The most celebrated horse races today are thoroughbred races, where jockeys ride at top speed around a flat course. Only horses of the thoroughbred breed can enter these intense competitions. read more
It's actually called the "sport of kings". The reason it is nicknamed that is because the original patrons of the sport in Europe were members of monarchies or were closely related to those who were, and racing as a sport was imported to this country from England, which was and is a monarchy. read more
Regarding horseracing being called the "sport of kings" - It was called that because horse racing used to take place only during the week and only during regular working hours (there was no weekend or evening racing in the beginning). In order to attend the races, you had to have the ability to be able to miss work whenever you felt like it. read more
By close of play one horse would be dead, many more injured, and I would, literally, be made sick to my stomach at the spectacle of this so-called Sport of Kings. I had arrived at the course with Dene Stansall of Animal Aid, a perfectly respectable registered campaigning organisation that has lobbied for many years for racing to be made more humane. read more