Thousands of years ago, man discovered that an animal from the Equus order was good for carrying his burdens and lightening his load. Then one day, as the human race as a whole are natural competitors, we began to use that animal, called the horse, to race against others.

Then man began breeding horses to excel in speed and endurance. When this new type of entertainment and sport began to evolve, it was the nobility, or royalty, who could afford the expense of breeding horses for this purpose. Therefore, that “class” of people were the ones who most often enjoyed the leisure of competing in horse races.

Early picture records of horse racing were found in the origins of prehistoric nomadic tribesmen of Middle Asia. It was they who first domesticated the horse around 4500 B.C. The first written records came much later, after horse racing was already an established sport from Central Asia to the Mediterranean. Horse racing became a part of the Greek Olympics around 638 B.C. And the Roman Empire was obsessed with the sport.

Modern racing traces its roots back to the 12th century. Knights of the British Empire imported Arabic horses upon their return from the Crusades. In the years that followed, hundreds of Arab stallions were crossbred with English mares to give the most desirable combination of speed and endurance. This breed of horse became known, after its evolution, as the Thoroughbred and of course the nobility were leaders in staging competitions between two superior Thoroughbred horses for private wagers, as a diversion.

As the sport evolved to being more professional during the reign of Queen Anne in the early 18th century, one-on-one races gave way to events in which several horses competed. Racetracks offered purses, or prize money to the winner of the events. And those purses grew larger in order to attract the best horses.

During the mid-1700s, it was decided that there needed to be a governing body to determine the rules and standards by which racers, breeders, and owners must abide. As a result the Jockey Club was established in Newmarket, and still exercises complete control over English racing to this day.

Once the Club established the complete rules and standards of the horses and the races which could be run under sanction of the Club, five races were designated as the “classic” races for three-year-old horses. The English Triple Crown - which is open to both colts and fillies - consists of the 2000 Guineas, the Epsom Derby, and the St. Leger Stakes. Two other races, which are open only to fillies, are the 1000 Guineas and the Epsom Oaks.

As the British settled in America, they brought very fine breeding stock and racing horses with them. The first known racetrack in the Colonies was on Long Island in New York. It was first laid out around 1665. Though horse racing was a popular local event, organized and professional racing did not actually start until after the Civil War. From there, the sport escalated in popularity across the settled parts of the country. And many of the racetracks were run by the “criminal element.” As this was quite undesirable to the more prominent track owners and breeders, they met in New York in 1894 and formed the American Jockey Club. They soon established rules and regulations, similar to those of the English Jockey Club, and quickly eliminated much of the corruption.

The Kentucky Derby, one of the best known horse-racing events in the United States, was first run in 1875. Its home is at the Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. It is one of the three races which make up the American Triple Crown. The other two are the Belmont Stakes, first run on Long Island, New York at Jerome Park in 1867, and the Preakness Stakes, first run in 1873 at Pimlico Park in Baltimore, Maryland.

Although interest has waxed and waned over the years, horse racing is the second-most attended spectator sport in the United States, outranked only by baseball.

There are other forms of horse racing in both Great Britain and the United States. These include:

- The steeplechase, which requires the horse to clear such obstacles as brush fences, stone walls, rail fences, and water jumps. The oldest and most famous steeplechase in Great Britain is England’s Grand National. It was first run in Aintree in 1839, and continues even today. The most famous in the United States is the American National. It was first run in 1899 at Belmont Park and continues to be held there annually.

- Hurdle racing is similar to the steeplechase, but is much less demanding. It is often use as a training arena for Thoroughbreds who will later compete in steeplechases.

- Point-to-point races are generally run by amateurs throughout the British Isles.

- And last but by no means least is harness racing, which was very popular during the Roman Empire. Once the Empire fell the sport all but vanished until its resurrection, by those who liked to race their horses in harness on the country roads of America, at the end of the 1700s. The first official tracks for harness racing came about in the early 1800s, and by 1825 harness racing became a favorite attraction at country fairs all across the U.S.

Out of the rebirth of harness racing, a new breed of horse was born. In 1788, an outstanding English Thoroughbred stallion was imported to the United States. He was bred with American Thoroughbred and mixed-breed mares to establish the line of Standardbred. The name is based on the “standard” distance of one mile in harness racing speed. The descendants of this line were rebred over the years to create this new breed which has the stamina, temperament, and physical size and structure to endure racing under harness.

Although harness racing suffered a decline of popularity again in the early 1900s, it bounced back in 1940 after being reintroduced at a raceway in New York as a pari-mutuel betting event. Its number of tracks and scheduled annual events outnumber those of Thoroughbred racing in the United States today. It has also gained popularity in many European countries, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada.

What was once almost exclusively “the Sport of Kings” has segued over the years to encompass people of all lifestyles and income. It remains, however, a sport quite often associated with the “well-to-do”, those who can afford the vast expenditure involved with raising the standard of horse required to run in, and win, the large purses awarded by, the most popular horse-racing events around the world.

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Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Horses -------------------------------------------------------

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It was a dark and stormy night. Whoops, wrong story. It was the early 1980’s and my girlfriend and I at the time were hanging out a lot with our good friends Rick and Shawna, the original owners of Madame Jumels restaurant in Saratoga Springs, New York. I’m not sure what’s there now, but Madame Jumels was at the bottom of Caroline Street and quite the popular place in it’s day. I was a big fan of the early morning radio show on WPYX hosted at that time by Bob Mason and Bill Sheehan, a gnarly pair of shock jocks known for their over-the-top pranks. (It is now known as the Wakin’ Up With the Wolf show, hosted by Bob Wolfeld.) They came up with the idea of having a Marylou Whitney look-alike contest. For the ill-informed, Marylou Whitney is the widow of millionaire Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney and a local celebrity, socialite, philanthropist, and all-around nice gal. The thought of spoofing her in a look-alike contest was more than I could stand. I set out to talk my friends into joining the contest.

Rick and Shawna were more familiar than I with Mrs. Whitney as they also ran a horse-drawn carriage business that Marylou had used the services of. The event was to take place at Siros, a popular upscale restaurant and watering hole near the Saratoga Racetrack. Everyone agreed this would be a blast. As seasoned veterans for several years at the infamous Bolton Landing Bed Races on Lake George, we had a fair idea on how to make headlines while having a good time. It’s kind of a Ratpack thing. Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford and Angie Dickinson; we had learned from the best. Back when men were men…and booze was your buddy. Growing up in the sixties surely had it’s benefits. We set about making our strategy.

It was decided the horse and carriage would help make our entrance memorable. As Rick and Shawna would be manning the carriage and I was ugly enough as a man, let alone the well-preserved Whitney, that left my girlfriend to be Marylou. The girls came up with a flashy gown as one might imagine Marylou dressing up in for one of her annual soirées at the Canfield Casino. Rick and I decided on leotards (kind of a court-jester look) and long trumpets as part of our garb and props for our parts as “Her Majesty’s” entourage. It was also decided that “our” Marylou wear a blond wig and gold tiara, as well as a garbage bag “slicker” to mimic a press clipping of the real Marylou wearing the same during a rainstorm at the Saratoga Racetrack. We enlisted a few family and friends as “press agents” sporting fedoras and press passes. We also equipped my nephew Ken with a VHS video camera, a bulky contraption back then as you virtually had to carry an entire VCR on a shoulder strap. With our costumes complete, it was time for the big day.

Our gig officially started at 6 a.m., coinciding with the WPYX 6 to 10 a.m. morning drive show. We decided to arrive fashionably late (or maybe it was a hangover). Anyways, our timing turned out to be impeccable as we were, as I recall, the last contestants to arrive. Our horse and carriage pulled up in front of Siro’s with as much fanfare as we could conjure. The grounds were packed with spectators as well as various guys and gals dressed as Marylou. Rick and I jumped off and rolled out a red carpet for our celebrity. We did our best trumpet rendition of the opening racetrack riff and held “our” Marylou’s hands up as she descended the steps of her carriage. The crowd went wild. All the local TV news cameras rushed up to record the spectacle. We escorted “our” Marylou through the crowd as she pressed the flesh and threw fake money into the air. Rick, Shawna and I remained dutifully in character as we tended to “our” Marylou and fended our way through a sea of people and inside Siros. The reporters scrambled for interviews and “our” Marylou had them eating out of her hand as she recited: “Trash, flash, cash; nobody rides for free.”

We were led to the table with the D.J.’s as a side-splitting back-and-forth ensued between the good-natured Mrs. Whitney and our imposter. The judging began and in spite of the many outrageous and wonderful costumes, we won hands down. No brag; just fact. Mrs. Whitney graciously invited us to stop by her box seats at the track later in the day where we were promptly thrown out for improper attire but not before we were introduced to a few of Marylou’s friends. Our reward? Two all-expense paid airline/hotel tickets to Universal Studios in Los Angeles and the L.A. Coliseum for Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the USA tour under a warm and moonlit night.

Marylou Whitney; one hell of a sport.

Patrick Yellen is the Webmaster for http://www.SaratogaSuckers.com
Saratoga Springs, New York Horse Racing Rants, Raves, Gambling Tips and Stories.

Saratoga Suckers is an entertaining place on the internet to post and share stories concerning all things horse racing and gambling, with an emphasis on the great and historic city of Saratoga Springs, New York

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