Racing Today

Horse racing is a high-stakes hobby and “the sport of kings,” but the racetrack also has its seedy side. We can all imagine the stereotypes of bookies and desperate last-chance gamblers at the rails, praying for the jackpot of a long-shot win.

These images persist in imagination and in life, but in recent years popular books and movies have brought the passion and romance of racing to the attention of the general public. The media has caught on, and newspaper and television coverage has exploded. Today, both legendary winners like Seabiscuit and surprising new champions like Smarty Jones have become household names as more and more Americans catch on to the thrills and fascination of this spectator sport.

A little background about the races and an understanding of the lingo goes a long way in enjoying, and joining in on, the excitement.

Thoroughbreds: Breeding & Bloodlines

Most major races take place among thoroughbreds, which is a breed in and of itself, and not merely a descriptive term. (Quarter-horses and Arabians are also raced in the United States, but thoroughbreds are the media darlings). The breed originated in England. In the mid-seventeenth century, King Charles II began importing Arabians to breed with native English stock. The prodigy of this cross-mating resulted in the early roots of the breed; it quickly began to evolve and generations became successively stronger and faster. Today, the bloodlines of all thoroughbred horses trace back to one of three purebred Arabian stallions which entered the gene pool in the late seventeenth/early eighteenth century; these three stallions are now known as the “founding sires.”

Each race has a cash prize attached to it - a “purse” which can range from a few hundred to over a million dollars - with the proceeds going to the horses owner (the trainer and the jockey are employed by the owner and paid accordingly). But after the end of their racing careers, which typically begin at age two and span only five or six years at most, horses can continue to rake in the cash for their owners; winners breed winners, and winning stallions garner stud fees in the hundreds of thousand of dollars.

Handicapping a Race

Races have up to twenty post positions - so how do you decide where to put your money? This decision, called a handicap, can be spontaneous or as deliberate as you want it to be. The horses are the athletes, and their records are published in the Daily Racing Form. You’ll want to pick up a copy as you head to the racetrack so you can read up on each horse’s performance and follow the day’s race program. Along with the horse’s record, you may want to consider the record of the trainer and of the jockey. Keep in mind the condition of the track, whether its “fast” (dry and firm), “soft” (damp and yielding) or “sloppy” (wet and muddy). A horse with a record of winning on a fast track can falter on a sloppy one; give a sloppy track champion a fast track and watch him fly! Of course, you can always look at the odds. Race wagering is run on a pari-mutuel system, which means that the official odds reflect the bets which have already been placed, and will change as more money enters the pool. The horse with the best odds is called the favorite, and favorites win races about 33% of the time.

Every bettor has his or her own theory on picking a winner. You can be impulsive, superstitious, or intellectual; make a quick pick or spend hours pouring over charts and statistics. But ultimately you’ve just got to feel it in your bones. You can bet on a horse to win, but also to place (come in second), or show (come in third). And if you really have faith in your instincts, you can bet on an exacta (first and second place winners, in that order, also called a perfecta), or a trifecta (first, second and third place winners, in that order). For the true gamblers, pick the first four horses across the finish line and put your money on a superfecta.

The Triple Crown

The Run for the Roses at the Kentucky Derby

In the United States, the racing season hits its stride early in the summer. “The most exciting two minutes in sports” take place on the first Saturday in May: those two minutes are the Kentucky Derby, the premier event of American racing and the first of three races that make up the Triple Crown. Loud, fast, colorful and rich in history and tradition, the Kentucky Derby takes place under the twin spires of Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. The first Kentucky Derby was run in 1875 and has been run every year since, making it the longest continuously running sporting event in US history. Since 1896, the course has been 1 ¼ mile, or ten furlongs, long and is usually run in just over two minutes (the fastest winning time on record belongs to Secretariat, who in 1973 ran the course in 1:59 2/5 and went on to win the Triple Crown). As in most derbies, the field is open to three year-old horses only, one of which will receive the blanket of over 500 deep red roses, the Derby’s official flower, in the winners circle.

Over the years, fans of the Derby have celebrated the traditions associated with it. Outside of the race itself, one of the most memorable Derby Day experiences follows the trumpet call signaling the ten-minute-to-post mark. At this time, the entire crowd joins in a rendition of the My Old Kentucky Home. If the sentimental song brings tears to the crowd’s eyes, it may be that the free flow of liquor has softened their emotions a bit; for a second famous symbol of the Derby is the sweet concoction known as the Mint Julep, a mixture of bourbon, sugar, water and fresh mint which is the Derby’s official cocktail. Since the mid 1940s, the colored tumblers and sterling silver cups in which mint juleps are served at the Churchill Downs clubhouse have become the most valuable and enduring souvenirs of the races. Finally, no one could forget a third Derby Day practice which belongs exclusively to the female fans: tradition holds that ladies attending the event don elaborately decorated hats. A wide-brimmed hat is practical measure in the Kentucky summer sun, but at the Derby women often leave the sensible behind, showing off their creative and competitive spirits in adorning their headwear with ribbons, flowers, feathers, bells, jewels--just about anything they can balance on their heads.

Preakness Stakes: The Middle Jewel

Two weeks after the Kentucky Derby, most of the same horses head north to Baltimore’s Pimlico Race Track to compete in the Crown’s second contest, the Preakness Stakes. The Preakness has a little bit longer history than the Derby, as it was first run at Pimlico in May of 1873, two years before the first Derby trial. However, unlike the Kentucky Derby’s continuous run at Churchill Down’s, Pimlico’s record is interrupted by twenty years. In 1889 the track began struggling financially and operations slowed down considerably. The Preakness was run at various tracks in New York during the interim, and then returned to Pimlico in 1909.

The Preakness has a homey theme song in "Maryland, My Maryland" and a winners blanket made out of black-eyed susans. It’s official beverage is also called the Black-Eyed Susan, and consists of two lemons, one orange, a little bit of sugar and a shot of bourbon. But Pimlico has an iconic architectural feature which plays into a tradition uniquely its own. In 1909 the original Members’ Clubhouse at Pimlico was adorned with weathervane in the form of a horse and rider. Although that clubhouse was destroyed by fire in 1966, today a replica of its cupola, along with the weather vane, stands in the winners circle. Each year upon the official declaration of the Preakness winner, a worker scrambles up a ladder to the weather vane and paints the silks of the iron horse and jockey with the colors of the winner. The colors remain until the following year’s race is won.

The Test of Champions: The Belmont Stakes

The Belmont Stakes, first run in 1867, is final jewel in the triple crown and the oldest of the three races. Since 1905, the race has been held in Long Island’s Belmont Park (except for 1911 & 1912, when anti-gambling legislation shut the track’s operations down, and 1963-67, when the race was held at Aqueduct in as Belmont Park was being rebuilt). The Stakes’ 1 ½ miles is a demanding distance for the horses, most of which have run the both the Derby and the Preakness within the previous five weeks, a grueling race schedule. Known as “The Test of Champions,” 17 horses have prevailed at the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness only to fail to capture the glory at Belmont.

The official flower of the Belmont Stakes is the white carnation, and in the winners circle the champion is presented with a blanket of over 350 of the flowers. In the past, the crowd would hear “Sidewalks of New York” as the horses paraded to the post; but since 1997 the Preakness theme has been “New York, New York.” Of course, The Belmont has its own cocktail as well: a sweet, fruity, fizzy concoction of whiskey, sherry, lemon juice, simple syrup, orange juice, cranberry juice, 7-Up and club soda.

Achieving the Triple Crown

Between 1919 and 1948, eight horses claimed the glory of the Triple Crown (see list below) - that’s eight winners in twenty-nine years. But starting in 1949, over two decades came and went without any one horse laying claim to the Triple Crown. By the 1970s, fans and experts alike thought they might never see another Triple Crown winner, too many strong, competitive horses were coming up through the ranks every year, consistently out-running one another.  But in 1973 came a three year-old like none they'd seen before. Secretariat set track records at his run in the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, and a world-record at the Belmont Stakes, winning with a 31-length lead in 2:24. In a racing career that lasted only two years, Secretariat won over $1.3 million. Then, in 1977 Seattle Slew became the only Triple Crown winner to never lose a race in his entire career. Finally, in 1978 Affirmed became the third Triple Crown winner in a decade, and the last since.

Since 1919, the eleven winners of the Triple Crown are:

Sir Barton 1919

Gallant Fox 1930

Omaha 1935

War Admiral 1937

Whirlaway 1941

Count Fleet 1943

Assault 1946

Citation 1948

Secretariat 1973

Seattle Slew 1977

Affirmed 1978

Racing is fast-paced and fascinating, and has layers of history and action to savor. As a novice, start by tuning in to the three races of the Triple Crown. Take a little time to prepare yourself beforehand and it will pay off in enjoying the entire experience - after all, the race is only two minutes long!