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For Derby Day: A Selective History of Horse Racing
The Kentucky Derby and Churchill Downs were founded in 1875, 150 years ago. We thought we’d mark the day with some historic background on horse racing in the U.S. First, though I want to refer you to a couple of relevant existing posts.
This one from 2011 is a little hodgepodge of stuff I thought interesting, such as Coney Island’s association with the sport, and several plays, movies, and comic strips that celebrated it.
And this one from 2021 concerns the Barnstable Twins, who are best known today for hosting a major annual Derby Day party. In fact, since I’m usually caught napping when Derby Day rolls around, this post has become a kind of tickler to remind me — readership of my article picks up substantially in the days leading up. The Barnstable sisters were models and actresses when they were younger, the ostensible reason for the post.
Horse racing as a human activity is of course as old as horse riding, which is thought to date to around 3,500 B.C. in Central Asia (present day Kazakhstan). This is thought to be the same culture that gave birth to the Indo-European language family, which comprises the bulk of languages spoken in Europe as well as the dominant languages of Persia and the Indian sub-continent. Horse culture and these languages went together, but not always (think of Arabian horses, for example, or cultures like the Turks and Mongols). Horse racing flourished in all the Ancient and Classical Civilizations of the West, such as Babylon, Greece, and Rome.
The culture of modern horse racing beings in England and Ireland in the 17th century and it of course spread to the Americas with immigration from those countries. The American variant is said to have begun in 1665 not far from where I presently live, in Nassau County, Long Island, in what is now the Hempstead village of Garden City. (It’s a mere two miles from me as the crow flies, but 9-12 miles by driving. The quickest way is by crow!).
Kentucky became especially associated with horse breeding, but neighboring states like Tennessee, Virginia, and Maryland have historical associations with the practice as well. Irish-Americans and Black Americans are two groups who became especially associated with the hands-on work of caring for and riding the thoroughbreds in competition.
The sport has had its ups and downs. By the 1890s, there were over 300 horse racing tracks in America. A crusade against book-making nearly wiped the sport out shortly thereafter, but then parimutuel betting came in circa 1908 and the sport rebounded after. It enjoyed enormous popularity through the World War Two era (hence many of the movies I wrote about here), but then lost popularity in the postwar period. Numerous factors can account for the waning interest at the time. It was the very moment when America became an automobile culture; horses were suddenly no longer a factor in most peoples’ daily lives. in the ’50s and ’60s America was about being forward-looking and modern. Horse racing was like vaudeville — kind of old fashioned, in the era of jets and rockets. Also, this was also around the same time that new forms of legalized betting arose. Las Vegas started to come into its own during those same years. When Secretariat won the Triple Crown in 1973, interest in the sport picked up again, though we now live in a time where most people watch the races on television rather than physically visit a track.
Some famous tracks and when they came into being:
Saratoga: 1863
Churchill Downs: 1875
The three racetracks of Coney Island (long gone): Brighton Beach (1879), Sheepshead Bay (1880), Gravesend (1886)
Aqueduct (1894)
Belmont (1905)
Santa Anita (1934)
Narragansett (1934-1978). This one is near and dear to me, for it was located in Pawtucket, in my home state of Rhode Island. I first learned about it from its prominent mention in the movie The Sting! This park (the most successful one in the nation for a time) had actually been preceded by another Narragansett Park in Cranston (1867-1924).
Rhode Island’s association with horse racing dates back to the early 18th century. One of America’s first original horse breeds was the Narragansett Pacer, substantially promoted by Deputy Governor William Robinson, who was from my home town. (I actually grew up on a street named after him). George Washington owned and raced a Narragansett Pacer. Some believe that Paul Revere rode one during his Midnight Ride. As for the Narragansett race track, too bad they couldn’t have held on just a little longer! The rebound in popularity of horse racing after the late ’70s might have saved their bacon. One last big thing happened there, though. During their mid-70s comeback, the Beach Boys played a concert there that drew 40,000 people, which remains the largest concert in Rhode Island history (which is remarkable given that the Newport Folk and Jazz festivals are held there as well).
Beyond this, I am not so deeply engaged in the sport to get into the minutiae of breeding, racing, betting, and so forth. But I can give you some more on the show biz side. Some people we’ve written about who were involved with horse racing include: Harry Hill, Charlie Ross,Sherman Dudley,John W. Cooper, Frankie Darro, Canada Lee, and Eugene Pallette.
And a few other related posts
And….they’re off!
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