Pony & Horse Portal

British mares with Arabian males, and were shipped to North America in the early eighteenth century. But organized thoroughbred horse races didn’t start for another 150 years or so, even though the first racetrack was constructed as early as 1665, on Long Island. It wasn’t until the American Stud Book was created in 1868 that things really got organized. Harness racing, too, made a sort of parallel history, when a new breed known as standard-bred horses branched off from the thoroughbreds.
Thoroughbred horse racing was still rather precarious as an organized sport, even after it became officially systematized. The reason was that until 1908, betting was seriously frowned upon among the American populace. This meant there wasn’t much incentive for the races to proliferate, when the disapproval was so strong. However, in 1908 the new pari-mutuel form of betting was established, in which all bets made were collected into a common pot and divided equally among the winners after each race. People could now bet on their horse racing selections, and the races began to multiply.

When pari-mutuel betting came into the sport of thoroughbred horse racing, it made this sport far more popular, yet this popularity continued on a roller-coaster throughout the twentieth century. It lagged somewhat, during and after the Second World War, then rose in the latter part of the century. What began the most recent rise was the fame of certain horses like Seattle Slew or Secretariat, and in more recent years it has been perpetuated through the internet, both via online betting sites and the many horse racing analysis and information websites. The beginnings of these races and the breed itself were relatively modest, but now they have risen to fame and have achieved an assured place in North American history.|It’s a measure of the success of thoroughbred horse racing that it feels like it’s had a very long history. Its most prestigious races, such as the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes (known as the Triple Crown), are deeply steeped in tradition. But you don’t have to delve into horse racing information for very long before you discover that even the breed of thoroughbred horses is only slightly older than the United States. And the races in which they excel were established not much more than 150 years ago.

It still took another three or four decades for the future of thoroughbred horse racing to become really secure, however. This was because there was betting at these horse races, but much of the American public frowned on such things. But in 1908, the system changed so that bettors were no longer betting against “the house” (i.e. the race track itself), but all bets were put into a common pool, and were divided among winners when the race was done. Now people could bet the horse racing odds to their heart’s content, and the number of races increased.

When pari-mutuel betting came into the sport of thoroughbred horse racing, it helped this racing to become more popular, yet this popularity continued on a roller-coaster throughout the twentieth century. It lagged somewhat, during and after the Second World War, then rose in the latter part of the century. What began the most recent rise was the fame of certain horses like Seattle Slew or Secretariat, and in more recent years it has been perpetuated through the internet, both via online betting sites and the many horse racing analysis and information websites. The beginnings of these races and the breed itself were relatively modest, but now they have risen to fame and have achieved an assured place in North American history.|Thoroughbred horse racing, despite its seemingly long traditions and prestige, is not an ancient type of race. Thoroughbred horses themselves, as a breed, don’t actually go back much farther than 300 years, while the races that bear their name were only formally established late in the nineteenth century. That means these types of races have only been run for perhaps 150 years, with harness races coming in a close second for longevity.

The thoroughbred horses were bred in England, crossing English mares with Arabian stallions, and were brought to North America in the early eighteenth century. But organized thoroughbred horse races didn’t start for another 150 years or so, even though the first racetrack was constructed as early as 1665, on Long Island. It wasn’t until the American Stud Book was created in 1868 that things really got organized. Harness racing, too, developed a sort of parallel history, when a new breed known as standard-bred horses branched off from the thoroughbreds.

Thoroughbred horse racing was still rather precarious as an organized sport, even after it became formally systematized. The reason was that until 1908, betting was seriously frowned upon among the American populace. This meant there wasn’t much incentive for the races to proliferate, when the disapproval was so strong. However, in 1908 the new pari-mutuel form of betting was established, in which all bets made were collected into a common pot and divided equally among the winners after each race. People could now bet on their horse racing selections, and the races began to multiply.

The future of thoroughbred horse racing wasn’t universally rosy, though, even after betting was allowed. There were continued rises and falls in popularity throughout the twentieth century, but since the 1980s the interest in this type of racing has risen fairly steadily. The internet has been an important tool in furthering these races in the past decade or so, as people can gather horse racing news and information by this means, and can now even use it to place bets. With its history and prestige now firmly established, it doesn’t look as though thoroughbred racing is likely to fade from popularity any time soon.

A little About the Author:

David Jones is keen in Horse racing events of all kinds and will travel the world to watch major events whenever possible. David enjoys a healthy bet on regular occasions, but always recommends one does not get carried away betting on horses!

For a living David also runs an Insurance business which provides specialized electronic gadget cover for standalone items such as Laptop Insurance and Mobile Insurance. Some electronic items are these days subject to high levels of insurance fraud such as iPhone Insurance, so that takes up more of David’s time than other products.

The authors favourite event is in the UK and is well known around the world as The Cheltenham Gold Cup, which is internationally recognised as probably the most glamours horse racing events in the world.