CMG Racing

Thousands of years ago, man discovered that an animal from the Equus order was good for carrying his burdens and lightening his load. Then one day, as the human race as a whole are natural competitors, we began to use that animal, called the horse, to race against others.

Then man began breeding horses to excel in speed and endurance. When this new type of entertainment and sport began to evolve, it was the nobility, or royalty, who could afford the expense of breeding horses for this purpose. Therefore, that “class” of people were the ones who most often enjoyed the leisure of competing in horse races.

Early picture records of horse racing were found in the origins of prehistoric nomadic tribesmen of Middle Asia. It was they who first domesticated the horse around 4500 B.C. The first written records came much later, after horse racing was already an established sport from Central Asia to the Mediterranean. Horse racing became a part of the Greek Olympics around 638 B.C. And the Roman Empire was obsessed with the sport.

Modern racing traces its roots back to the 12th century. Knights of the British Empire imported Arabic horses upon their return from the Crusades. In the years that followed, hundreds of Arab stallions were crossbred with English mares to give the most desirable combination of speed and endurance. This breed of horse became known, after its evolution, as the Thoroughbred and of course the nobility were leaders in staging competitions between two superior Thoroughbred horses for private wagers, as a diversion.

As the sport evolved to being more professional during the reign of Queen Anne in the early 18th century, one-on-one races gave way to events in which several horses competed. Racetracks offered purses, or prize money to the winner of the events. And those purses grew larger in order to attract the best horses.

During the mid-1700s, it was decided that there needed to be a governing body to determine the rules and standards by which racers, breeders, and owners must abide. As a result the Jockey Club was established in Newmarket, and still exercises complete control over English racing to this day.

Once the Club established the complete rules and standards of the horses and the races which could be run under sanction of the Club, five races were designated as the “classic” races for three-year-old horses. The English Triple Crown – which is open to both colts and fillies – consists of the 2000 Guineas, the Epsom Derby, and the St. Leger Stakes. Two other races, which are open only to fillies, are the 1000 Guineas and the Epsom Oaks.

As the British settled in America, they brought very fine breeding stock and racing horses with them. The first known racetrack in the Colonies was on Long Island in New York. It was first laid out around 1665. Though horse racing was a popular local event, organized and professional racing did not actually start until after the Civil War. From there, the sport escalated in popularity across the settled parts of the country. And many of the racetracks were run by the “criminal element.” As this was quite undesirable to the more prominent track owners and breeders, they met in New York in 1894 and formed the American Jockey Club. They soon established rules and regulations, similar to those of the English Jockey Club, and quickly eliminated much of the corruption.

The Kentucky Derby, one of the best known horse-racing events in the United States, was first run in 1875. Its home is at the Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. It is one of the three races which make up the American Triple Crown. The other two are the Belmont Stakes, first run on Long Island, New York at Jerome Park in 1867, and the Preakness Stakes, first run in 1873 at Pimlico Park in Baltimore, Maryland.

Although interest has waxed and waned over the years, horse racing is the second-most attended spectator sport in the United States, outranked only by baseball.

There are other forms of horse racing in both Great Britain and the United States. These include:

- The steeplechase, which requires the horse to clear such obstacles as brush fences, stone walls, rail fences, and water jumps. The oldest and most famous steeplechase in Great Britain is England’s Grand National. It was first run in Aintree in 1839, and continues even today. The most famous in the United States is the American National. It was first run in 1899 at Belmont Park and continues to be held there annually.

- Hurdle racing is similar to the steeplechase, but is much less demanding. It is often use as a training arena for Thoroughbreds who will later compete in steeplechases.

- Point-to-point races are generally run by amateurs throughout the British Isles.

- And last but by no means least is harness racing, which was very popular during the Roman Empire. Once the Empire fell the sport all but vanished until its resurrection, by those who liked to race their horses in harness on the country roads of America, at the end of the 1700s. The first official tracks for harness racing came about in the early 1800s, and by 1825 harness racing became a favorite attraction at country fairs all across the U.S.

Out of the rebirth of harness racing, a new breed of horse was born. In 1788, an outstanding English Thoroughbred stallion was imported to the United States. He was bred with American Thoroughbred and mixed-breed mares to establish the line of Standardbred. The name is based on the “standard” distance of one mile in harness racing speed. The descendants of this line were rebred over the years to create this new breed which has the stamina, temperament, and physical size and structure to endure racing under harness.

Although harness racing suffered a decline of popularity again in the early 1900s, it bounced back in 1940 after being reintroduced at a raceway in New York as a pari-mutuel betting event. Its number of tracks and scheduled annual events outnumber those of Thoroughbred racing in the United States today. It has also gained popularity in many European countries, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada.

What was once almost exclusively “the Sport of Kings” has segued over the years to encompass people of all lifestyles and income. It remains, however, a sport quite often associated with the “well-to-do”, those who can afford the vast expenditure involved with raising the standard of horse required to run in, and win, the large purses awarded by, the most popular horse-racing events around the world.

By: Michael Russell

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Since horses were first domesticated (ca. 4500 BCE), by nomadic Central Asian tribesmen, horse-racing has been a favorite sport of the privileged and leisured. Its origins aren’t recorded, but by the time human beings began keeping written records, it was already an established part of civilization and culture from Central Asia to the Mediterranean.

It appears (in the form of chariot racing) in the second-to-last book of Homer’s Iliad, which takes place during the Trojan War, possibly referring to events as far back as the twelfth century BCE. We know that chariot races “both two- and four-horses” were also popular events at the ancient Olympics, added to the roster in 680 BCE. (Chariot-less horseback races had been part of the Olympics before that, but were dropped early on.) Chariot racing plays an important role in Roman legend, too. For example, in the story of Romulus’s founding of Rome in 753 BCE, the mythical city-founder set up a series of races in order to distract the Sabine men while Romulus and his men, needing women to populate their new city, abducted the Sabine women. With myths like this, it’s no wonder that chariot races became a national obsession for many ancient Romans, as popular for them as NASCAR is to contemporary Indianans.

Modern horse racing can be traced back to the twelfth century, when the first wave of battle-weary English knights returned from the Crusades with fast, well-bred Arabian horses. These swift steeds became luxury items for medieval English gentry, who crossbred them with English mares, seeking a marriage between the speed of the Arab horses and the endurance of the English ones. In addition to breeding them, wagering on these horses and matching them against each other gave English nobles an interesting new hobby.

Like all good amateur obsessions, this one was soon professionalized. Under Queen Anne (1702-14), the first modern races, in which spectators bid on races involving several horses, were opened, and racecourses began to appear. The Jockey Club was formed in 1750 to ensure that this lucrative new sport was well-regulated; the organization controls English racing to this day, and the horses listed in its General Stud Book (1791-present) are the only ones acceptable for breeding and Thoroughbred racing. (Modern English Thoroughbreds are thus thoroughly inbred, as all of them can be traced back to one of three stallions: Byerley Turk, 1679; Darley Arabian, 1700; and Godolphin Arabian, 1724.)

Horseracing came to the New World along with British settlement and occupation. In Long Island, the first American racetrack appeared in 1665, and the sport really took off in the decades after the Civil War, as an industrial economy helped provide the urban demographic concentration and pocket money necessary to fuel a large horse-gambling infrastructure. Along with these things came, of course, serious criminal infiltration, which led to the creation of the American Jockey Club, founded in 1894 for the same purpose (and with much the same effect) as the British Jockey Club.

Racing has had its ups and downs in America ever since the wave of antigambling sentiment nearly wiped it out early in the century, but during the 1930s and 1970s champion horses such as Seabiscuit and Secretariat became popular icons, providing a hopeful sidelight in times of national despair and depression. The sport provided a similar service in 2006, when officials reopened New Orleans’ Fair Grounds. The third-oldest track in the nation, the Fair Grounds had hosted Thanksgiving races since 1936, until Hurricane Katrina devastated the city in 2005. Thousands of Louisianans turned out for the Thanksgiving 2006 races, grateful to participate, once again, in a national tradition.

For those Louisianans, as for so many other Americans, watching thoroughbred horse racing is a wonderful pastime. Whether you’re a fan of horse racing gambling or just like the thrill of live horse racing, the sport is full of drama and passion. Tip services can help you maximize your enjoyment of thoroughbred horse racing by clarifying the details and letting you know who the favorites are.

By: Kiawah Smart

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Street racing is dangerous and illegal. If you are interesting in racing, there are many closed tracks that accept a fee for use. Racing on the street can get you killed, put in jail, or even worse, kill an innocent by-stander. Imagine the guilt of such an accident that would be hanging over your head after such a an accident.

Yet many youths still participate in street car racing. It is a thrilling ride, full of adventure that involves the most enthusiastic drivers who have a passion of driving cars. Street car racing now takes place in almost every part of the world.

In Street Car Racing the cars run at very high speeds and some of the faster street racing cars can go up to 60mph in just 4 seconds. So, one can imagine the pace at which these car races take place. Some of the faster street racing cars have a speed of up to 180mph. Many cars have neon underbody lighting system that looks amazing when the cars are running at high speeds. Normally these races take place at nighttime, so the lighting system looks very good. Generally most street racing cars have a Nitrous Oxide system that can double or even triple the horse power of a car. The latest street racing cars come with onboard entertainment system with as many as five television screens.

Any person can participate in illegal street car racing, yet the danger and risks are not worth it. Racing on a closed track can be just as thrilling. Street racing appeals to people because the only requirements are that the person has a car. However, many people prefer to watch motor sports rather than experiencing them their own, since this involves a lot of risk to drive the cars at such high speeds. Generally people with a lot of money and time to spare take part in such a sport as this. It takes a lot of money to customize a car for racing.

Generally young people are more attracted towards this sport than the older ones. People customize their cars and even upgrade for maximum boost with suspension, tires, turbo and nitrous. But the drivers of illegal races need to be careful of the cops since to drive at such high speeds on the streets is not officially allowed and as mentioned, is extremely dangerous. If the cops catch you they will likely seize your vehicle or put you behind the bars. Some youngsters feel it to be a thrill when an actual cop is chasing them but actually the thrill is gone when the cops trap you, or a telephone pole does. Speeding can cause a loss of someone’s life and is not to be taken lightly. If one takes conscious efforts to drive within the speed limits on the streets and saves racing for closed courses, then the experience can be an absolute thrill.

By: Scotty Johnson

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NASCAR racing has become one of the most popular sports today viewed by millions of fans from around 150 countries all over the globe. It ranks second to the National Football League as far as television ratings in the United States are concerned and an overwhelming 75 million NASCAR racing fans and brand loyalists are being estimated to purchase more than $2 billion worth in annual sales of licensed NASCAR products. Here are a few reasons why people love NASCAR racing:

NASCAR racing is a thrilling sports game. The thrill that can be taken from watching the race in television is far surpassed when one sees the game real and live. There is a gush of excitement everytime the sound and sight of cars of different colors, sponsors and hues go out in the field to race against each other in a game of speed. If one who sees the race on television wonders why fans go ecstatic in every lap, it is largely due to the feeling of excitement everytime one’s bet is either being overtaken by another car or is leading the race.

There is a gush of fear and excitement in every NASCAR race. The thrill of watching NASCAR race is being fueled all the more by the excitement of watching cars speeding against each other in verge of danger. There is a thrill caused by fear of possible crashes, smashing cars and injuries which can happen at anytime and which actually occur in this racing game. This aspect of NASCAR racing adds more color and drama to this speed racing sports.

NASCAR racing events are vibrant and exciting. NASCAR racing is also not only about cars as it is also an event marked with colorful sceneries and loud sounds of cheering fans. It is awesome to see different people of varied preferences cheering for their bets yet having an air of camaraderie with other NASCAR fans. There is an also an air of liveliness and vibrancy in host cities as thousands of NASCAR “pilgrims” make themselves at home for the game and are being entertained by the host cities and track organizers. The merchandises and goods sold during NASCAR races are also best gift ideas that can be given on any occasion. They also serve as wonderful souvenirs most especially when a shirt of sweatshirt is being printed with a favorite driver’s image and name on it.

Here are just among the few reasons why people love NASCAR racing. If you haven’t had any of these experiences yet, go and see the NASCAR race and feel the excitement and fun experienced by thousands of NASCAR fans.

By: Jeffery Dodd

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