Horse Racing - The Sport of Kings
Thousands of years ago, man discovered that an animal from the Equus order was good for carrying his burdens and lightening his load. Then one day, as the human race as a whole are natural competitors, we began to use that animal, called the horse, to race against others. Then man began breeding horses to excel in speed and endurance. When this new type of entertainment and sport began to evolve, it was the nobility, or royalty, who could afford the expense of breeding horses for this purpose. Therefore, that "class" of people were the ones who most often enjoyed the leisure of competing in horse races. Early picture records of horse racing were found in the origins of prehistoric nomadic tribesmen of Middle Asia. It was they who first domesticated the horse around 4500 B.C. The first written records came much later, after horse racing was already an established sport from Central Asia to the Mediterranean. Horse racing became a part of the Greek Olympics around 638 B.C. And the Roman Empire was obsessed with the sport. Modern racing traces its roots back to the 12th century. Knights of the British Empire imported Arabic horses upon their return from the Crusades. In the years that followed, hundreds of Arab stallions were crossbred with English mares to give the most desirable combination of speed and endurance. This breed of horse became known, after its evolution, as the Thoroughbred and of course the nobility were leaders in staging competitions between two superior Thoroughbred horses for private wagers, as a diversion. As the sport evolved to being more professional during the reign of Queen Anne in the early 18th century, one-on-one races gave way to events in which several horses competed. Racetracks offered purses, or prize money to the winner of the events. And those purses grew larger in order to attract the best horses. During the mid-1700s, it was decided that there needed to be a governing body to determine the rules and standards by which racers, breeders, and owners must abide. As a result the Jockey Club was established in Newmarket, and still exercises complete control over English racing to this day. Once the Club established the complete rules and standards of the horses and the races which could be run under sanction of the Club, five races were designated as the "classic" races for three-year-old horses. The English Triple Crown - which is open to both colts and fillies - consists of the 2000 Guineas, the Epsom Derby, and the St. Leger Stakes. Two other races, which are open only to fillies, are the 1000 Guineas and the Epsom Oaks. As the British settled in America, they brought very fine breeding stock and racing horses with them. The first known racetrack in the Colonies was on Long Island in New York. It was first laid out around 1665. Though horse racing was a popular local event, organized and professional racing did not actually start until after the Civil War. From there, the sport escalated in popularity across the settled parts of the country. And many of the racetracks were run by the "criminal element." As this was quite undesirable to the more prominent track owners and breeders, they met in New York in 1894 and formed the American Jockey Club. They soon established rules and regulations, similar to those of the English Jockey Club, and quickly eliminated much of the corruption. The Kentucky Derby, one of the best known horse-racing events in the United States, was first run in 1875. Its home is at the Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. It is one of the three races which make up the American Triple Crown. The other two are the Belmont Stakes, first run on Long Island, New York at Jerome Park in 1867, and the Preakness Stakes, first run in 1873 at Pimlico Park in Baltimore, Maryland. Although interest has waxed and waned over the years, horse racing is the second-most attended spectator sport in the United States, outranked only by baseball. There are other forms of horse racing in both Great Britain and the United States. These include: - The steeplechase, which requires the horse to clear such obstacles as brush fences, stone walls, rail fences, and water jumps. The oldest and most famous steeplechase in Great Britain is England's Grand National. It was first run in Aintree in 1839, and continues even today. The most famous in the United States is the American National. It was first run in 1899 at Belmont Park and continues to be held there annually. - Hurdle racing is similar to the steeplechase, but is much less demanding. It is often use as a training arena for Thoroughbreds who will later compete in steeplechases. - Point-to-point races are generally run by amateurs throughout the British Isles. - And last but by no means least is harness racing, which was very popular during the Roman Empire. Once the Empire fell the sport all but vanished until its resurrection, by those who liked to race their horses in harness on the country roads of America, at the end of the 1700s. The first official tracks for harness racing came about in the early 1800s, and by 1825 harness racing became a favorite attraction at country fairs all across the U.S. Out of the rebirth of harness racing, a new breed of horse was born. In 1788, an outstanding English Thoroughbred stallion was imported to the United States. He was bred with American Thoroughbred and mixed-breed mares to establish the line of Standardbred. The name is based on the "standard" distance of one mile in harness racing speed. The descendants of this line were rebred over the years to create this new breed which has the stamina, temperament, and physical size and structure to endure racing under harness. Although harness racing suffered a decline of popularity again in the early 1900s, it bounced back in 1940 after being reintroduced at a raceway in New York as a pari-mutuel betting event. Its number of tracks and scheduled annual events outnumber those of Thoroughbred racing in the United States today. It has also gained popularity in many European countries, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. What was once almost exclusively "the Sport of Kings" has segued over the years to encompass people of all lifestyles and income. It remains, however, a sport quite often associated with the "well-to-do", those who can afford the vast expenditure involved with raising the standard of horse required to run in, and win, the large purses awarded by, the most popular horse-racing events around the world.
-------------------------------------------------------
Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Horses
|
Other Horse Racing Betting Articles
Gaming in Kansas City, Missouri; Las Vegas style Texas Hold-em Poker and Slots Going to Kansas City? Kansas City calls itself the “City of Fountains” and with good reason. It has more fountains than any city except Rome, and talk about competing with European cities, KC ranks second only to Paris in the number of miles of its grand Boulevards.Located near the geographical center of the country, you’ll find KC to be ...Football Betting - End-of-Season Games Everyone loves a trier, especially when it comes to putting down your readies. There's nothing more galling for punters than to realise that your selection was 'not off' and that you've not even had a fair run for your money.Blanket television coverage and the greater transparency of the betting exchanges have raised awareness of the 'non ...Horse Racing Betting, The Risk Free Way You may or may not of heard of all this talk about been a change to horse racing betting where you can bet on horse races risk free.Yes that’s right, Risk Free!Now this isn’t some bogus system that gives you one horse that is guaranteed to win, it isn’t even like normal gambling. It’s more like trading as you are betting on more th ...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 origi ...Las Vegas Odds & Ends The Las Vegas Hilton, home of the prestigious SuperContest football handicapping competition, will give away $10,000 in weekly drawings throughout the upcoming season as the resort turns its legenday theater into "Football Central" on NFL Sundays.Food and drink specials, including $1 hot dogs and draft beer, .will be served beginning with ...Horse Racing's Premature Obituary Ok folks, it's time to break out the shovels to bury horse racing, again!We came across an article on ESPN.com written by Bill Finley entitled "2005 was a lousy year for horse racing." In his article Mr. Finley cites 9 reasons why 2005 was such a bad year for horse racing in America. Although we agree with several of his observations, n ...Saratoga Springs, NY: A European-Style City in a Uniquely American Setting George Washington not only slept here, he brought his friends along and partied. “Here” is Saratoga Springs, New York, famous for its mineral waters, horse racing and fashionable culture. Since just after the Revolutionary War, the rich and powerful in American society have been flocking to the Saratoga region. Today, the wealthier classes still ...League Two Season Preview 2006/07 - Boston United Boston UnitedOdds: 25/1Last Five Seasons 2005/06 - 11 (League Two), 2004/05 - 16 (League Two), 2003/04 - 11 (League Two), 2002/03 - 15 (League Two), 2001/02 - 1 (Conference, Promoted).Cup Progress 2005/06 FA Cup Second Round vs Doncaster Rovers (h) - lost 2-1 Carling Cup First Round vs Sheffield United (a) - lost 1-0 ...Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (Season 2) DVD Review Nominated for 19 Emmys and 5 Golden Globes, including Best TV Series - Drama, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman experienced the rare double victory of audience loyalty and widespread critical acclaim. Premiering in mid-season (January 1993), the hour-long CBS original series illustrated American frontier life like few other shows before it. Like the sma ...USA Is Worried About The Online Gambling Popularity The topic of the USA struggle against on-line gambling industry disturbs the gambling community. There is the old Wire Act (1961) in force in the USA which prohibits to stake with the help of the phone, telegraph and other wire communication facilities outside the bounds of one’s own state. Gamblers consider that this ban does not apply to the I ...Horse Racing Betting System - Designing a Simple System Putting together a system is not as difficult as it may sound, even for a beginner. The important thing, and with any betting, is that you write down every rule and follow it for at least 100 bets. You do not need to trade real money, paper trading is best at first. If after 100 bets it is in profit, you can then give it a betting bank and start ...States Lottery Basics For those who dream of quitting their jobs and being independently wealthy, the lottery is an affordable way to take some chances and move toward a goal. Lotteries have been a great support to those aspiring to be great through the stroke of luck. The lotteries have been a source of income to the people who believe that the lady luck is on their ...Horse Racing Betting Horse racing is known as the sport of kings and many people around the world enjoy horse racing betting. However, horse racing betting is much more than just picking the horse with the catchiest name or the best odds. If you’re serious about betting on the ponies it’s a good idea to consult with some of the expert odds makers who know why a part ...Derby Hunt Continues The Kentucky Derby is still several months away, but leading Las Vegas handicapper Gordon Jones says now is the time to start zeroing in on top contenders who aren't necessarily the "media-hype" horses that currently garner the most ink.While Breeders' Cup Juvenile champ Stevie Wonderboy was on everyone's list, including Jones', his exit ...The Triple Crown - Horse Racing's Ultimate Challenge The Triple Crown, like so many of our best traditions, wasn’t created, it grew into being. During the late 1800’s three different tracks created races to test the new crop of three year olds. These three races, the Belmont Stakes, the Preakness and the Kentucky Derby were held in the same year for the first time in 1875. It wasn’t until 44 ye ...West Virginia State Fair Held in Lewisburg The State Fair of West Virginia is held each year during mid-August in the town of Lewisburg. Here visitors can enjoy fun in its many varied forms, music from all around the local area and of course midway food!Favored carnival food comes in the forms of classics such as corn dogs, kettle corn, spiral fries, nachos, and roast corn and tu ...How To Increase Your Horse Racing Wagering Cash Flow If You have a horse racing system that produces at least 33% Wins Or better than 66% in-the-money finishes, then You can Increase Your Horse Racing Wagering Cash Flow©. And You can realize this by simply betting 4% of Your total bank (Multiply Your Total Bank by 0.04.) on each race that was successfully processed by an effective handicapping pr ...Trading The Betting Exchanges The numbers of people working from home utilising the talents of the Internet continues to grow at breakneck pace and one of the largest areas of growth in Britain is Online Trading, both in sports and miscellaneous markets.There are numerous advantages of setting up and running a sports or miscellaneous trading operation from home. First ...Stuey The Kid Ungar: Poker's Card Savant He won $30 million dollars at cards and lost that much and more. He is the only three-time winner of the World Series of Poker. He died broke and alone in a sleazy porn motel between The Strip and Downtown Las Vegas.Stuey “The Kid” Ungar was proud of the fact that Mafia bosses came to his Bar Mitzah. The son of a New York bookmaker who di ...How to Succeed in the Poker Freerolls Part 2 How to Succeed in the Poker Freerolls Part 1 looked mostly at what cards to play and when to play them, in Part 2 we take a look at other factors that you need to be aware of in order to succeed in the freerolls.7. Watch your opponents and learn their playing style.You can learn a lot of valuable poker information just by watching ...Keno Game 101- What You Absolutely Need to Know ‘Keno’ is a well known game nowadays. It is frequently played and appreciated by people in America. However, the game was not born in America. It is a gift of China. The game has a long history, which also reveals the benefits that people of China accrued of this game. Keno is an invention of a Chinese named Cheung Leung. Through the revenue of ...Manchester United March On After A Convincing Victory Over Wigan Man Utd showed their championship winning composure to take a vital three points against Wigan this weekend. The Reds went down to an early free-kick scored by the emerging Leighton Baines but fought back valiantly to ensure that the pressure was maintained on last years champions Chelsea. The main talking point for the game was the performance ...Currency Options - 3 Secrets Of Options Trading For Huge Gains! Many traders love the idea of currency options, they have unlimited gains and limited risk – sounds great in theory, but in practice 90% expire worthless!This article is all about how the pros use currency options to generate big consistent gains and how the losing majority don’t understand the odds of success.This article will giv ...Horse Betting Placing a bet on football always seemed easier to me, so that’s what I would do. Even now we’ll only put money down on horses once in a while.There are a few different types of wagering when it comes to horses. The most common, the one you see Moe betting on all the time on The Simpsons, is what is called standard betting. Basically, you ...A Plus B Equals C: A Poker Player's Worth is Judged by His Bottom Line Some poker strategies will surprise you with their simplicity. This is one of them. Write down your results, every single time you play.In common with all churches, we believe in donations. Bad players will pay your mortgage for you every month, and enjoy themselves as they lose their money to you.But how much? You must make detail ...Easy Ways To Make Money Today, there are umpteen easy ways to make money effortlessly. These avenues may be legitimate or illegitimate, but they share the common trend of providing easy money. However, it must be said right now that "easy money" is just a euphemism for a way to make money in a non-traditional way. There is no such thing is truly easy money.Betti ...
|
