Talk:Flat racing

Merge

I recommend this article be merged into Horse racing it is primarily duplicative of what is already in the larger article. Though there is an argument to be made for breaking out steeplechasing and other more unorthodox forms from the main article, the term "horse racing" and the article of the same name cover the topic. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Montanabw (talk • contribs) 17:57, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

That could be a rather US-centric approach. (What would americans say if we merged "football" and "soccer"?) If there is excessive similarity between the 2 articles then that is an argument for judicious editing. PatGallacher 01:20, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Also just looking at the 2 articles again, they are nothing like each other. PatGallacher 01:22, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

That's because this one is of terrible quality. The larger article incorporates almost everything here somewhere within it and actualy has a more worldwide perspective. "Flat racing" is "generic" horse racing and exists worldwide. Maybe judicious editing would help, but explain how "flat racing" is somehow US-Centric as opposed to "horse racing." The soccer versus football analogy isn't working for me because as far as I know "flat racing" isn't really a common term in either the UK or the USA, it is merely a technical term that differentiates ordinary races from, say, steeplechases. But, this isn't exactly on my A list of projects, so there is time and room to discuss this further. But it seems that there is a lot of room for cleanup. Montanabw^(talk) 02:29, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

I agree that this article is poor, but if you look at What links here you'll see that there are hundreds of pages linking to "Flat racing". I don't know about the USA but the term is very common in the UK and Ireland. -- Zafonic 20:18, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

I would endorse that. Flat racing, or racing "on the flat", are terms in everyday use in Great Britain, where flat racing and steeplechasing are regarded as of roughly equal importance. I think many British people would be genuinely surprised to hear it described as "ordinary" horse racing. PatGallacher 23:53, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Considering the issues here, I suggest that the best approach is to make this a relatively short article explaining that flat racing is the main form of horse racing in most parts of the world, but this is not the case everywhere, and then refer people to the main article on horse racing or the articles on individual countries. PatGallacher 23:56, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

I like that solution and Looks like some work was done in horse racing. As far as double redirects, that is not a huge problem, but I think we do need a good disambiguation link at the very least. Montanabw^(talk) 03:42, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

"Horse racing"

The statement "in North America, 'horse racing' means Thoroughbred flat racing unless otherwise stated" seems to me to be opinion at best. Standardbred racing is ubiquitous in North America. Quarter Horse racing is more isolated, but quite a big deal in the areas where it's run. While Arabian racing is largely a novelty, Appaloosa racing and Paint Horse racing, though niche markets, have fiercely loyal followings. (Not to mention Thoroughbred hurdles racing and the rarer steeplechase racing). Horse racing can really mean many, many things in North America, largely depending on where one is. Joefromrandb (talk) 03:20, 16 November 2015 (UTC)

No, there is very little harness racing any more outside the coasts (mostly the east coast) and the Chicago area, but there is flat racing in over 30 states. Usually anything that isn't Thoroughbred racing is called by what it is, i.e. Quarter Horse racing (which, far from "isolated" is pretty major throughout the western half of the country, probably more so than Harness racing in the east), Arabian racing, Harness racing, etc... we could rephrase it to say that the generic refers to TB racing. Room to discuss. Montanabw^(talk) 09:07, 16 November 2015 (UTC)

Sort of what I meant by "depending on where one is". While harness racing may not be as "ubiquitous" as I made it sound, it still exists in 16 states (including Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Kansas–not what I would consider "coastal" states), and five provinces of Canada. Here, in the eastern U.S., "horse racing" is just as likely to mean "harness racing" as it is "Thoroughbred racing". Joefromrandb (talk) 07:40, 17 November 2015 (UTC)

Heh, one of those "where you stand depends on where you sit" situations. (Chicago isn't the coast, either, and I DID mention the Chicago area) I suspect in Scandinavia, home of the Coldblood trotter, they might agree with you, but in the UK, they'd no doubt feel the opposite. Can we come up with some phrasing that perhaps makes it clear that when you say "horse racing" to the general public, they are more often going to picture flat racing? (I'd be OK tossing the "Thoroughbred" part). Montanabw^(talk) 22:21, 19 November 2015 (UTC)

When someone says "horse racing" to me, I'm more likely to picture jumps racing - but that's probably a personal choice! However, it shows that the phrase means many different things to different people. --Bcp67 (talk) 09:22, 20 November 2015 (UTC)

The sentence in question refers to North America, where jumps racing is somewhat of a novelty. (The Turf Writers' Cup at Saratoga is the only major jumps race of which I know that's held annually in North America.) Montana's suggestion sounds reasonable. Joefromrandb (talk) 05:40, 24 November 2015 (UTC)

Go for it; if I see a need for further nuance, we can BRD again, we're all good buds here! Montanabw^(talk) 22:44, 24 November 2015 (UTC)

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