Horses specially bred and trained to run fast in competitive races; animals valued for their speed and athletic ability in horse racing.
Compound of 'race' (from Old French 'rasse,' possibly from Italian 'razza,' lineage) and 'horse' (Old English 'hors'). The term became standard in the 1600s as organized horse racing became a popular sport among nobility.
Thoroughbred racehorses are so selectively bred that almost all of them descend from just three stallions from the 1600s-1700s—their entire genetic diversity comes from an incredibly narrow bottleneck. This makes them fast but fragile, prone to injuries that would be minor in wild horses.
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