5 things you will find interesting to know about horse racing

Horse racing is a fascinating activity, practiced since ancient times with mainly military purposes - the horse was the tank of the past centuries - which then evolved into a refined and beloved sport all over the world, starting from Asia, where it developed, and reaching England and the United States.

We wanted to gather five curious and interesting facts about this noble sport, which will be a stimulus for anyone who wants to know more.

1 - Horse handling started in Ukraine

The first findings of horse domestication history date back to 4500 BC when horses were domesticated by nomadic tribesmen in the current area of Ukraine and used for their qualities. The use quickly spread to Europe and Asia, and it is known that horse racing was assiduously practiced by the Romans in their circuses, especially with chariots: the first race was held under Tarquinius Priscus in 500 BC.

2 - The great development of horse racing took place in England

Precisely because people used them for war, horses were precious to nobles. Indeed, King James I, crowned in 1603, was passionate about racing and chose the town of Newmarket to practice his passion, which was later called "the sport of kings." Yet the codification of the first horse racing betting rules took a long time. There were bettors, but there were no precise rules governing the betting industry and allowing bets to be placed legally, with the certainty of being paid upon presentation of the physical receipt of the bet, or as it happens today, with a digital one. Nowadays online betting providers like Unibet make it possible for racing fans to place bets, even when they are not attending the actual event – through websites and mobile apps.

3 - The first legal bets date back to the late twenties

The first edict regulating the betting sector - the Betting Act - was created by the English government in 1928. The first race tracks that offered the possibility to bet on races legally were Newmarket and Carlisle in 1929. Of course, you could only bet locally on the race track. It was only in 1961 that the Betting Levy Act introduced the betting center, where you could bet remotely for a fee, and this gave way to the big betting companies.

4 - The first horse race in the USA is older than the USA

The sport of horse racing was very popular, and the first recorded race was held at the Newmarket racetrack on Long Island in 1665 - well before the USA was founded. However, the first racing regulation occurred in 1868, when the American Studbook began. By 1890, there were over 300 racetracks in operation in the country.

5 - The oldest race dates back to 1519

The oldest race is the Kiplingcotes Derby, which is held annually in Yorkshire, and according to its own charter, must be held at least once a year or canceled forever. It is a race over about four miles and has no age limit for participating horses. There have only been four occasions in its entire 500-year history where there hasn't been a full complement of participants: the last time was in 2020, with only two entries.

(Devdiscourse's journalists were not involved in the production of this article. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of Devdiscourse and Devdiscourse does not claim any responsibility for the same.)