EnglishClub ESL Forums

Could you explain how "would" works in this sentence? Here is an explanation about "two-horse race".

(a) Two-horse race

A close or tight battle between two teams for the title (three teams would be a three-horse race, and so on).

It is a straightforward use of the conditional mood, in the context of an implied 2nd conditional sentence (I.e. "IF THERE WERE three horses, it would be called...").