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Horse Racing Origins
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Using horses for competitive sport goes all the way back to the chariot races of ancient Greece. It came to be known as the Sport of Kings in 12c England where only Royalty was allowed to own, and race, horses. All thoughbreds today can be traced back to only three sires: The Godolphin Arabian; The Darley Arabian; and The Byerly Turk. In 1650, the Members of the Colonial Kings Council brought legalized racing to America. Unfortunately a lot of this fine horse flesh was ridden into battle during the American Revolution. The first official racetrack was built in Long Island, New York in 1665. Just a few of the notable names from the past would include George Washington, a horseman and breeder, who raced from his farm in Mount Vernon. Lexington, foaled in 1850, brought fame to Kentucky as the prime place for breeding winners. Tod Sloan changed horse racing permanently at the end of the nineteenth century by leaning forward on his horse, thereby centering his weight and reducing wind resistance. These and many other fascinating facts about horse history can be found at many web sites including; http://www.excite.com/reference/almanac/ and http://www.racingmuseum.org/
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Racing in Louisiana
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Two of the links below will take you to the racing world in the State of Louisiana. Delta Downs, in addition to their local racing news, offers a fine history of Southern track lore. Racing began in New Orleans in 1804 with a quarter of a mile race and a purse of $100. Most early races were casual get-togethers held on the weekends in the Delta farming region.
The Union Race Course, 1852, was on the site of today's Fairgrounds, making this the oldest site of racing still in operation in America. The famous horse, Lexington, raced here in 1857. New Orleans racing was temporairly interrupted by the occupation by Union soldiers during the Civil War in 1862. The Fairgrounds opened in April of 1872 and had pari-mutual wagering by 1873. The above mentioned Tod Sloan rode his first race here on January 11, 1889. Army Camp Foster was housed on the grounds during the summer of 1898 for Spanish American War maneuvers and a steeplechase course, complete with water jumps was laid out in 1899. The Fairgrounds has seen many changes in times and customs but the one that horrified all of New Orleans was the seven alarm fire that took the third oldest grandstand in the United States. The new $27.5 million undertaking will never replace this piece of history in the race loving hearts of New Orleans.
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Racing with the Internet
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There are quite a few web sites with links to eveything from handicap info to on-line OTBs. Just about every track in the US has a web page. Most of them offer perripheral info such as the weather and local lore. The link below, Racetracks.com, was the one I found with the most to offer. My second favorite was http://www.webpony.com/links/Horse_Racing/index.html. There are links to racing in the UK, Australia, and just about anywhere else a horse can run. Racing is one of the largest industries in the world. It involves breeding, trainers, jockeys, and tons of sidebar industries, not to mention the pari-mutual. Horseracing is known as the most exciting two minutes in sports.
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