Horse Tracks In United States

They also offer horse racing videos, books, handicapping articles and track specific breeding reports. Handicapping.com Thoroughbred racing site, with all the latest news, entries and results. You can find all types of horse racing, including thoroughbred, quarter horse, arabian and harness racing at horse racing tracks and courses located within the United States. People can place wagers from anywhere in the world for over 75 thoroughbred horse race and hardess tracks across North America. TVG and TVG2 (HRTV) represent the most popular horse racing media destination in the world. Tune in with our free live streaming videos of daily races from over 150 tracks around the US and the world.

1. Synthetic Horse Tracks In United States
2. Map Of Horse Tracks In United States
3. Biggest Horse Races In United States
4. Active Horse Racing Tracks In United States
5. Horse Racing In United States

Synthetic Horse Tracks In United States

Do you love the thrill of live horse racing? Then nothing beats a day at the races. From the Kentucky Derby to the Belmont Stakes, America hosts some of the most exciting thoroughbred horse races in the world, held at historic tracks across the country. If you’re a big horse racing fan, here’s a look at the top 10 horse racing tracks in America that you should visit.

1. Arlington Park, Illinois

This picturesque turf race course lies in the suburbs of Chicago and is renowned for its natural beauty. Racing at Arlington Park dates back as far as 1927 and in 1981, the track hosted the country’s first $1 million horse race, The Arlington Million. Disaster struck in 1985, when a fire ravaged Arlington’s famous grandstand, which was later rebuilt. Today, the track hosts grade one events such as the Secretariat Stakes, Beverly D. Stakes, and the Arlington Million.

2. Churchill Downs, Kentucky

Churchill Downs is one of America’s most legendary race courses, featuring a grandstand with iconic twin spires and over 147 acres of manicured landscape in Louisville, Kentucky. The track’s top race is the annual Kentucky Derby, the first race in the prestigious Triple Crown. Don’t miss this thrilling event, attended by celebrities like Jack Nicholson and even Queen Elizabeth II.

3. Monmouth Park, New Jersey

Also referred to as ‘The Shore’, Monmouth Park is situated in Oceanport New Jersey, near the Atlantic. The historic track dates back to 1870 and today, its flagship races include the grade one Haskell Invitational Handicap and the United Nations Stakes.

4. Saratoga Race Course, New York

Saratoga is packed with racing fans between July and September, when it hosts non-stop races with staggering payouts. Located less than three hours from central New York, Saratoga is a family-friendly track established in 1863 and features great music and food, as well as top-class racing.

Highlights include the Travers Stakes and Whitney Stakes.

5. Pimlico Race Course, Maryland

As America’s second-oldest race track, Pimlico is steeped in history that stretches back to 1870. The highlight of Pimlico’s racing calendar is the $1 million Preakness Stakes, the second leg in the Triple Crown. Pimlico is located in Baltimore and also hosts music concerts. Its nickname, the ‘Old Hilltop’, stems from a small peak in the infield where trainers used to gather.

6. Keeneland Race Course, Kentucky

Head to Lexington, Kentucky, for a day at the popular Keeneland race course. Featuring a combination of dirt and turf tracks, Keeneland is most famous for hosting grade one races like the $500,000 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup, as well as for selling thoroughbreds. The course attracts some of the biggest audiences in America who flock to the pristine grounds for the Spring Meet, often attended by A-listers like George Clooney.

7. Oaklawn Park, Arkansas

Oaklawn is set in Arkansas’ idyllic resort town, Hot Springs. It’s been recently expanded to feature not just horse racing, but casino slot machines, poker tables, and an Instant Racing Complex. Visit during the Racing Festival of the South, when fixtures include the Oakland Derby, a prelude to the Kentucky Derby.

8. Belmont Park, Long Island, New York

Belmont is famous for hosting the final leg of America’s annual Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes. This endurance race is also known as ‘The Test of the Champion’ and draws huge crowds of up to 50,000 people every June.

9.Del Mar Race Track, California

Set by the sea, Del Mar is known by the slogan: ‘Where the surf meets the turf’. Founded in 1937 by celebrities including Bing Crosby, Gary Cooper, and Oliver Hardy, the 44,000-capacity race track is also the second-largest in the western US. As well as graded stakes including the Pacific Classic, Del Mar hosts an annual hat contest and music concerts throughout the year.

10. Santa Anita Park, California

Set against a backdrop of the spectacular San Gabriel Mountains, Santa Anita is one of America’s most picturesque race tracks. The course has a 40,000 capacity and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places due to its history as an assemble center during World War II for Japanese Americans. Famous horses such as Seabiscuit and Man o’ War have raced at Santa Anita.

To find out more about the best horse racing tracks in USA and a full guide to racing events, visit the MyWinners online racing hub. MyWinners is an expert horse racing site that offers a range of convenient betting options, from online wagering to betting at the track.

In 1665, with the establishment of the Newmarket course in Long Island, NY, horse racing began it’s long and storied history in American culture.

Beginning in the 1800s, unlike many cultural events at the time, horse racing was enjoyed by social elites and working-class alike.

This still holds true today. As the wealthy and famous regularly appear in the grandstands at the Kentucky Derby or the Belmont Stakes, so do blue-collar workers show up to their local tracks and off-track parlors for betting on horse races and to watch the ponies streak down the straightaway.

As far as spectator sports are concerned, horse racing is the 26th most popular sport to watch in the country. But in terms of sports betting, it is the third most popular.v

In 1908, when pari-mutuel betting was introduced into American horse racing, is when the sport really took off.

Pari-Mutuel Betting

Pari-mutuel betting is a type of specialty bet in which the total amount of all bets are pooled together on a single race and are distributed among the bettors who make a winning selection.

The French term “pari mutuel” originated at several horse tracks in France during the late 1800s. Translated as “mutual or shared betting,” the practice quickly spread to England and America because it was considered a much more equitable system for bettors.

As more people place bets, the odds fluctuate, making it difficult for bettors to know what kind of payout they might receive.

The downside of pari-mutuel betting is when a large number of bettors place a wager on the same winning horse which makes each winning bet a smaller payout than would have been if a lesser amount of people had bet on the winning horse.

Here are some of the most significant horse racing venues in American history:

1- Saratoga Race Track

Located in Saratoga Springs, NY, and opened in 1863, many consider this to be one of the oldest sporting venues in America. The track has seen horse racing almost every year since its inception.

In 1892, the infamous gambler and brothel-owner, Gottfried “Dutch Fred” Waldbaum, purchased the track. Under his ownership, horse owners experimented on horses using narcotics and electric batteries in order to better their chances of winning.

During this period is also when Saratoga’s iconic grandstand was erected. With its pinnacled roofline, it still stands today as the oldest continuously used seating area of any professional sport in the country.

“Dutch Fred” was notorious for delaying races sometimes 3 or 4 hours because he himself preferred late-night gambling.

Famed journalist of the 19th century, Nellie Bly, in her article about Saratoga Race Track, “Our Wickedest Summer Resort,” went on a tirade against Waldbaum and the nefarious way he ran the racetrack.

It didn’t take long for most of the reputable horse owners to abandon the track, and just about all of its most prominent races disappeared from the venue.

In 1901, its reputation was restored when former Secretary of the Navy, William Collins Whitney, purchased the track and made major improvements.

The course surface itself, like the Kentucky Derby, is dirt and it has a 1 ⅛ mile circumference.

It’s home to the oldest major thoroughbred race in the country, the Travers Stakes, which has a purse of $1,250,000.

And currently, it also hosts some of the most important races in the country including the Alabama Stakes, the Whitney Handicap, and the Hopeful Stakes.

The Saratoga meet (which is the length of each track’s season), lasts every year from July through early September.

2- Churchill Downs

Home of the Kentucky Derby, Churchill Downs was founded by the grandson of William Clark (of the Lewis & Clark Expedition), Colonel Meriwether Lewis Clark Jr.

After visiting England and France in the 1870s where he experienced some of the most famous horse racing in Europe, Clark returned to Kentucky and founded the Louisville Jockey Club whose purpose was to fund and build the eventual sight of the Kentucky Derby, Churchill Downs.

The first race took place in 1875 at a length of 1.5 miles but was lessened to a mile and a quarter in 1896 where it stands today.

In 1925, the Kentucky Derby was first broadcast by radio and then first aired on TV in 1952.

Mint juleps became the un-official drink of the Derby when Helena Modjeska, a famous Polish Actress, ordered the drink at a breakfast before the race.

The Derby has been nicknamed the “The Race for the Roses” as a blanket of 564 roses is always draped across the winning horse. This is done in remembrance of Colonel Meriwether Lewis Clark Jr who would decorate his post-Derby party with roses.

3- Pimlico Race Course

Pimlico Race Course is the historical setting for the Preakness Stakes located in Baltimore, Maryland. This dirt race track is named after the 17th century London Pub, Olde Ben Pimlico’s Tavern.

In 1938, it was the setting of one of the most famous horse races to ever take place, between Seabiscuit and War Admiral. Deemed the “Match of the Century,” War Admiral who had won the Triple-Crown, was a 4-1 favorite against the much smaller Seabiscuit.

After Seabiscuit had achieved the impossible, by beating War Admiral by 4 lengths, the horse became an inspiration to millions of struggling Americans during the Great Depression.

Pimlico opened in 1870 when the first running of the Dinner Party Stakes took place and the colt, Preakness, crossed the finish line first. 3 years later, The Preakness Stakes was established named after that same winning colt.

In 1877, the track also hosted a race that garnered so much attention that the United States Congress actually shut down for a day so senators could attend. Dubbed “The Great Race,” it was a competition between 3 horses owned by some of the wealthiest tobacco tycoons.

Held every 3rd Saturday in the month of May, The Preakness always draws huge crowds from across the Mid-Atlantic. In 2007, 121,263 horse racing fans attended the race and over $87.2 million bets were placed on the race.

Pimlico also hosts the Pimlico Special, both it and The Preakness are run at a distance of 1 and 3/16 miles. The track record was set in 1991 by the horse, Farma Way.

In recent years, the track has been in desperate need of renovation, and business owners and community leaders have decided to put forth hundreds of millions of dollars aside in order to save the historic site.

4- Belmont Park

Located just outside of New York City, in Elmont, sits the ivy-covered grandstand of Belmont Park.

Having opened in 1905, it is now owned and operated by the non-profit group the New York Racing Association(NYRA), which also owns the Saratoga Race Course. The NYRA was formed in 1955, to save these and several other historic horse race tracks throughout the state.

This race track is home to the third leg of the Triple Crown, The Belmont Stakes.

Map Of Horse Tracks In United States

Biggest Horse Races In United States

It is the longest distance of the three races at 1 ½ miles and has a deep, dirt surface that requires great endurance from horses. Because of these conditions, the track has been nicknamed, “the Big Sandy.”

August Belmont Jr, who financed the building of the New York subway, and Williams Collins Whitney, who bought Saratoga in 1901, built the original Belmont track.

At the time of its construction, Belmont Park was massive in its size in comparison to other horse racing facilities. In addition, it also used to have a train line that tunneled under the Hempstead Turnpike and stopped right at the horse track.

5 years after its construction, the Wright Brothers staged one of the first air shows there that attracted a crowd of 150,000 people.

Due to architectural defects, the original grandstand had to be demolished in 1963 and a new grandstand opened in 1968 that was able to accommodate up to 100,000 spectators.

The Belmont Stakes has actually been taking place since 1867 but wasn’t held at Belmont Park until it opened in 1905.

Active Horse Racing Tracks In United States

Perhaps the most famous racehorse in history, Secretariat, set a world record for 1 ½ miles at Belmont Park in 1973 when he won the Belmont Stakes and completed the Triple Crown. At the time of this writing, it is still the fastest time on a dirt track at that distance.

Other significant races held at Belmont Park are the Suburban Handicap, The Metropolitan Handicap, the Jockey Gold Cup, and the Woodward Stakes.

Horse Racing In United States

What other historically significant horse racing venues are there for horse betting in America? Let me know what you think in the comments.