Since horses were first brought up by people, they have been used in races. Evidence from the past shows that the nomadic people of Central Asia were already racing horses as early as 4500 BC. In fact, horse racing has been a part of the Olympics since 638 BC, when it was added by the Greeks.
During these times, both horse races with chariots and races with horses on their backs were popular. When the Romans took up this sport, it became an obsession for them.
For the next thousand years, this kind of sport was known to be something that only noblemen and royals did.
People say that modern racing began in the 1200s, when the first Arabian and English horses were bred together. After the Crusades, when the noble knights went back to their home country, these were avoided. These are known to have made horses that are strong and fast. So, breeders made racehorses as good as they could be and put them on tracks. This breed is the modern Thoroughbred, which is still the most popular horse breed in the UK.
From 1660 to 1685, it was known that King Charles II held horse races on his private courses.
By the 1600s, it was known that the English had built a number of racetracks. Queen Anne is known to have made horse racing an official sport when she started the Ascot in 1711.
Halfway through the 1700s, the most important people in horse racing were invited to join the Jockey Club. This organisation was the first group of jockeys to come up with a set of rules and regulations that covered all aspects of the sport. So, they became the people in charge of sports and events like horse races.
The Jockey Club was also the first group to set rules about how horses could be bred. So, James Weatherby, who was an accountant for the Jockey Club at the time, found out where all racing breeds in England came from. His research led to the creation of the General Stud Book, which was the main source of information about which breeds could be used in races. According to the General Stud Book, Thoroughbreds only have pedigrees that come from the line of the "foundation sires." The Byerley Turk, the Darley Arabian, and the Godolphin Arabian are the sires.
The sport didn't come to America until the 17th century, when the first racetrack was built on Long Island. Even though it has become a popular American pastime, horse racing didn't become a formal sport until after the Civil War. The sport grew a lot by 1890, when there were 314 operating tracks in the country. This was due to people's already strong interest in horse racing, the growth of industry, and the fact that many people bet on horse races.
Due to the lack of a governing body, criminals were the only ones who played this sport. But in 1894, the most important and high-ranking stable owners got together and set up the American Jockey Club, which was based on the Jockey Club in England.
Now, the sport is played in many places around the world. There were also groups set up to run the horse racing events and make sure they were fair.
