Archeological evidence shows that mankind was domesticating horses over 6000 years ago so man’s association with this animal has a very long history. The beginnings of the history of horse racing are lost in the mists of time, but we can take upon yourself that the trademark competitive spirit of homo sapiens made competitions among the ancient tribes to see who had the fastest horses.

The history of horse racing really starts with mentions of the sport by the ancient cultures of Central Asia and by 638 BC it was a part of the Olympic Games. The Romans then adopted the sport and both chariot and horse racing were taken all over their huge empire.

When, in the 12 the century, the Crusaders returned from these regions and they brought back the Arabian stallions that has been imported to Europe from the Midpoint East. While these horses were quick, the were not suited to the cold climate of northern Europe and so people started to cross them with local mares to get horse that were both quick and had the strength and stamina to cope with local conditions.

The history of horse racing minutes that the first organized races were held in England in the early 16th century and the first proper race track came into existence by the midpoint of the century. Horse racing was, at this time, a sport limited to only the rich nobility who were the only ones who could afford to breed and train horses purely for racing. It took 200 years for the popularity to spread and for racing to become a sport of widespread interest in the country.

Horse racing came to America with the horses that the first settlers brought with them – it became a well loved sport and in a small period of time the country’s first race track was made at Long Island. Racing was a privilege of the landed gentry who used the races to show off their breeding and training skills at races tracks that started to come up around New York.

It was at the time of the Civil War that horse racing as a competitive sport started to arouse widespread interest – something that was soon in custody upon by entrepreneurs who could see the large profits to be made from organized racing. Soon enough, in the mid 1860s, Saratoga Springs saw the opening of the first “modern” race track where the first stakes race in the country was run. From that time, horse racing has never looked back and although wars and depressions may ha slowed its growth at times; racing has continued to grow with live telecast of races and online betting taking the sport to places where race tracks do not exist.