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Most animals (including humans) on earth have right lateral dominance.
(Most, thought not all, readers here are right handed.)
For horses this means that when running in a straight line they will prefer to lead with the right front hoof.
But for balance, this is a disadvantage on turns when running counter clockwise (as in North America) and they have to learn to switch leads to the left front leg.
Of course in Europe, many races are ran clockwise.
So staying on the right lead is not a problem on turns.
However, the lead leg can tire in long runs and the animal that can switch to the alternate lead can sometimes find another gear for a short time.
Also in Europe, some races are ran counter clockwise too. For those the horses have to develop proficiency changing to the left lead for the turns.
Then again some trainers find out which directions their horses perform best in and book their runners for tracks that match the horse's preference.
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