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.
Newmarket is a market town and civil parish in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. Located west of Bury St Edmunds and northeast of Cambridge. It is considered the birthplace and global centre of thoroughbred horse racing. It is a major local business cluster, with annual investment rivalling that of the Cambridge Science Park, the other major cluster in the region. It is the largest racehorse training centre in Britain, the largest racehorse breeding centre in the country, home to most major British horseracing institutions, and a key global centre for horse health. Two Classic races, and an additional three British Champions Series races are held at Newmarket every year. The town has had close royal connections since the time of James I, who built a palace there, and was also a base for Charles I, Charles II, and most monarchs since. Elizabeth II visited the town often to see her horses in training.
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.
In horse racing in the United Kingdom, France and Republic of Ireland, National Hunt racing requires horses to jump fences and ditches. National Hunt racing in the UK is informally known as "jumps" and is divided into two major distinct branches: hurdles and steeplechases. Alongside these there are "bumpers", which are National Hunt flat races. In a hurdles race, the horses jump over obstacles called hurdles; in a steeplechase the horses jump over a variety of obstacles that can include plain fences, water jump or an open ditch. In the UK, the biggest National Hunt events of the year are generally considered to be the Grand National and the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
From 10 June 1993 until 30 July 2007, the British Horseracing Board (BHB) was the governing authority for horseracing in Great Britain. It was created in 1993, and took on responsibilities previously held by the Jockey Club. This was intended to help modernise the sport, as the Jockey Club is a private members' club with a traditionally aristocratic membership, and was seen by some as being unaccountable and a relic of the tradition of amateurism in British sports administration. The Jockey Club however retained responsibility for matters concerned with the regulation of the sport, such as integrity, discipline and equine health. The British Horseracing Board focused on organising and promoting the sport and enhancing its commercial position. This was an extract from its statement of aims published in 2006:
As the Governing Authority for Racing, we will promote the interests of our sport and industry in whatever way we can.... We will work to attract and retain more racehorse owners, racegoers and other customers. We will seek to maintain and promote horseracing as a competitive and attractive sport and betting medium. We also wish to see the best possible training and working conditions for those employed in the industry, and the highest possible standards of care for horses.
Newmarket Racecourse is a British Thoroughbred horse racing venue in Newmarket, Suffolk, comprising two individual racecourses: the Rowley Mile and the July Course. Newmarket is often referred to as the headquarters of British horseracing and is home to the largest cluster of training yards in the country and many key horse racing organisations, including Tattersalls, the National Horseracing Museum and the National Stud. Newmarket hosts two of the country's five Classic Races – the 1,000 Guineas and 2,000 Guineas, and numerous other Group races. In total, it hosts 9 of British racing's 36 annual Group 1 races.
Racing TV is a British television channel with 34 racecourses as shareholders and fixtures from 61 racecourses broadcast live on its output. As Racing UK grew several other business units and joint ventures were developed under the ownership of the parent company Racecourse Media Group Ltd. Racing TV is one of the two major UK horse racing television channels, the other being Sky Sports Racing. The station is dedicated to horse racing broadcasting over 70% of all live racing from Britain and Ireland, including nearly 90% of all Group and Graded races.
The National Horseracing Authority of Southern Africa, known as the National Horseracing Authority for short, formerly the Jockey Club of Southern Africa is the Southern African equivalent of the American and British Jockey Clubs, whose main purposes are to prevent malpractice in horse racing and to regulate the thoroughbred horse racing industry in Southern Africa.
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.
Authorized is an Irish-bred and British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse, winner of the 2007 Epsom Derby.
The British Horseracing Authority, also known simply as the BHA, is the regulatory authority for horse racing in Great Britain.
Big Game (1939–1963) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a career that lasted from April 1941 to October 1942, the colt, who was owned by King George VI, ran nine times and won eight races. He was the best British two-year-old colt of his generation in 1941 when he was unbeaten in five starts. Two further wins the following spring including the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket took his unbeaten run to seven, but he suffered his first defeat when odds-on favourite for the wartime "New Derby". He won his only other race in the Champion Stakes before being retired to stud. Big Game's royal connections and racecourse success made him one of the most popular horses of his time.
Gilles de Retz (1953–1969) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire best known for winning the classic 2000 Guineas in 1956. After winning twice from five starts as a two-year-old, the colt disappointed on his three-year-old debut before recording a 50/1 upset victory in the Guineas. Although the feat was not officially recognised at the time, Gilles de Retz's success made Helen Johnson Houghton the first woman to train the winner of a British classic. The colt failed to reproduce his best form in three subsequent efforts in 1956 and won once from four attempts as a four-year-old. He was retired to stud where he had little success as a sire of winners.
Ki Ming (1948–1957) was an Irish-bred British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire best known for winning the classic 2000 Guineas in 1951. As a two-year-old he showed promise to win at Royal Ascot but his season was disrupted when his trainer was banned for a doping offence. At three, he recorded an upset win over a large field to win the Guineas but failed when favourite for The Derby. In autumn he returned to sprint distances and won the Diadem Stakes at Ascot. His record as a breeding stallion was very disappointing.
Florence Nagle was a British trainer and breeder of racehorses, a breeder of pedigree dogs, and an active feminist. Nagle purchased her first Irish Wolfhound in 1913, and went on to own or breed twenty-one United Kingdom Champions. Best in Show at Crufts in 1960 was awarded to Sulhamstead Merman, who was bred, owned and exhibited by Nagle. She also competed successfully in field trials with Irish Setters, from the 1920s until the mid-1960s resulting in eighteen Field Trial Champions. The male dog who was a linchpin in the 1970s revival of the Irish Red and White Setter breed was descended from one of Nagle's Irish Setters.
Norah Wilmot (1889–1980) was the first British woman racehorse trainer to officially train a winning horse. Her historic win came with her filly Pat, at Brighton in August 1966, just one day after she became one of the first two women to be granted a training licence by the Jockey Club. She was the eldest daughter of racehorse trainer Sir Robert Wilmot, 6th Baronet (1853–1931) and his second wife Eleanor Georgiana, née Hare.
Philip Blacker was a jockey until his retirement in 1982. Since then, he has been a sculptor of sporting arts.
Horse racing in Ireland is intricately linked with Irish culture and society. The racing of horses has a long history on the island, being mentioned in some of the earliest texts. Domestically, racing is one of Ireland's most popular spectator sports, while on the international scene, Ireland is one of the strongest producers and trainers of Thoroughbred horses. The Irish horse racing industry is closely linked with that of Great Britain, with Irish horses regularly competing and winning on the British racing circuit.
Rose of England was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. She was unraced as a two-year-old and finished fifth in the 1000 Guineas on her debut before recording her first and only win in the Epsom Oaks. She failed to win in four subsequent races and was retired from racing at the end of the year. She had considerable success as a dam of winners.
Straitlace was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. As a two-year-old she was one of the best fillies of her generation in England when she won five of her eight races. In the following year she finished third in the 1000 Guineas before going on to win the Epsom Oaks, Coronation Stakes and Nassau Stakes, as well as three other races. She earned more money than any other horse in Britain in 1924 and was retired after winning eight of her sister races. Straitlace was exported to France in 1925 and became a very successful and influential broodmare.
