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• 4 Strategies For Betting on Horse Races • A Horse Racing System that Produces Results • Betfair com How To Gamble without Losing • Betting Horses at the Track or Racebooks • Betting On Horses Part 2 • Betting On Horses Part 3 • Betting On Horses Part 1 • Detailed Analysis Learn How to Pick Consistent Winners • History of Thoroughbred Racing • Horse Betting Systems Friend or Foe • Horse Betting Terms Test Your Knowledge • Horse Racing Learn How to Beat the Bookie • Horse Racing Handicapping Use the Power of 3 • Horse Racing Simulator Test Your Skills • Horse Racing Systems Can You Win Every Time • Horse Racing Systems Friend or Foe • Horse Racing Systems The Weekend Punter • How To Bet the Horses • How to Make Money at Horseracing • How to Pick a Horse • How To Price Up A Horse Race • How To Profit by Dutching in Horse Racing • How To Profit From Horse Racing Avoide Betting On Favorites or You ll Go Broke • How To Profit From Horse Racing Key Objectives • How To Spot A Horse Racing Favorite • How to Win at the Horse Races • Make a Living from Horseracing Betting • Predict Betting Odds and Lines Changes Risk Free Winning • Professional Handicapping Analysis • The Best Horse Racing System • UK Horse Racing Tips On Your Mobile • Want to Place Your Horse Race Bets Online
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History of Thoroughbred Racing
Settlers from Britain who brought horses and horseracing 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 favored local pastime, the blossoming of organized racing did not turn up until after the Civil War. (The American Stud Book was begun in 1868.) For the next several decades, with the high-speed rise of an industrial economy, gambling on racehorses, and therefore horse racing itself, grew explosively; by 1890, 314 tracks were operating across the country.
The sudden burgeoning of the sport without any centralized governing authority led to the domination of various tracks by criminal 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 controlled racing with an iron hand and ended much of the corruption.
In the early 1900s, however, racing in the United States was almost wiped out by antigambling sentiment that led almost all states to ban bookmakers. By 1908 the number of tracks had
dropped to just 25. That same year, however, the entrance of pari-mutuel betting for the Kentucky Derby signalled a right-about-face for the sport. More tracks opened as countless
state legislatures agreed to establish pari-mutuel betting in exchange for a dividend of the hard cash wagered. At the end of World War I, prosperity and great horses like Man o' War brought
spectators flocking to racetracks. 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 interest in the sport focuses primarily on major Thoroughbred races such as the American Triple Crown and the Breeder's Cup races (begun in 1984), which offer purses of up to about $1,000,000. State racing commissions have sole authority to license participants and approve 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.
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