Thoroughbred Horse racing history

By JC

November 10, 2007

Domesticated Horses have been used by man for a very long time for travel before cars. History also tells us that horse racing goes way back as well. History shows that horse racing was used in as early as 4500 B.C. From as far as the Asian lands horses have been used for this specific purpose. The Greeks are recoded to have used horses as well in the early Olympics.

Horse racing of both individual mounted riders as well as chariot racing were both popular spectacles. but the participation was not for just anyone. As horse racing history shows it was once only a sport for nobles.

Modern horseracing was started around the 12th century between the mixing of Arabian horses and English horses. These horses were known to be superior in speed and agility. These were sparred by the return of the noble knights to the mother land after the Crusades. Since they were fast horses, the breeders wanted to maximize the potential of the horses and thus put them on tracks. this is where we get the term thoroughbred.

Some of those who have been influential over the years in the promotion of horse racing include King Charles II who held private races on his courses throughout the 1600’s.

Also Queen Anne who founded the Ascot in 1711 was believed by many to hav made horse racing an official sport.

Into the 1700’s the Jockey Club was created by means of an initiated group of elite figures who were involved in horse racing. This organization was the first group that set the standards and rules for the sport of horse racing history.

sThe organization known as the Jockey Club also initiated the regulation of breeding among horses. James Weatherby, an accountant of the Jockey Club took on the task of tracking the family lines of all racing breeds in England. Through his research the General Stud Book came to be, which held the authority in terms of the breeds that could be put into a race. The general rule from this Stud Book stated that only those pedigrees that had descended from the family blood line of these particular foundations sires would only be considered as true Thoroughbreds. The list of foundation sires are as follows. The Godolphin Arabian, the Byerley Turk, the Darley Arabian.

It was only until the 17th century that horse racing appeared in America. The first place of this was located in Long Island NewYork. only until after the Civil War did horse racing get booming, and by 1890 over 314 operating tracks are to have believed to have been in place. But for a long while during this history of horse racing only Those that had Criminal background seemed to dominate the sport, until high ranking stable owners had a meeting from all over and came to form a similar Jockey Club to that of England.

This is the horse racing history in a nutshell. Today horse racing is as popular as it has ever been and more organized as well as it grows to be one of the most popular sports of all time.

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