A Brief History of Thoroughbred Racing

Horse racing dates back to 3000-4000BC when the people inhabiting the central Asia region organized races as depicted in the ancient texts. Horse and chariot racing was also popular in the ancient Greek civilization. Thoroughbred racing began after the descendants of the three original stallions – Darley Arabian, Godolphin Arabian and Byerly Turk – were crossed with selected local mares in England giving rise to “thoroughbreds”. These thoroughbreds were then shipped to America. Though there is record of ordinary horse racing that took place in 1664, the first thoroughbred horse racing took place in 1775. The credit of this goes to Governor Samuel Ogle of Maryland.

A thoroughbred horse race meant racing between thoroughbreds whose pedigree is verified and can be traced back to the three original stallions. The early part of the horse racing in America was ruled by criminal elements, as there were no government regulations regarding horse racing. In 1894 leading stable owners and jockeys in America formed American Jockey Club in New York. The club was modeled after the England Jockey Club that was formed in 1750 and the races began to look organized once the official body took the management in to its hands.

By far the most popular form of horse racing is the racing in flat circular courses of 2-3.25 miles on thoroughbred horses. The first thoroughbred race was held in 1876 and called the Belmont Stakes. The first Preakness stake took place in 1873. In 1875 at the Kentucky Derby the race was won by Aristide. These three races together stand for Triple crown race that consists of racing of 3-year-old thoroughbred horses. In England the Triple Crown existed in the 1850s. Now millions dollars involved in the American Triple Crown and it’s a serious sport that’s linked to the fortunes of many basing on the performance of the thoroughbreds.