Horse race refers to an overt contest between multiple candidates for leadership roles within a specific period. Many governance observers and executives feel uncomfortable with this approach; however, companies that successfully implement it often end up producing strong leaders that are well qualified for their position. It’s essential for companies to carefully assess whether their culture and organizational structure can support such processes before embarking on one.
Historicially, horses have long been bred for racing and today it has become a widely popular spectator sport that involves large fields of runners, sophisticated monitoring equipment, and vast sums of money. Although racing has progressed from primitive contests of speed and stamina to captivating generations of viewers worldwide, the basic principle remains unchanged: The horse that crosses the finish line first wins.
An individual horse’s success in competition depends on several factors, including its physical condition, its trainer’s skills and its capacity for risk. When developing a training regimen for their particular mount based on its current fitness level and risk tolerance, a trainer creates a “condition book”. This document lists races that will occur over an agreed-upon timeframe (usually weeks or months), along with any races for which they have entered themselves and any substitute races that might fill any vacancies when not enough entries have come forward.
Races that a horse enters can be divided into different categories based on his or her history and physical ability to compete against other horses. The most renowned flat races, such as the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, typically run over distances ranging from one mile to three miles and act as tests of both speed and stamina.
Claiming races provide trainers with another avenue for entering horses that may not meet higher-level races, often those which have won prior races but not a graded stakes race. Trainers use these races to provide class relief and reward (wins) to their horses without risking losing it to another trainer.
Non-graded stakes races provide another step down from graded stakes races, often featuring horses that do not possess the speed for graded stakes competition and typically offering smaller purses. Furthermore, non-graded stakes races may also feature separate age/gender combinations in their races.