Horse racing is one of the most ancient sports with the nomadic tribesmen of Central Asia racing horses since early domestication and horse racing has long been an organised sport in many countries throughout history.In 1750 horse racing’s elite met at Newmarket to form the Jockey Club to oversee and control English horse racing. The Jockey Club wrote a comprehensive set of rules for horse racing and sanctioned racecourses to conduct horse racing meetings under their rules and in 1814 5 races for three year olds were designated as “classics”: The 2000 Guineas, The Epsom Derby and The St Ledger all open to colts and fillies and which make up The Triple Crown, and the 1,000 Guineas and the Epsom Oaks open to fillies only.

It was the Jockey Club that made many of the horse racing rules and they also were a leader in the regulation of breeding. The subject of breeding is one that could span a number of books, but suffice it to say that James Weatherby was the major reason pedigrees and breeding are a big part of horse racing today. From England, horse racing was brought to the United States, but it was not until after the Civil War that horse racing was really established in the U.S. During the mid 1800’s horse racing grew and became very popular by 1890 when there were over 300 racetracks in the United States. As popular as it was during the late 1800’s, it almost got wiped out completely in the early 1900’s by the anti-gambling movement that led almost all states to ban wagering. In 1908 the number of racetracks was down to just 25. That same year though pari-mutuel betting was started on the Kentucky Derby and this led to horse racing going up the popularity ladder again. States had agreed to legalize the pari-mutuel betting and horse racing benefited greatly. Great horses like Man 0′War and Seabiscuit gave horse racing a big following for many years, but during the war years the sport slowed down a bit. It picked back up in the 1970’s when some great horses dominated the stage. Secretariat, Seattle Slew, and Affirmed, each won the Triple Crown and horse racing was beloved by many people. Unfortunately horse racing has never enjoyed that type of popularity since those Triple Crown years.

The United States currently has thoroughbred tracks all over the country, but it is really the Triple Crown that draws the most interest. In the last 20 years the Breeder’s Cup races also kept up racing interest. Betting today at American tracks is done under the pari-mutuel system where a fixed percentage of the amount wagered goes to the track for expenses. The projected payoffs are continuously calculated by the track’s computers and displayed as “odds.” All tracks have the normal win, bet and show options along with exotic wagers like exactas, trifectas, daily doubles, pick 3’s and pick 6’s. The Jockey Club continues to regulate horse racing and point-to-pointing today, but the British Horseracing Board became the governing authority for horse racing in Great Britain in 1993 and The National Hunt Committee was established in 1866.