phrase

• A contest in which one candidate or competitor is clearly superior to all the others and seems certain to win.

  ‘In many eyes, this year's Best Actress Oscar contest is a one-horse race.’

  More example sentences

  • ‘The 1975 contest was a one-horse race - this time in the sense that Captain Christy led from start to finish and ended up an emphatic 30-length winner.’
  • ‘Now it is widely assumed that this recent development changes everything, that the East is suddenly a one-horse race, and that the Heat - Zo and behold - has become the favorite to make it to June.’
  • ‘He proved he did, but the nine straight titles Rangers garnered under his chairmanship owed much to the fact that the Scottish championship was, at this stage, a one-horse race with Celtic lurching towards bankruptcy.’
  • ‘These one-horse races are not big at the box-office.’
  • ‘But I think even I could confidently predict the next winners of the Premiership because Arsenal have managed to turn it into a one-horse race.’
  • ‘In this region that means Bradford and it's a one-horse race.’
  • ‘So I think those people who are dissatisfied, that kind of mood really needs to fester for a long time before that kind of movement will emerge, or if there's a merger between some of the existing parties, but really it's a one-horse race.’
  • ‘Frankly, the debate about whether the weather or market reports should come at the end of Newsnight has been far more gripping than this one-horse race and, you know, I blame the lack of visual stimulus that our politicians provide.’
  • ‘One Deutsche shareholder said: ‘I don't buy into this argument that it will descend to a one-horse race.’
  • ‘A spokesman for the Friends of York Archives said: ‘We have always said this should not be a one-horse race.’’
  • ‘‘Of course the polls were also telling us it was a one-horse race, and have been telling young people that throughout their teenage years,’ Curtice said.’
  • ‘This time round it looks like being a one-horse race - even taking into consideration Mandelson's actions and any subsequent damage to the party.’
  • ‘From a neutral perspective, I just hope it is a season of uncertainty and unpredictability, not a one-horse race.’
  • ‘The SPL has been a one-horse race for the past two seasons.’
  • ‘There was no need for a similar betting frenzy that was going on down the road at Aintree a day earlier - this was a one-horse race from the off.’
  • ‘When it comes to delicious treats at Royal Ascot, this North Yorkshire company has made it a one-horse race.’
  • ‘Maybe last season, with a one-horse race at the top and bottom marked the nadir.’
  • ‘Rotorua voters have given a strong - and very public - hint that they are more interested in party policy than the one-horse candidacy race predicted for the electorate.’
  • ‘In the run home, it was a one-horse affair with The Rat scoring by five and a quarter lengths.’