Abstract:
A method for conducting a race series, involving determining an elimination number; determining a field number, wherein the field number minus one is equally divisible by the elimination number; selecting a field number of participants; separating the field number of participants into the elimination number of racing groups; conducting a plurality of races wherein each race has a winner; conducting a first race between all participants in the first racing group; conducting at least an elimination number minus one of races subsequent to the first race; wherein each of races subsequent to the first race is conducted between the participants in any of the racing groups and winner of the previous race; and continuing to conduct races subsequent to the first race until a single winner wins an elimination number of consecutive races or there are the elimination number plus one different winners.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to the field of horse races. More specifically, the present invention relates to conducting a multi-day horse racing event that includes a single race per day on consecutive days and an opportunity to determine a single overall winner. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Horse races have traditionally been held as single day events or a series consisting of single races separated by a period of multiple days. Additionally, existing horse race series do not involve the same horses at each event. 
         [0003]    As a result, there exists a need for a horse racing event that determines an ultimate winner of a given group of horses in which not all horses in the group race each other at the same time. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    With the foregoing in mind, embodiments of the present invention are related to a racing series. Furthermore, the racing series may advantageously combine multiple, consecutive days of racing with multiple attempts for participants to beat all other participants in the series 
         [0005]    According to an embodiment of the present invention, a method is described for conducting a racing series event in which an overall winner may be determined only if the overall winner beats every other participant remaining in the event. In such a method, an elimination number must be determined, which determines the number of consecutive wins that a participant must collect to be declared the overall winner. 
         [0006]    A field number must also be chosen. The field number is equal to the total number of participants in the event. Each participant in the field may be placed into a racing group. There will be an elimination number of racing groups with one racing group having one more participant than the remaining racing groups. Each participant will be initially placed in exactly one racing group. The racing group with the one extra participant will compete in a first race. The winner of the first race will then compete against all the participants in the second racing group. The winner of each previous race will compete against the participants in the next racing group until each racing group has raced at least once. When the last racing group has competed, an overall winner will be declared if the same participant won each of the races. If the same participant has not won each race, racing will continue until there have been an elimination number plus one different winners of races or an overall winner has been declared. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0007]      FIG. 1  is a flow chart illustrating the inventive method. 
           [0008]      FIG. 2  is a flow chart illustrating one embodiment of the inventive method. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0009]    The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Those of ordinary skill in the art realize that the following descriptions of the embodiments of the present invention are illustrative and are not intended to be limiting in any way. Other embodiments of the present invention will readily suggest themselves to such skilled persons having the benefit of this disclosure. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. 
         [0010]    Referring to  FIG. 1 , a method is shown for conducting a racing series event in which an overall winner may be determined only if the overall winner beats every other participant remaining in the event. In such a method, an elimination number must be determined  101 . The elimination number determines how many different groups of participants will be required. The elimination number also determines the number of consecutive wins that a participant must collect to be declared the overall winner. In addition, the elimination number may determine the total number of winners that may win at least a single race in the series before determining that no overall winner will be determined. In one embodiment of the inventive race series, the elimination number must be greater than one. 
         [0011]    A field number must also be chosen  102 . The field number is equal to the total number of participants in the event. To have all racing groups contain the same number of participants, it may be desirable to choose a field number that solves the following equation: 
         [0000]      Field number=( x *elimination number)+1 
         [0000]    where x may be any number and there will be a maximum of x+1 participants competing in each race. 
         [0012]    A field number of participants must be selected to participate in the race series  103 . The participants may be chosen, by way of example and not as a limitation, by random lottery-type drawing, by the organizer of the event, by qualifying races, or the like. 
         [0013]    Each participant may be placed into a racing group  104 . There will be an elimination number of racing groups with one racing group having one more participant than the remaining racing groups. Each participant will be initially placed in exactly one racing group. The racing group with the one extra participant will compete in a first race  105 . The winner of the first race will then compete against all the participants in the second racing group  106 . The winner of each previous race will compete against the participants in the next racing group until each racing group has raced at least once  107 . When the last racing group has competed, an overall winner will be declared if the same participant won each of the races  108 . If the same participant has not won each race, racing will continue until there have been an elimination number plus one different winners of races  109  or an overall winner has been declared. 
         [0014]    After a participant has won any race in the series and then lost a successive race, the participant may be removed from the series and may no longer compete in subsequent races. Therefore, any time after the first time that each race group races, there may be fewer participants in the race. For example, and not as a limitation, if the elimination number is 2 and the field number is 23, each participant may be assigned a number 1 through 23. Participants 1 through 12 may be assigned to the first group and compete in the first race with participant number 1 winning that race. Participant number 1 may then race against the second group, which includes participants number 13 through 23. Participant number 13 may win the second race. Participant number 13 may then race the first group, which now includes only participants number 2 through 12 as participant number 1 may have been removed from the series. In the event that participant number 13 wins the race against the first group, participant number 13 is the overall winner and racing concludes. In the event that participant number 13 does not win the race against the first group, racing concludes without an overall winner as there have been 3 different winners of races in the series. 
         [0015]    Each race may be held on a race course, which may be a generally ovular race track of the kind known to those skilled in the art of horse racing. In one embodiment of the inventive method, each race may be a distance of seven furlongs along a race course and may include at least a 180 degree turn between the start of the race and the end of the race. 
         [0016]    In one embodiment of the inventive method, each race may be held on a different day. In one embodiment of the inventive method, each race may be held on consecutive days. In one embodiment of the inventive method, each participant in the race series may be a horse. Each horse competing in the race series may be referred to as a racehorse. In some embodiments of the inventive method, each participant may be a four-year-old horse. The age of the horse may be determined as of the day prior to racing, the first day of racing, the last day of the event, or the like. In one embodiment of the inventive method, none of the participants may be geldings. In one embodiment of the inventive method, none of the participants may be hit, stricken, encouraged, scared, motivated, or the like by a whip during the race. In one embodiment of the inventive method, no jockey riding a participant in the race may carry or utilize a whip, or the like, during the course of the race series. 
         [0017]    In one embodiment of the inventive race method, the starting position of each participant may be determined randomly, by qualifying races, by race management, or the like. 
         [0018]    In one embodiment of the inventive race method, each participant may be paraded for three days prior to the first race of the series. Displaying a participant may mean to parade the participant. Parading a participant may entail walking or riding the participant on the race course or in the general vicinity of the race course. Displaying a participant may further entail walking the participant for a distance at least as great as one furlong. 
         [0019]    Each race in the series may be conducted on a different day. There may be essentially 24 hours between each race in the series. Spectators may view or wager on the race series. The odds on each race in the series may freeze, that is, remain static, once each race in the series has commenced. 
         [0020]    In one embodiment of the inventive method the elimination number may be 4, the field number may be 61, and the participants may be horses. On each of the first three days all 61 horses may be displayed. In such an embodiment, the participants would be divided into 3 groups of 15 and one group of 16. The group of 16 would be the first group and the three remaining groups would be the second group, the third group, and the fourth group. 
         [0021]    The first group of 16 participants would compete in an initial race, which would begin at a race start and conclude when the first participant reached the race end. The winner of that initial race would then race the second group of 15 participants in a second race. The winner of the second race would race the third group of 15 participants in a third race. The winner of the third race would race the fourth group of 15 participants in a fourth race. If the winner of the initial, second, third, and fourth races is the same participant, the race series event would be complete and the winner of all the races would be declared the overall winner. However, if the same participant does not win all of the first four races, the racing continues with each group racing the winner of the previous race until either an overall winner is determined (by that single participant winning four races in a row) or more than four participants have won races. Each horse that has won a race and then does not win a subsequent race may be removed from the race series and may not compete in any further races. 
         [0022]    In one embodiment of the inventive method, depicted in  FIG. 2 , the elimination number is set at four  201 . The field number is set at sixty-one  202 . The sixty-one participants will be chosen by the organizer of the event, based on the participants past qualifying races  203 . Each participating racehorse will be paraded on each of the three days prior to the first race. The racehorses will be paraded by walking the horses, riders will not be allowed on the racehorses during the three days immediately prior to the start of the race. Each participant in the field will be placed into a racing group  204 . One racing group will have 16 horses; the other three racing groups will have 15 horses each. The racing group with 16 horses will compete first  205 . The winner of the first race will then compete against all the participants in the second racing group  206 . Then this winner will compete against the participants in the next racing group until each racing group has raced at least once  207 . When the last racing group has competed, an overall winner will be declared if the same participant won each of the four consecutive races  208 . If the same participant has not won each race, racing will continue until the same horse has won four consecutive races or five different horses have won a race  209 . In this embodiment, the race will be a distance of seven furlongs and the race course will include a 180 degree turn between the start of the race and the end of the race. In this embodiment, each horse competing in the race event will be a four-year-old horse and none of the racehorses may be geldings. Furthermore, in this embodiment, no jockey may carry a whip. The starting position of each participant will be determined by race management. Each horse will be paraded for three days prior to the first race of the series. Parading a participant entails walking (no running, trotting, etc. . . . ) the participant on the race course or in the general vicinity of the race course. Each race in the series is conducted on a different day. There are 24 hours between each race in the series. Spectators may both view and wager on the race series. The odds on each race in the series will freeze, remain static, once each race in the series has commenced. 
         [0023]    The foregoing examples have been provided in the interest of clarity to illustrate an embodiment of the present invention in substantial detail. A person of skill in the art will appreciate additional embodiments are included within the scope and spirit of the present invention, after having the benefit of this disclosure. Furthermore, a skilled artisan will appreciate that the operations described above, along with additional operations that would be apparent to those in the art, may be performed exclusively, incrementally, sequentially, simultaneously, or any other operative configuration. 
         [0024]    Many modifications and other embodiments of the invention will come to the mind of one skilled in the art having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is understood that the invention is not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed, and that modifications and embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.