PROFESSIONAL HAMSTER RACING
- hamsterracing0
- Sep 1, 2017
- 1 min read
In 2001, an epidemic of foot and mouth disease caused the cancellation of some British horse races and other sporting events. To boost their lagging bookmakingincomes, betting agencies introduced and promoted the concept of professional hamster racing. Online bookmaker Blue Square organized the first hamster racing series, with the rodents racing in hamster dragsters. A series of qualifying rounds were held over a week, with a final race. The event was webcast live on the internet and generated significant media interest, including full-page articles in the Daily Mail and Sun newspapers, as well as live reports on BBC London and Sky News. This high level of media interest was in part due to the cancellation of horse racing at the time.
While largely confined to the United Kingdom, professional hamster racing has since made inroads in the United States and Asia.
Race hamsters are almost always divided into at least two race classes, which follow their species classifications: dwarfs and Syrians. They are also often divided into other race classes, such as novice, patterned and long-hair or short-hair.
Not all hamster racing is done professionally or for betting purposes. Amateur hamster races are popular at church outings and frequently occur at hamster and rodentshows. Amateur races generally do not conform to the professional 9 meter (30 ft) track distance but may use shorter "sprint" tracks designed to make sure all hamsters finish in a reasonable time. Fast hamsters are capable of winning sprint races in just a few seconds.
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