Horse racing is an internationally popular sport based on the speed of horses. Horse racing is also a major form of gambling, with billions of dollars wagered annually, and a multibillion-dollar industry.
There are four major forms of horse racing. In Thoroughbred racing, Quarter Horse racing, and steeplechase racing, jockeys ride the horse. In harness racing, the horse pulls a driver in a two-wheeled carriage called a sulky. Thoroughbred races are usually held on a flat oval track, though European tracks differ widely in layout. The typical Quarter Horse race is conducted on a straight flat track and is a short sprint, with a quarter mile (0.4 kilometer) the most common distance. Quarter Horse racing is a regional sport, most popular in the southwestern and western United States. In a steeplechase, jockeys ride horses over obstacles.
This article discusses Thoroughbred horse racing. For information on harness races and steeplechases, see the World Book articles on Harness racing and Steeplechasing.
Thoroughbred horses
The ancestry of all Thoroughbred horses can be traced to three Arabian stallions—the Byerly Turk, the Darley Arabian, and the Godolphin Arabian (sometimes called the Godolphin Barb). The three horses probably originated in the Middle East and were brought to England in the late 1600’s and early 1700’s. They were mated with English mares in an attempt to produce superior race horses. Each of the three male lines is traced through a single descendant—the Byerly Turk through a horse called Herod, the Darley Arabian through a horse named Eclipse, and the Godolphin Arabian through one called Matchem.
Before the end of the 1700’s, the English had developed a new breed of race horse called the Thoroughbred. The breed displayed a remarkable ability to carry weight with sustained speed over extended distances.
A typical Thoroughbred weighs from 1,000 to 1,200 pounds (450 to 545 kilograms) and stands from 62 to 65 inches (157 to 165 centimeters) high. Height is measured in hands, from the ground to the highest part of the horse’s back, known as the withers. One hand equals 4 inches (10 centimeters).
In the Northern Hemisphere, the age of a Thoroughbred race horse is figured as if its birthday were January 1 rather than the actual month and day of its birth. A newborn Thoroughbred is called a foal until January 1 of the year after it was born, when it becomes a yearling. In the Southern Hemisphere, the official birthday of race horses is either July 1 or August 1 depending on the country. A male horse is known as a colt until he turns 5, when he is called a horse. A female is called a filly until the age of 5, when she is known as a mare. A male castrated horse of any age is called a gelding. A male parent is a sire, and a female parent is a dam.
Thoroughbreds are required to carry a certain weight in a race. Most jockeys weigh 115 pounds (52 kilograms) or less. The total weight consists primarily of the jockey’s weight plus the saddle and sometimes padded lead weights inserted into pockets in the saddle. In many races, the weight is determined by the horse’s record. The more successful a horse has been, the more weight it is assigned. In some races, weight is assigned according to the horse’s age or sex. Younger or female horses often carry less weight than older or male horses.
Jockeys and trainers
Jockeys.
A jockey’s skill can determine the outcome of many races. Jockeys beginning their careers as apprentices receive a weight allowance that varies from country to country.
The jockey’s equipment consists of boots, saddle, whip, spurs, safety helmet, and goggles. The horse’s owner provides the jockey’s uniform shirt and cap, called silks. The colors of the silks identify the owner and horse for spectators, along with a number that appears on a cloth beneath the saddle.
Trainers
resemble the coaches of other sports. Trainers are responsible for the horse’s condition and for planning the strategy of a race with the jockey. A trainer operating a public stable trains horses for several owners. A trainer with a private stable has an exclusive arrangement with a single owner. Trainers are paid a daily rate and also receive a percentage of the money that owners earn from races.
In major European racing countries, such as England, Ireland, and France, trainers board their Thoroughbreds in facilities called training yards and train them there. The horses are transported by van from the yards to the race tracks. Nearly all trainers in North America have stalls in barns at the racetrack and train the horses on the track between 5 a.m. and 10 a.m.
Types of horse races
Owners of Thoroughbreds compete for prize money, called the purse. In most races, the first four or five finishers in a race share the prize money, with the winner collecting 60 percent. The race track pays the purse.
Stakes races
are the most important races. They offer the largest purses and attract the best horses. Owners pay fees to enter their horses in such races, and the fees are added to the purse paid by the track.
Several major stakes races in England date from the 1700’s. The oldest is the St. Leger Stakes, begun in 1776. The Oaks began in 1779, and the Epsom Derby in 1780. The St. Leger, Derby, and Two Thousand Guineas races form the English Triple Crown. Another important series of races is the Royal Ascot meeting, which the royal family traditionally attends. The three leading stakes races in the United States are the Kentucky Derby (first held in 1875), the Preakness (1873), and the Belmont Stakes (1867). These three races make up the American Triple Crown and are restricted to 3-year-old horses. Another important series of stakes races is the Breeders’ Cup. Races are held in 11 divisions. The main event is the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
The King’s Plate for Canadian 3-year-olds has been run every year since 1860. It is the oldest continuously run stakes race in North America. Other famous stakes races include the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in France, the Melbourne Cup in Australia, the Japan Cup in Tokyo, and the Dubai World Cup in Dubai, a state in the United Arab Emirates.
Claiming races
are designed to bring together horses of equal ability. Any horse entered can be purchased at a fixed price by a licensed owner. The owner must make a bid, or claim, before the start of the race. Claiming races deter owners from entering a horse of high quality because it might be claimed by another owner.
Maiden races
are held for horses who have never won a race. The quality of the horses varies. Some maiden races involve outstanding prospects beginning their racing careers at the age of 2. Other maiden events feature Thoroughbreds with long losing streaks.
Allowance races.
Generally, horses who win maiden races early in their careers advance to allowance races before entering stakes competition. Allowance races may match horses based on various conditions. Reductions in the amount of weight a horse has to carry are called weight allowances. These allowances are assigned based on the number or type of races won or previous earnings. Horses with fewer wins carry less weight. Allowance races are usually the best races on weekdays at major tracks, while stakes races top the weekend and holiday programs.
At the races
Almost all race courses in Europe have a grass surface, known as the turf in racing circles. Some races are run clockwise and others counterclockwise.
Thoroughbred races in North America generally are run in a counterclockwise direction. Most race distances vary from five furlongs to 11/2 miles (2.4 kilometers). A furlong is 1/8 of a mile (0.2 kilometer). Most tracks consist of several layers of crushed rock, sand, and dirt. Most major race tracks also feature a grass course, which is separated from the main dirt course.
“They’re off!”
About 30 minutes before each race, the horses are brought from the barns to a saddling area called the paddock. The jockey meets the horse there. The trainer saddles the horse and gives the jockey instructions. The trainers hoist the jockeys into the saddle and the horses then walk onto the track for the post parade in front of the grandstand and clubhouse.
After a brief warmup, the horses enter their assigned stalls in the starting gate. Then an official known as the starter pushes a button, a bell sounds, and the starting gate doors open electronically.
At the track, officials called stewards supervise the racing. Following the completion of a race, there is a brief interlude. If no fouls are claimed or other irregularities reported, the stewards declare the race official. The betting payoffs are posted on an electronic display board called a tote board (short for totalizator board) in the infield area and on television monitors throughout the track.
Betting.
A betting system called bookmaking is used in Australia, India, Ireland, South Africa, and the United Kingdom and in the U.S. state of Nevada. People called bookmakers set the odds and accept bets. The pari-mutuel system of betting, developed in France in the late 1800’s, is also used. It is the only legal betting system in the rest of the United States and in such countries as Canada, France, and Japan. Under this system, bettors compete against one another. Odds are determined by the amounts wagered on each horse.
A horse favored to finish well attracts many bets and thus gets short odds, for example, 5 to 2. That means that, if the horse wins, a bettor wins $5 for every $2 bet, so the amount received by the bettor would come to $5 plus the original $2 bet ($7), minus a percentage that goes to the track (or bookmaker) and toward taxes. The heaviest-backed horse is called the favorite. A horse that bettors believe will not do well is called a long shot and will have bigger payoffs.
At U.S. tracks, a person wagers on a horse to win, place (finish second), or show (finish third). The holder of a win ticket collects only if the horse wins the race. A person with a place ticket wins if the horse finishes first or second. People with show tickets collect if the horse finishes first, second, or third. Usually, a win ticket pays the most money, and a show ticket pays the least. The odds plus the win, place, and show pools for each horse appear on the tote board and on TV monitors.
Special types of bets include the daily double and the trifecta. In the daily double, a person tries to select the winners of two specified consecutive races. In the trifecta, a bettor tries to pick the first-, second-, and third-place horses in a specified race.
For many years, most legal betting took place only at the race track. Beginning in the late 1900’s, off-track betting (OTB) became popular. In many states, more money is wagered at OTB parlors than at the track. Another major development is simulcast betting—that is, televising races at one track to other tracks and off-track parlors for wagering. Simulcasts allow bettors to wager on races from tracks in many states.
Regulation.
Thoroughbred racing is heavily regulated because of the gambling involved. The United Kingdom and many other countries have a dual regulatory system in which the Jockey Club and a government-appointed agency share responsibility for supervising racing. In the United States, state racing commissions appointed by the governors regulate the sport.
After the race, blood and urine tests are performed on the winners, defeated favorites, and randomly selected horses. The stewards can disqualify a horse and redistribute the purse money if tests reveal that the horse has been drugged, given an illegal medication, or given an overdose of a legal medication. However, winning bettors receive their money immediately after the race, and they do not lose if their horse is disqualified.
Before and after each race, jockeys are weighed with their saddles and certain other equipment. The weight must not be less than the weight assigned to the horse. The stewards can fine or suspend jockeys found guilty of fouls during a race. Stewards can also act against trainers whose horses have been drugged, given an illegal medication, or an overdose of a legal medication.
History
Horse racing may have begun shortly after horses were domesticated. Evidence suggests that chariot races were held in eastern Europe and northern Africa soon after the chariot was introduced in those regions about 1500 B.C. The Olympic Games in Greece first featured chariot races in 680 B.C. Races between horses with riders were added to the Olympic Games in 648 B.C.
The Romans, who controlled most of the island of Great Britain from the A.D. 40’s to the early 400’s, introduced horse racing there. The sport became an important part of English life, through the strong support of English monarchs and members of the nobility. As a result, horse racing is sometimes called the sport of kings.
King James I established a racing center at Newmarket, England, in the early 1600’s. King Charles II owned and rode race horses. Under his patronage, Newmarket became the birthplace of modern horse racing in the late 1600’s and remains the headquarters of British racing today.
English colonists who settled in America in the early 1600’s brought horses and raced the animals. The first American track, called New Market, was established in 1665 near what is now Belmont Park in New York.
In 1791, the first volume of the General Stud Book was published in England, listing the pedigrees of more than 350 mares. Each could be traced to Eclipse, Matchem, or Herod. The first volume of the American Stud Book was published in 1873.
Horse racing in the United States reached a peak of popularity in the 1890’s. By 1897, there were 314 Thoroughbred tracks throughout the country. Then a wave of opposition to gambling swept the country. The number of tracks declined to 25 in 1908. As of 1911, racing was outlawed in all but the states of Kentucky and Maryland.
Horse racing eventually made a comeback, particularly during the 1930’s. The greatest American race horse of the era was Man o’ War, winner 20 of 21 races during a career that lasted just two years, 1919 and 1920.
The most accomplished English jockeys of the 1900’s included Sir Gordon Richards and Lester Piggott. Richards was England’s champion jockey 26 times between 1925 and 1953 and was the first jockey to receive a knighthood. The leading American jockeys included Eddie Arcaro and Bill Shoemaker. Shoemaker ended his 42-year career in 1990 with 8,833 victories, a record that stood until Panamanian-born jockey Laffit Pincay, Jr., broke it in 1999. The Canadian-born jockey Russell Baze broke Pincay’s record in 2006. Steve Cauthen, an American jockey, had enormous success both in the United States and Europe during the late 1900’s. 
In 1969, American jockey Diane Crump became the first woman to ride in a pari-mutuel race at a major track. Julie Krone of the United States also became a successful jockey, winning more than 3,500 races. In 2000, she became the first woman elected to Thoroughbred racing’s Hall of Fame.
The greatest European race horses of the 1900’s included Sea-Bird of France and Ribot of Italy. Among the greatest horses to train and race in the United Kingdom were Hyperion, Tudor Minstrel, Mill Reef, Brigadier General, and Nijinsky II. Nijinsky II won the English Triple Crown in 1970. Top Australian horses included Phar Lap and Tulloch, both bred in New Zealand, and Kingston Town. After Man o’ War, the greatest American race horses included Affirmed, Citation, Seabiscuit, Seattle Slew, Secretariat, and War Admiral. In 1973, Secretariat ran perhaps the greatest race in history, winning the Belmont Stakes by a record 31 lengths and establishing a world record for the 11/2-mile distance on a dirt track. The dominant North American race horse of the 1990’s was Cigar. He won 16 consecutive races to equal Citation’s modern American record. In 2015, American Pharoah became the first horse to win the Triple Crown since Affirmed accomplished the feat in 1978. Three years later, in 2018, Justify became the 13th horse to win the Triple Crown. 
