A horse race is a competition in which horses are driven by drivers around a race track in a two-wheeled cart called a sulky. The carts are pulled by one of a breed of horse called a standardbred, which moves on either a trot or pace gait. In the latter, the left front and right hind legs move in unison while in the former, the legs on each side of the body move in tandem. The sport of horse racing has existed for millennia and draws spectators for a day out at the races, a chance to win money and a drink or three in the grandstand.

Behind the romanticized facade of Thoroughbred racing lies a world of drug abuse, gruesome injuries and slaughter. As fans show off their fancy outfits and sip mint juleps, horses are forced to sprint-often under whips and illegal electric shockers-at speeds so fast that they often sustain debilitating injuries, such as bleeding lungs (exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage).

The high-speed, highly repetitive nature of the sport also causes the horse’s heart rate to increase tenfold during a race, to 250 beats per minute or more, leading to exhaustion and sometimes collapse. A sudden stop, like an accident on the track or a fender bender, can result in catastrophic injury and even death.

While a few racehorses become superstars who can pull in huge sums from bettors, most horses end their lives as a commodity and a byproduct of the industry. They die in terrifying accidents on the tracks and in training facilities, break down or are euthanized after sustaining crippling injuries, lose the race and are sent to slaughter, or fail to live up to expectations and are discarded to the trough.

As the public becomes more aware of these problems, however, horse racing is slowly losing ground. In 2011, a report commissioned by the Jockey Club found that horse racing is losing fans, revenue, race days and entries at an alarming rate. A growing number of people are calling for reform and outright bans on the brutal sport, as well as a more humane treatment of these sensitive animals.

When journalists focus primarily on who is winning and losing instead of discussing policy issues — what’s known as horse race coverage, or election coverage that concentrates on the lead and the trailing contenders — voters, candidates and the news media itself suffer, according to an ever-growing body of research. Our updated roundup includes recent studies on third-party political candidates, probabilistic forecasting and TV news election coverage.