Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter known as National Hunt racing in the UK and steeplechasing in the US. Jump racing can be further divided into hurdling and steeplechasing.
Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic premise – to identify which of two or more horses is the fastest over a set course or distance – has been mostly unchanged since at least classical antiquity.
Horse racing is the second largest spectator sport in Great Britain, and one of the longest established, with a history dating back many centuries. According to a report by the British Horseracing Authority it generates £3.39 billion total direct and indirect expenditure in the British economy, of which £1.05 Billion is from core racing industry expenditure and the major horse racing events such as Royal Ascot and Cheltenham Festival are important dates in the British and international sporting and society calendar.
Thoroughbred horse racing is a spectator sport in Australia, and gambling on horse races is a very popular pastime with A$14.3 billion wagered in 2009/10 with bookmakers and the Totalisator Agency Board (TAB). The two forms of Thoroughbred horseracing in Australia are flat racing, and races over fences or hurdles in Victoria and South Australia. Thoroughbred racing is the third most attended spectator sport in Australia, behind Australian rules football and rugby league, with almost two million admissions to 360 registered racecourses throughout Australia in 2009/10. Horseracing commenced soon after European settlement, and is now well-appointed with automatic totalizators, starting gates and photo finish cameras on nearly all Australian racecourses.
Ascot Racecourse is a dual-purpose British racecourse, located in Ascot, Berkshire, England, which is used for thoroughbred horse racing. It hosts 13 of Britain's 36 annual Flat Group 1 horse races and three Grade 1 Jumps races.
Pretty Polly was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. One of the greatest fillies ever to race in Britain, she won fifteen consecutive races and was only the fifth horse to win the British Fillies Triple Crown since its inception in 1814. Pretty Polly also became one of the greatest broodmares of the century.
Best Mate was an Irish-bred, English-trained racehorse and three-time winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup. He was considered one of the most loved horses in the history of horse racing in the UK. His sudden death while racing made front-page news.
Vintage Crop was a British-bred Irish-trained Thoroughbred racehorse best known for becoming the first northern hemisphere trained runner to win Australia's premier race the Melbourne Cup. The chestnut gelding competed in flat racing in Ireland, England, and Australia from 1992 to 1995. He won 16 races in Ireland, England, and Australia. For his performance during the 1993 racing season he earned the Cartier Award for Top Stayer.
Hurricane Run (2002–2016) was a world champion Irish-bred thoroughbred racehorse. He was the second French-trained horse, after his sire Montjeu, to win both the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes. He was trained by André Fabre in France and ridden in all but one of his races by Christophe Soumillon or Kieren Fallon.
Sea Pigeon (1970–2000) was an American-bred, British-trained racehorse who excelled in both National Hunt and flat racing. In a racing career which lasted from 1972 until 1981 he competed in eighty-five races, and won thirty-seven times. He was best known for his performances in hurdle races when he won the Champion Hurdle on two occasions. He was also one of the best flat stayers of his era winning major handicap races under weights of up to 140 pounds. As a gelding, he was ineligible to compete in the most prestigious flat staying races, such as the Ascot Gold Cup. On his retirement he was described as Britain's "best known horse after Arkle and Red Rum.
Soviet Song was a racehorse bred and owned by Elite Racing Club. She was foaled on 18 February 2000, sired by Marju (IRE) out of Kalinka (IRE). She raced in England, Ireland and France during her career and she was the highest rated older filly in the World in 2004 and 2005.
Ballymoss (1954–1979) was an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse. In a racing career that lasted from 1956 until November 1958, he ran seventeen times and won eight races. In 1957, he became the first horse trained in Ireland to win the St Leger Stakes. The following season, he was Europe's leading middle-distance horse, winning the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.
Gordon Elliott is a County Meath-based National Hunt racehorse trainer. After riding as an amateur jockey, he took out a trainer's licence in 2006. He was 29 when his first Grand National entry, the 33 to 1 outsider Silver Birch, won the 2007 race. In 2018 and 2019 he won the Grand National with Tiger Roll, ridden by Davy Russell and owned by Gigginstown House Stud, the first horse since Red Rum to win the race twice. In 2018 he also won the Irish Grand National, with General Principle. On two occasions, in 2017 and 2018, he was the top trainer at the Cheltenham Festival.
Ardan (1941–1959) was a French Thoroughbred racehorse. In a racing career which lasted from 1943 until 1946 he ran twenty-three times and won sixteen races. He was the leading racehorse in France in 1944 when his wins included the Prix du Jockey Club and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. He was retired to stud at the end of the 1946 season and had limited success as a stallion.
Night Nurse was an Irish-bred English-trained National Hunt racehorse. Night Nurse garnered 35 wins, winning a total of £174,507 viz. He won 3 races on the flat at 3 and 4-years old and placed 3 times; he also won 32 National Hunt races, 19 wins over hurdles and 13 wins in steeplechases from 64 starts. He was awarded the highest Timeform rating ever given to a hurdler and has been acclaimed amongst the greatest ever hurdlers.
Brave Inca is a retired Irish Thoroughbred racehorse. In a career that lasted from March 2002 until April 2009, he ran thirty-five times and won 15 races, ten of them at Grade I level. including the 2006 Champion Hurdle. From 2005 until he was retired, Brava Inca ran in sixteen successive Grade I races.
Ameerat is a British Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. In a racing career which lasted from August 2000 to October 2001 she ran seven times and won two races. After winning once from three starts as a two-year-old, she won the Classic 1000 Guineas at Newmarket Racecourse on her first appearance of the 2001 season. Her subsequent career was disappointing, as she finished unplaced in her three remaining races. At the end of her three-year-old season she was retired from racing to become a broodmare. Ameerat was not regarded as one of the better classic winners.
Sookera was an American-bred Irish-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. Racing only as a two-year-old in 1977, she won three times and finished second twice, from five races. After winning on her debut and finishing second on her next appearance, she recorded her first major success when defeating male opponents in the Chesham Stakes. She returned from a late summer break and finished second in the Moyglare Stud Stakes before winning the Group One Cheveley Park Stakes. Sookera never ran again but became a very successful broodmare. She produced several winners including So Factual and is the female-line ancestor of numerous major winners including Dansili, Leroidesanimaux, Banks Hill and Intercontinental.
Tiger Roll is a retired Irish-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who competed in National Hunt racing and won the Grand National in 2018 and 2019. He has also won five times at the Cheltenham Festival: the Triumph Hurdle in 2014, the National Hunt Chase Challenge Cup in 2017 and the Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase in 2018, 2019 and 2021.
Marsha is an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. She was a specialist sprinter, all but one of whose victories came over the minimum distance of five furlongs. After winning two minor races as a juvenile in 2015, she made progress throughout the following year, taking the Land O'Burns Fillies' Stakes and the City Walls Stakes before ending her season with a win in the Prix de l'Abbaye. In 2017 she added wins in the Palace House Stakes and the Nunthorpe Stakes and was sold at the end of the year for a record price of 6,000,000 guineas.
