one-horse races
Competitions without suspense
A one-horse race is a competition with only one serious contender—the outcome is essentially predetermined.
The term comes from horse racing, where a single dominant horse makes the contest meaningless.
It applies broadly to elections, business competitions, or any situation lacking genuine rivalry: The primary was a one-horse race from the start.
- uncontestedFacing no rivals
- dominationSupreme authority held
- walkoverUncontested or effortless victory
- unchallengedFacing no opposition
- unrivaledHaving no equal
front-runner · certainty · safe bet · sure thing · dead cert · blowout · easy win · foregone conclusion · done deal · cakewalk · inevitability · landslide · shoo-in · mismatch · stacked deck · fait accompli · monopoly · power imbalance
one-horse racesnail-biters
Suspenseful, closely contested events
toss-ups · photo finishes · dead heats · cliffhangers · too close to call
horse, race, ones, horses, races, raced, racing, racer, racers