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Horse Racing History Article # 3 Horse Racing And How It All Started It’s probably fair to say that nowadays, horse racing is one of the most famous forms of gambling in the modern world. We have already mentioned in a previous horse racing article that the sport dates back to Central Asia around the year 4500 BC. Horse racing has certainly come a long way to the point where it even has specific and dedicated television channels, something that I believe we will see with a lot of other sports in the future too. Was It The British Who Invented This Great Sport? Despite its popularity in this country, history tells us that the UK cannot claim credit for the ‘invention’ of horse racing. It is said however, that horse racing was developed by bringing Arabian thoroughbreds to the UK in 12th century, just after the Crusades. This is thought to be when horse racing started in UK, but its popularity really started to increase only a couple of centuries ago, with the creation of the first race courses (albeit that they were fairly basic at this point in time) and the official formation of rules that all races had to adhere to, which gave the sport its first real boundaries and structure. The races that were at the forefront for spectators in the early days were the ‘Classics’ of today; the Oaks, the Derby, the 1,000 and 2,000 Guineas and the St. Leger. These races were originally created as regional competitions that seldom saw horses from different regions competing against each other, mainly due the distances that would be involved in traveling across different regions. … This was horse racing at its most basic. Royality Dabbles With Horse Racing History It was during the reign of Queen Anne that race courses really started to get anywhere to resembling what we know today. The large financial prizes that were being offered in these races proved to be a real incentive in attracting the very best horses, meaning that spectators were prepared to pay more to view the horses on show. It is therefore now coincidence that one of the most famous Group One horse races still ran today and is called ‘The Queen Anne Stakes’ which was started in 1711 by the Queen herself. This also spawned the annual racing festival at Royal Ascot, giving this now very famous race course the profile and publicity that is sought after by so many courses around the country. Back To The Present Day These days a governing body, the British Horse Racing authority, presides over the sport, although royalty is still involved from the point of view that they are regular visitors to meetings around the country each year. As the governing and regulatory body for the sport, the British Horseracing Authority’s responsibilities are wide-ranging, so anything from compiling the racing calendar for the year to liaising with betting companies and protecting the integrity of the sport (both on and off the racecourse) is within their remit. There is another key cog in the huge wheel of horse racing and that is the Jockey Club. Having been involved in racing for more than 250 years, the Jockey Club is completely dedicated in its mission to improve the sport. Another important role that it plays is to ensure that there is sufficient investment in the future of horse racing, with all profits generated by The Jockey Club’s businesses being re-invested back into racing. Article Author: Cliff Thurston
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