Flat racing is a form of Thoroughbred horse racing which is run over a level track at a predetermined distance. It differs from steeplechase racing which is run over hurdles. The race is a test of speed, stamina, and the skill of the jockey in determining when to restrain the horse or to impel it.

The flat races in Great Britain are run over a variety of distances from five furlongs (1,006 m) to over two miles (3,219 m) and are generally called sprints, middle distance or stayers races.

Racing takes place on a natural grass surface (turf) or on a synthetic surface (all-weather). Racing in Europe is generally on turf, while in the United States and Canada, the more important races are on dirt or all-weather. Indeed, nearly all North American races are flat races, as steeplechase racing is very infrequent and largely confined to short, specialized race meets. There, the term "flat racing" is rarely used, as the form is so predominant.

In Europe, the two most powerful "teams" are Coolmore Stud farm, most of whose horses are trained by Aidan O'Brien in County Tipperary in Ireland and owned by John Magnier and/or Michael Tabor, and the United Arab Emirates based Godolphin stables, owned by the Sheikh Mohammed and his brothers but based during the summer in Newmarket, England.^{[citation needed]}

James Edward "Jim" Rice (born March 8, 1953), nicknamed "Jim Ed", is a former Major League Baseball left fielder.

Jim Rice played his entire career for the Boston Red Sox from 1974 to 1989. An 8-time American League (AL) All-Star, he was named the AL's Most Valuable Player in 1978 after becoming the first major league player in 19 years to hit for 400 total bases, and went on to become the ninth player to lead the major leagues in total bases in consecutive seasons, and join Ty Cobb as one of two players to lead the AL in total bases three years in a row. He batted .300 seven times, collected 100 runs batted in (RBI) eight times and 200 hits four times, and had eleven seasons with 20 home runs, also leading the league in home runs three times, RBIs and slugging average twice each.

In the late 1970s he was part of one of the sport's great outfields along with Fred Lynn and Dwight Evans, who was his teammate for his entire career; Rice continued the tradition of his predecessors Ted Williams and Carl Yastrzemski as a power-hitting left fielder who played his entire career for the Red Sox. He ended his career with a .502 slugging average, and then ranked tenth in AL history with 382 home runs; his career marks in homers, hits (2,452), RBI (1,451) and total bases (4,129) remain Red Sox records for a right-handed hitter, with Evans eventually surpassing his Boston records for career runs scored, at bats and extra base hits by a right-handed hitter. When Rice retired, his 1,503 career games in left field ranked seventh in AL history. Rice was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on July 26, 2009, as the 103rd member voted in by the BBWAA.