Origins of Horse Racing

Horse racing has thrived as a popular sport for thousands of years. It is in fact one of the oldest sports known to mankind. From the time historical records were maintained one can see that horse racing was an organized sport all over the world. In fact, horse racing events were part of the Greek Olympics as far back as 638 BC.

The origins of modern racing lie in the 12th century when Arabian horses were bred with European stock. The result was sturdy horses with tremendous speed. Modern racing began during this time. By the 1700s racecourses became common in England and in 1750 the Jockey Club was formed. They then established standards, rules and regulations. Horses and horse racing came to USA with the British in the1600's and 1665 saw the first racetrack in Long Island.

The most popular type of horseracing is thoroughbred racing where the horse is mounted by a rider, also known as a jockey, and they race over a flat track for distances from three-quarters of a mile to two miles. Then, there is harness racing, where a standard bred horse pulls a two-wheeled bike or sulky with a driver over a one-mile course. The thoroughbred runs its course while the standard bred is either a trotter or a pacer and is not permitted to gallop or run. The thoroughbred can reach speeds of around 40 miles per hour, whereas a standard bred can trot or pace at around 30 miles per hour. Also popular in the U.S. is quarter horse racing. Today there are 90 thoroughbred racetracks and 29 standard-bred racetracks in 33 States.

Each country has different styles of racing, distances and the type of events. In the United Kingdom for example, there are races that involve obstacles like hurdles or fences called National Hunt racing and unobstructed races over a given distance, called flat racing. In the United States, races on flat dirt or grass surfaces is generally thoroughbred racing; other tracks offer quarter horse racing and harness racing, or combinations of these three types of racing.

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