| Horse racing is as old as humans have had | | | | took a cut. By the end of World War I, the newly |
| domesticated horses. Horse tracks became the norm | | | | prosperous country and some star-quality horses like |
| beginning in the early 1700s in England. Match races | | | | Man o' War, War Admiral, Swaps, and Seabiscuit, |
| were being replaced with races featuring several | | | | horse racing flourished. It declined in popularity in the |
| horses at one time that spectators could bet on. In a | | | | 1950s and '60s, but gained again in the 1970s with the |
| very short time, tracks were built all over England, | | | | popularity of horses like Secretariat, Seattle Slew and |
| offering larger purses as the prize. This made it | | | | Affirmed. All of these horses won the Triple Crown |
| profitable to breed horses strictly for racing. In 1750, the | | | | and caught the heart of the nation. |
| Jockey Club was formed to control this burgeoning | | | | Popularity began to flag again in the 1980s. There has |
| new sport. The new Jockey Club created racing rules, | | | | been some small resurgence in recent years with |
| sanctioned horse tracks and set up race designations. | | | | horses that have again captured the nation's |
| They also began to regulate horse breeding. A | | | | imaginations... Smarty Jones, the horse from nowhere; |
| General Stud Book was begun to trace the pedigrees | | | | Barbaro, who broke his leg in the 2006 Preakness and |
| of every race horse in England. Now all | | | | went though months of surgeries before finally |
| Thoroughbreds are inbred to the degree that every | | | | succumbing to laminitis; and Big Brown, who make a |
| single Thoroughbred in the world today can trace their | | | | big splash in the first two legs of the Triple Crown in |
| pedigrees back to one of three foundation stallions: | | | | 2008. |
| The Byerley Turk, foaled around 1679; the Darley | | | | All betting done at horse tracks today is done under |
| Arabian, foaled around 1700; and the Godolphin | | | | the pari-mutuel model. This allows a fixed percentage |
| Arabian, foaled around 1724. | | | | to go to the track to pay for operating expenses, race |
| British settlers brought horse racing to America, building | | | | purses and taxes. The rest is divided among the |
| the first horse track in 1665. Organized racing didn't | | | | winners. Bettors wager on horses to win (first), place |
| begin until after the Civil War. By 1890, 314 horse | | | | (first or second) or show (first, second or third). There |
| tracks were in operation all over the country. Due to | | | | are other special bets that can be made at horse |
| criminal involvement, the American Jockey Club was | | | | tracks, like the Daily Double (pick the winners of two |
| formed in 1894 to address the problems this caused. | | | | consecutive races), exactas (pick the win and place |
| Anti-gambling feelings arose in the early 1900s, wiping | | | | horses in order), quinellas (pick the win and place |
| out all but 25 horse tracks in the United States by 1908. | | | | horses in either order) and pick six (pick the winners in |
| With the advent of pari-mutuel gambling, the states | | | | six consecutive races). |
| were more inclined to allow it, however, since they | | | | |