A match race is a
regatta for two
sailing boats, racing each other around a course. It is differentiated from a fleet race, which almost always involves three or more competitors, by slight variations in the rules and large variations in tactics.The phrase has also been adopted for Thoroughbred
horse racing as a race in which only two entrants compete. Match races are an occasional custom in the Sport of Kings, usually after the connections of one horse challenge another.
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