History of Thoroughbred Racing in the USA

Settlers from Britain who brought horses and horse racing with them to the American New World, with the original race track laid out on Long Island as early as 1665. Although the sport became a popular local pastime, the burgeoning of organized racing did not turn up until after the Civil War. (The American Stud Book was begun in 1868.) For the next few decades, with the high-speed rise of an industrial economy, gaming on racehorses, and therefore horseracing itself, grew explosively; by 1890, 314 tracks were operational across the country.

The high-speed evolving of the sport without any predominant governing authority led to the domination of many tracks by corrupted elements. In 1894 the nation's most leading track and stable owners met in New York to form an American Jockey Club, modelled on the English version, which soon ruled racing with an iron hand and finished much of the criminality.

In the early 1900s, however, racing in the United States was almost wiped out by antigambling conviction that led almost all states to ban bookmakers. By 1908 the number of tracks had plummeted to just 25. That same year, however, the installation of pari-mutuel betting for the Kentucky Derby signalled a right-about-face for the sport. More tracks opened as countless state legislatures promised to sanction pari-mutuel betting in exchange for a percentage of the funds wagered. At the end of World War I, prosperity and great horses like Man o' War brought spectators flocking to race tracks. The sport prospered until World War II, declined in popularity during the 1950s and 1960s, then enjoyed a resurgence in the 1970s triggered by the immense popularity of great horses such as Secretariat, Seattle Slew, and Affirmed, each winners of the American Triple Crown--the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness, and the Belmont Stakes. During the late 1980s, another significant decline occurred, however.

Thoroughbred tracks exist in about half the states. Public engagement in the sport focuses primarily on major Thoroughbred races such as the American Triple Crown and the Breeder's Cup races (started in 1984), which offer purses of up to about $1,000,000. State racing commissions have sole authority to license participants and administer racing dates, while sharing the appointment of racing officials and the supervision of racing rules with the Jockey Club. The Jockey Club retains authority over the breeding of Thoroughbreds.