| The origins of horse-racing are as old as recorded | | | | century's end to formal contests at racetracks. The |
| history. Beginning in 1500 B.C., this sport of kings was | | | | first racetrack was built on Long Island as early as |
| practiced by the Egyptians. Flowing down through the | | | | 1665. Harness racing, begun in the 1830s from the |
| Greeks in the first Olympic Games and through to | | | | custom of informal carriage races usually between |
| the Romans with their coliseums such as Circus | | | | frontiersmen who had refined the art from the family |
| Maximus and its 20,000 spectators, horse-racing has | | | | buggy. This form of racing is a direct descendent of |
| paired man and animal in games of gambling. | | | | chariot racing. A variation of this existed in the Old |
| Western civilization was introduced to the sport | | | | West and was conducted using Chuck Wagons. |
| when English knights returned from the Crusades | | | | Although removed from the sports scene because of |
| with swift Arab horses. Cross breeding with English | | | | the Civil War, there was a reemergence of the sport |
| mares produced a steed with both stamina and | | | | in 1860. The first major thoroughbred racing in the |
| speed. The seeds of the modern horse race stretch | | | | United States was at the Saratoga Springs, N.Y. track |
| back to 1702 during the reign of Queen Anne when | | | | (1863). Churchill Downs, at Louisville, Ky., opened its |
| several horses were pitted against each other in a | | | | flat-racing track in 1875. Since then, the triple crown |
| race and wagering was born. The profitability of race | | | | of the Kentucky Derby, The Preakness and the |
| courses promoted the growth of tracks through out | | | | Belmont Stakes have become jewels in the American |
| England and the sport became an institution. It has | | | | horseracing arena. |
| remained a British tradition and has a strong following | | | | Factoid--21 states have racetracks with pari-mutuel |
| today. A derivation of the traditional multi-horse race | | | | betting |
| called the steeplechase (the racing of horses over a | | | | Gambling and horse racing have been joined at the |
| course with hurdles and shallow water jumps to | | | | hip from the beginning. States began legalizing and |
| approximate country riding conditions) was born in | | | | taxing betting at the track in the 19th century. |
| England and Ireland in the 19th cent. The Grand | | | | American tracks now use the pari-mutuel system of |
| National Steeplechase and the Irish Sweepstakes are | | | | wagering created by a Frenchman named Pierre Oller |
| some of the most famous. | | | | in the late 19th century. All bets are pooled, the odds |
| Factoid--Pony-sized Irish horses were the original | | | | are based on the relative amounts bet on the horses, |
| horse stock in the time of Henry I. They were called | | | | and wagering is on whether a horse will win, place |
| Hobby Horses | | | | (finish second), or show (run third). Gambling |
| With the colonization of America horse racing took | | | | opportunities exist at both the track and in off track |
| on a new form. Informal races between the early | | | | betting locations. |
| settlers provided for entertainment and a way to | | | | Factoid-- Horse racing is the second most widely |
| settle disputes. These eventually gave way by | | | | attended U.S. |