Horse racing in the United States dates back to 1665, which saw the establishment of the Newmarket Course on what is now known as the Hempstead Plains of Long Island, New York, in the approximate area of what is now Garden City near the modern Jericho Turnpike. This first racing meet in North America was supervised by New York's colonial governor, Richard Nicolls. The area is now occupied by the present Nassau County, New York, region of Greater Westbury and East Garden City. Horse racing remains a popular sport throughout the United States.
Thoroughbred racing The American Stud Book was started in 1868, prompting the beginning of organized horse racing in the United States.
Horse racing, especially thoroughbred racing, was a sport enjoyed by all during the progressive era. According to Steven A. Reiss " Thoroughbred racing was the rare sport that was trending with both social and economic elites and the lower classes". Horse racing was an enamored sport that was popular for its time in all regions of the United States and took a downturn for a while as the economy, gambling reformers and some interest faded. Reiss states that post-Civil War America was the rebirth of the horse racing sport and it relied on the status of men who bred and raced horses and operated jockey clubs and racetracks. "The powerful alliance between urban machine politicians and racetrack owners enabled thoroughbred racing in New York to flourish for about for forty-five years without interruption". Horse racing endured several ups and downs throughout the era to include socioeconomic status, political gain, morality imposition or just a mere stronghold for the pleasure of the sport.
The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, New York, honors remarkable horses, jockeys, owners, and trainers in thoroughbred racing
History There were 314 tracks operating in the United States by 1890; and in 1894, the American Jockey Club was formed."History of Horse Racing." WinningPonies.com. April 7, 2009. The anti-gambling sentiment prevalent in the early 20th century led almost all states to ban bookmaking. Bookmaking is the process of taking bets, calculating odds, and paying out winnings. This nearly eliminated horse racing altogether. When parimutuel betting was introduced in 1908, the racing industry turned around.Burton, Bill. "History of Pari-mutuel Betting". About.com. April 7, 2009 Horse racing flourished until World War II. The sport did not regain popularity in the United States until horses began to win the Triple Crown, a series of three races, consisting of the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes. During the 2020s, social media influencer Griffin Johnson was credited with bringing "unprecedented attention" to the sport.
Endurance racing Contemporary organized Endurance racing began in California around 1955, and the first race marked the beginning of the Tevis Cup"Endurance Horse Racing". HorseRacing.com. The Horse Racing Channel. April 8, 2009 This race was a one-hundred-mile, one-day-long ride starting in Squaw Valley, Placer County, and ending in Auburn. Founded in 1972, the American Endurance Ride Conference was the United States' first national endurance riding association."Endurance Riding". Equiworld.net. April 8, 2009.
Quarter horse racing The first record of quarter mile length races dated back to 1674 in Henrico County, Virginia. Each race consisted of only two horses and they raced down the village streets and lanes. The Quarter Horse received its name due to the length of the race. The races were indeed "a quarter" of a mile, or 400 meters.
In 1940, Rillito Park Race track was built on the grounds of the Rukin Jelks stud farm in the heart of Tucson, Arizona and has long been recognized as the birthplace of Quarter Horse racing. The initial track consisted of a 3/8th mile straightaway, which later became the model for the “chute system” used in modern-day quarter horse racing. In 1954, Rillito added a 5/8ths mile oval and has since been the southern Arizona home of Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing. In 2012, Rillito Park Race Track was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Major racetracks The Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association classifies major thoroughbred races in the United States using a graded system. The following table lists tracks which are scheduled to host races of Grade I, Grade II, and Grade III in 2026. +Major thoroughbred race tracksTrackCityStateEstablishedGraded stakes racesOwnerOperatorGrade IGrade IIGrade IIISaratogaSaratoga SpringsNY1863272015New York Racing AssociationKeenelandLexingtonKY1936251610Keeneland AssociationSanta Anita ParkArcadiaCA1934102031Stronach GroupChurchill DownsLouisvilleKY187581722Churchill Downs IncorporatedDel MarDel MarCA193781211Del Mar Thoroughbred ClubBelmont ParkElmontNY190531119New York Racing AssociationGulfstream ParkHallandale BeachFL19393619Stronach GroupOaklawn ParkHot SpringsAR1904248Oaklawn Jockey ClubParx RacingBensalemPA1974211Greenwood Gaming and EntertainmentKentucky DownsFranklinKY1990163Ron Winchell & Marc FalconeMonmouth ParkOceanportNJ1870126NJSEADarby DevelopmentColonial DownsNew Kent CountyVA1997121Churchill Downs IncorporatedPimlicoBaltimoreMD1870115Maryland Jockey ClubFair GroundsNew OrleansLA1838064Churchill Downs IncorporatedAqueductQueensNY1894058New York Racing AssociationLos AlamitosCypressCA1951030Ed AllredCharles TownCharles TownWV1933020Gaming and Leisure PropertiesPenn EntertainmentTampa Bay DownsOldsmarFL1926015Stella F. Thayer & Howell FergusonPresque Isle DownsSummitPA2007010Churchill Downs IncorporatedDelaware ParkStantonDE1937003Delaware Racing AssociationHorseshoe IndianapolisShelbyvilleIN2009002Caesars EntertainmentTurfway ParkFlorenceKY1959002Churchill Downs IncorporatedLone Star ParkGrand PrairieTX1997001Global Gaming SolutionsMountaineer ParkNew CumberlandWV1951001Vici PropertiesCentury CasinosPenn NationalGrantvillePA1972001Gaming and Leisure PropertiesPenn EntertainmentPrairie MeadowsAltoonaIA1989001Polk CountyRemington ParkOklahoma CityOK1988001Global Gaming SolutionsSam HoustonHoustonTX1994001Penn EntertainmentThistledownNorth RandallOH1931001Vici PropertiesJack Entertainment Notes
Former tracks Freehold Raceway in Freehold, New Jersey (1830s) Yonkers Raceway in the New York City suburb of Yonkers, New York (1899) Hialeah Park Race Track in Hialeah, Florida, near Miami (1925) Arlington Park in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights, Illinois (1927–2021) Hollywood Park in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood, California (1938–2013)
The Washington Jockey Club was founded in 1797 by John Tayloe III of The Octagon House and Charles Carnan Ridgely of Hampton. Its first racecourse was 4 blocks from the Whitehouse, it extended from 17th and 20th Streets and extending across Pennsylvania Avenue into Lafayette Park, now the site of Decatur House at H Street and Jackson Place, crossing Seventeenth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue to Twentieth Street, today's Eisenhower Executive Office Building.Irons in the Fire: The Business History of the Tayloe Family and Virginia's Gentry, 1700-1860, Laura Croghan Kamoie, University of Virginia Press, 2007, pg 119 The course was relocated in 1802 to the Holmead Farm two miles north of the Executive Mansion, to what is now Meridian Hill.Harper's Magazine, Volume 41, Frederick Lewis Allen, Thomas Bucklin Wells, Harper's Magazine Company, 1870, pg 97
In North America, most racehorses are stabled in the backstretch of the racetrack at which their trainers are based. The backstretch has extensive facilities to house the horses and workers.
Types of racing
In the United States, Thoroughbred flat races are run on either dirt, synthetic or turf surfaces. Other tracks offer Quarter Horse racing and Standardbred horse racing, or combinations of these three types of racing surfaces. Racing with other breeds, such as Arabian horse racing, is found on a limited basis. American Thoroughbred races are run at a wide variety of distances, most commonly from . The shorter distances are more common but the mid-to-long-distance races tend to be higher in prestige. With this in mind, breeders of Thoroughbred race horses attempt to breed horses that excel at a particular distance (see Dosage Index).
The Pleasanton Fairgrounds Racetrack at the Alameda County Fairgrounds is the oldest horse racing track in America, dating back to 1858, when it was founded by the sons of the Spaniard Don Agustin Bernal.
Flat racing In 1665, the first racetrack was constructed on Long Island. It is the oldest Thoroughbred race in North America. The American Stud Book was started in 1868, prompting the beginning of organized horse racing in the United States. There were 314 tracks operating in the United States by 1890; and in 1894, the American Jockey Club was formed.
The first record of quarter mile length races dated back to 1674 in Henrico County, Virginia. Each race consisted of only two horses and they raced down the village streets and lanes. The Quarter Horse received its name due to the length of the race. The races were indeed "a quarter" of a mile, or 400 meters. The breed of horse was developed so they could get off to a quick start, and win the race.
Belmont Park is part of the western edge of the Hempstead Plains. Its mile-and-a-half main track is the largest dirt Thoroughbred race course in the world, and it has the sport's largest grandstand.
One of the latest major horse track opened in the United States was the Meadowlands Racetrack opened in 1977 for Thoroughbred racing. It is the home of the Meadowlands Cup. Other more recently opened tracks include Remington Park, Oklahoma City, opened in 1988, and Lone Star Park in the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex, opened in 1997; the latter track hosted the prestigious Breeders' Cup series of races in 2004.
Thoroughbred horse racing in the United States has its own Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, New York. The Hall of Fame honors remarkable horses, jockeys, owners, and trainers.
Endurance racing
The length of an endurance race varies greatly. Some are very short, only ten miles, while others can be up to one hundred miles. There are a few races that are even longer than one hundred miles and last multiple days."Endurance Riding" Equiworld.net. April 8, 2009 These different lengths of races are divided into five categories: pleasure rides (10–20 miles), non-competitive trail rides (21–27 miles), competitive trail rides (20–45 miles), progressive trail rides (25–60 miles), and endurance rides (40–100 miles in one day, up to in multiple days). Because each race is very long, trails of natural terrain are generally used.
The longest endurance race in the world is the Mongol Derby, which is 620 miles (1000 km) long.
Arabian horse
The Arabian horse was developed by the Bedouin people of the Middle East specifically for stamina over long distances, so they could outrun their enemies. It was not until 1725 that the Arabian was introduced into the United States. Arabians appeared in the United States in colonial times, though were not bred as purebreds until about the time of the Civil War. Until the formation of the Arabian Horse Registry of America in 1908, Arabians were recorded with the Jockey Club in a separate subsection from Thoroughbreds.
They must be able to withstand traveling long distances at a moderate pace. Arabians have an abundance of Type I fibers. Their muscles are able to work for extended periods of time. Also, the muscles of the Arabian are not nearly as massive as those of the Quarter Horse, which allow it to travel longer distances at quicker speeds. The Arabian is primarily used today in endurance racing, but is also raced over traditional race tracks in many countries.
Arabian Horse Racing is governed by IFAHR (The International Federation of Arabian Horse Racing Authorities).
Quarter horse