Horse racing facts are popular today through most of the Western world as well as in other areas. They were probably contested as early as 1500 in Egypt. The roots of harness racing extend back to at least as far as early Greece, where chariot races were a part of the Olympic games. In Roman times, the chariot race became an entertaining show for the masses. The constant, widespread desire for faster and stronger horses for work, military use, and sport led to the development of several special breeds for these purposes.
Steeplechase, which is horse racing over a course with hurdles and shallow water jumps through a country like setting, became popular in England and Ireland in the 19th century. The Grand National Steeplechase, held annually since 1839 at the Aintree course, in Liverpool, England, is the most famous race.
Harness racing, began in the 1830s from the custom of informal carriage races. This became very popular in the 1870s. Harness racing features two differently gaited standardbred horses. Pacers (laterally gaited), which move with a swaying motion, bringing the right front and right hind legs forward at the same time, and trotters (diagonally gaited), which move with a high-stepping, straight ahead gait with left front and right hind legs moving forward in unison. More Horse Racing Facts include, harness racing, formerly a favorite event mainly at U.S. country fairs, became extremely popular after WW II at horse racing facilities near urban areas. The United States Trotting Association, formed in 1938, governs the sport. Other Horse Racing Facts include notable harness races include the Hambletonian, the Kentucky Futurity, and the Little Brown Jug.
The first major thoroughbred horse racing in the United States was at the Saratoga Springs, N.Y., track in 1863. Churchill Downs, in Louisville, Kentucky, opened its flat-racing track in 1875. Other thoroughbred tracks soon appeared across the country. More Horse Racing Facts are at that time, jockeys were often African Americans, but whites forced them from the saddle and effectively denied them riding opportunities until the latter part of the 20th century, when Latin Americans and women also became some of the top jockeys.
The Thoroughbred Racing Association, founded in 1942 is the leading regulatory organization in horse racing, but state racing commissions oversee racing within their borders. Historically the three most important U.S. flat-racing events (all limited to three-year-old horses) have been the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs, the Preakness at the Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md., and the Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park, on Long Island near New York City. More Horse Racing Facts are together these events are known as the Triple Crown, and such winners of all three as Citation in 1948 and Secretariat in 1973 are considered among the greatest horses in racing history.
Since 1984 they have shared the limelight with the annual Breeder’s Cup championship, a one-day event comprising seven races of differing conditions held at a premier course. Other important thoroughbred races include the St. Leger Stakes in Great Britain, Queen’s Plate in Canada, the Melbourne Cup in Australia, and the Dubai Classic in the United Arab Emirates.
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