The History Of Horse Racing 

History records that man first domesticated wild horse around 4500 BC and that was the beginning of the love affair between humans and horses. The beginnings of the history of horse racing are lost in the mists of time, but we can assume that the trademark competitive spirit of homo sapiens created competitions among the ancient tribes to see who had the fastest horses.

The history of horse racing as a sport begins with the prehistoric cultures of the Central Asia and the Mediterranean from where it spread to Greece – it is known to have been part of the Olympics as far back as 638 BC. The Romans became interested in the sport and horse and chariot racing spread throughout the southern parts of Europe along with their expanding empire.

When the Crusaders returned to England form their battles against the Moors in the 12th century, they brought back Arabian stallions with them. Although these horses were very fast, they were unable to cope with the cold climates of the north and so people began to cross them with local breeds which is where the business of breeding horses for racing begins.

Organized horse racing, in the form of the sport that we see today, came into being at the beginning of the 16th century and it was around this time that we have the first historical record of a race track. Maintaining horses for racing was so expensive that it was limited only to the nobility and was not a sport of the people. Over the next 2 centuries, racing evolved into the popular sport that we know today.

The first settlers in America brought horses with them and while racing as a private sport soon became popular and the first steps to organize it were taken when the country's first race track came into being in 1665 at Long Island. Many other race tracks sprang up in the New York area but these races were limited to the rich landed farmers and plantation owners who used racing as a way of showing off their breeding and training prowess.

It took until the time of the Civil war for racing to become of more widespread interest and this was when people began to see the huge profits that could be made from organized racing if it were run as a business. Racing in America, as we know it today, began when the first commercial race track was built at Saratoga Springs in 1864 and the first stakes race was run. With online betting and TV taking horse racing to every corner of the country, it has now grown into a sport of universal appeal that is also a multi billion dollar industry.

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