from what it originally started.
Technology is the biggest reason why horse racing has changed over the years, and this is a good thing since new revolutionary ways of organizing sporting events make horse racing safer, more competitive, accurate, and fun to watch.
Technology has impacted our lives in many ways, and one of them is through the sports like horse racing that we are watching.
It is fair to say that horse racing heavily depends on technology, and the sport wouldn’t be the same without it.
With that said, let’s dig deeper and find out how technology is used in horse racing events.
Safety
The most important thing when it comes to organizing horse racing events is to ensure the safety of both the riders and horses.
Horses are prone to injuries in a race, and sometimes quick assistance is necessary in order to make sure the horse stays healthy.
That is why nowadays, most professional horse racing tracks have tons of equipment that is used in order to track horses’ attributes throughout the race.
On top of that, there is also other medical equipment such as MRI scanners, X-rays, and endoscopes that will help the track vets to diagnose injuries and diseases earlier and more efficiently.
The latest tech in terms of improving the overall safety of horse racing was thermal imaging cameras, which accurately present the temperate of the horse before and after the race.
This can prevent horses from ‘overheating’ and suffering from more serious health issues.
Data Tracking
If you are a horse racing enthusiast then you probably already know the importance of data tracking in horse racing.
It is important to mention that this is a data-driven sport, where fans, trainers, and organizers are using different tools to track weather and track conditions, horse’s form, distance, speed, and much more.
Nowadays, many technological innovations help organizers and trainers to accurately track data from training as well as racing and find out in which segment the horse needs to improve.
There are different types of tracking equipment that are now present in horse racing, similar to fitness trackers used by humans.
Such trackers can provide real-time data that can help trainers and organizers analyze segments of the training or match and improve in certain fields or prevent injuries.
That is why you can check the results of races like Preakness on websites like this almost instantly: twinspires.com/preakness-stakes/results
Photo Finishes
The days when special sensors snapped a photo of the finish are long gone and thanks to technology, horse racing events can now more accurately pick the winner of the race in seconds.
Newer technologies use 1-dimensional array sensors which remove the delays that are usually caused by photo finishes.
Back in the day, officials would have to wait for a photo to be developed, which created a tense moment after the race.
Now thanks to 4K cameras, tracking sensors, and laser technology, officials know which horse finished the track down to the millisecond.
Streaming
One of the biggest reasons for the rise in popularity of horse racing is the introduction to live streaming services that made the sport more available to a wider audience.
Back in the day, the only way to watch a horse racing event is if you decide to go to one, and since horse racing was popular in only certain countries, most people didn’t have a way to watch the sport.
Nowadays, almost all professional horse racing events are covered by an official broadcast or a live stream action that is free to watch on the internet.
Mobile Betting
Wagering is a huge part of horse racing, and most people see it as a part of the experience of going to a horse racing event.
However, in the past betting on horses was only possible at the track with totes and bookmakers that made their own odds for each horse that is participating.
Nowadays, thanks to the huge advancement in mobile betting, people can place bets on most horse races without actually going to a race.
This makes the process much simpler and fair to the bettors since they can pick the best odds for a horse racing event.
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