Horse Racing History

On the 6th of June in 2015, American Pharaoh galloped down the home stretch at Belmont Stake Park and finished the race 5 ½ lengths ahead of the other horses (Almasy). Thus, history was made, and for the first time in 37 years, a horse had won the Triple Crown. The Triple Crown is bestowed to three-year-old Thoroughbreds who have won the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness, Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes. Obtaining the Triple Crown is considered a racehorse’s greatest accomplishment, and it requires an incredible amount of both endurance and athleticism. People from all over America banded together to celebrate such an incredible feat and this horse who overcame so many physical odds. It is exciting moments like these that cause individuals to idealize
horse racing. It is also career changing moments such as these that can drive some participants in the industry to pursue greed and personal gain. In reality, there are many problems within the horse racing industry that should cause people to rethink whether or not it should continue. The exploitation of the horses, the pervasive drug culture, the risks associated with those involved in this business, and the lack of accountability for those who violate or intentionally elude regulations are just a few examples of the faults of the horse racing empire. Many horses and people are being mistreated and used on a daily basis because of the drive to make profits. As a result, I believe these problems are both too extensive and too complicated to justify this industry’s continuation. Before this discussion can further develop, it is important for readers to know some about this industry’s history.
American horse racing began as a recreational activity in the early sixteenth century; however, by the early seventeenth century, horse racing became more commercialized and official race courses were built in both Virginia and New York (Cassidy).Thoroughbred racing continued to grow in popularity, and by 1860, racetracks were being developed in nearly every state throughout America. Nonetheless, the public began to distrust the racing industry in the 1890s, and many jockeys, trainers, and horse owners were accused of corruption. Consequently, the amount of racetracks in the United States drastically decreased from 314 to 25 between the years 1897 and 1908
(Cassidy). Later, when Franklin D.
Roosevelt became president, he allocated power from the federal government to the state governments, especially in context with regulatory agencies. Soon after, states began to realize the need for laws and regulations to be set in place in order to ensure the safety of the horses, jockeys, trainers, owners, and spectators. This recognition spurred the creation of the state racing commissions and even caused the public to begin positively viewing the industry again. While the state racing commissions were intended to ensure the integrity of the sport, in actuality, they created a fragmented system of government and regulations that allowed each state to individually maintain and adopt its own laws. State racing commissions are accountable for “Issuing licenses to participants, promulgating rules governing the sport, enforcing these rules, and administering penalties for any rules violation” (Cassidy). In 1978, Congress passed the Interstate Horseracing Act of 1978 which granted some legislative power to the federal government in order to more efficiently regulate interstate off-track-wagering within the horse racing industry (Cassidy). Interstate off-track-wagering is simply making a legal wager in one state while the actual outcome of the horserace occurs in a separate state. Even with this progress, today’s horse racing industry is largely decentralized with its thirty-eight separate racing jurisdictions that each regulate and enforce laws
independently (Cassidy). This lack of a uniform system of regulation facilitates competition amongst states as they attempt to attract trainers and their horses to its racetracks in order to gain monetary profits. In 2010, the horse racing industry contributed $488,356,672 to Indiana’s state GDP and employed 9,865 people (Conners). Certainly, horse racing has the potential to generate great economic growth and provide people with work and a means of income; however, the incentive to bring in such profits is causing state racing commissions to create more lenient drug regulations. This leads to a system that lacks control over its participants, that does not hold violators accountable to their offenses, and that neglects to protect the welfare and health of the most important contributor to this industry: the horse.