Horse Racing

speeding horses for sport. The practice is of great antiquity. The Persians were familiar with the saddle. The Numidians rode madly without halter or bridle. The horse and his rider were well known to the Egyptians. Chariot races were held on the plains of Troy. King Solomon bought riding horses in Egypt, paying as high as $3,000 apiece. Horses were introduced into the Greek games as early as 648 B.C. The horse race was a regular part of the entertainment offered by the Roman circus. In Ben Hur, General Wallace gives a spirited account of a race according to the rules of a Roman circus.

Racing has been popular in Great Britain ever since the introduction of horses into the island. Regular season races were established as early as in the reign of James I. Cromwell had the reputation of being fond of a speedy horse. The Newmarket races were established in the reign of Charles II and have been kept up ever since. The Ascot races are held in Berkshire, and are patronized by the world of fashion. Races known as the Derby and the Oaks are run on Epsom Downs, near London. At the latter it is considered quite the proper thing for ladies to bet, not money, but dozens of Paris gloves. The English races are running races, each colt carrying its own jockey. No official records of time or distance are kept. The public demands a fair field and a bunch of running horses, and is satisfied when the best horse wins.

Running races of the English fashion were popular in the American colonies west and south of the Hudson River, especially in Virginia. As early as 1856 Americans began to cross the Atlantic to compete in the English races. In 1903 American horses started in 453 English races, winning first place in 74. The world's record was won by Salvator at Monmouth, New Jersey, in 1890--1 mile in 1 min. 35 1/2 sec.

In America, however, the running horse has been replaced gradually by the horse driven in harness. Two gaits have been developed by the American driver--the trot and the pace. The trotting horse has what is called a diagonal gait. The left forefoot and the right hindfoot are lifted together. The pacer has a lateral gait, lifting the right forefoot and the right hindfoot at the same time. A thoroughbred is a horse with speedy ancestors on both sides for several generations. The blue grass, limestone region of Kentucky has been famous for the raising of fine thoroughbreds.

The famous American horses are descended from English strains. They are direct descendents chiefly of the celebrated English horse, Flying Childers, and a magnificent English Arabian, named Messenger. The former was bred by the Duke of Devonshire in 1715. He ran three and one-half miles at Newmarket in six minutes forty seconds, and for generations was considered the fleetest horse known. He won $1,000,000 in stakes and left half a thousand speedy descendants. Messenger was foaled in 1780 and was imported into this country. From him and a Vermont horse known as Justin Morgan, foaled in 1793, nearly all of our trotters are descended. The American race horse of today speeds in a driving sulky of marvelously light construction. It has ball-bearing axles and rubber tires. In trials of speed a sulky goes ahead with a canvas shield to part the air and another runs alongside to keep off any wind.

The United States holds the world's record for trotting and pacing horses. The lowering of the trotting records has proceeded from decade to decade and from year to year--at times being reduced but a fourth of a second. At the death of Messenger, in 1808, a mile in three minutes was regarded a marvelous record. Later, and for many years, 2:40 minutes was considered the limit. There are now (1909) about 26,000 horses in the United States with a record in harness of 2:30 minutes or better. About one third of these are pacers. The following table gives the best effort of a number of famous trotters. The distance is one mile. The time is given in minutes and seconds.

Some of the famous pacing records are:

See Bonner; Epsom; Derby