The lists below show notable Thoroughbred horse races in various countries around the world. In countries with a grading system, the included races are normally Group or Grade 1. However, some restricted races such as the Queen's Plate in Canada are also included, and all races at the Royal Ascot festival are included because of their prestige.

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Flat races[edit]

Argentina

Use this page to access today’s racing results from all the meetings taking place in the UK, Ireland and overseas, including France and North America. The menu below shows a condensed version of the results including, starting prices and tote pool pay outs. Watch the latest horse racing replays with Racing TV. Catch up on all the racing action throughout the UK and Ireland.

• Gran Premio Nacional (Argentine Derby)
• Gran Premio Polla de Potrancas (Argentine 1000 Guineas)
• Gran Premio Polla de Potrillos (Argentine 2000 Guineas)
• Gran Premio Seleccion (Argentine Oaks)

Australian

Austrian

• Trial Stakes

Barbados

Belgium

Brazil

• Grande Prêmio Cruzeiro do Sul (Brazilian Derby)
• Grande Prêmio Diana (Brazilian Oaks)

Canada

Chile

• Dos Mil Guineas (Chilean 2000 Guineas)
• El Derby (Chilean Derby)
• Clásico St. Leger (Chilean St.Leger)

Czech Republic

• Ceske Velka Jarni Cena (Ceske 2000 Guineas)

Denmark

France

• Poule d'Essai des Poulains (French 2000 Guineas)
• Poule d'Essai des Pouliches (French 1000 Guineas)
• Prix de Diane (French Oaks)
• Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby)

Germany

• Mehl-Mülhens-Rennen (German 2000 Guineas)
• Preis der Diana (German Oaks)

Hong Kong

Hungary

• Nemzeti dij (Hungarian 2000 Guineas)

Ireland

Italy

• Oaks d'Italia (Italian Oaks)
• Premio Parioli (Italian 2000 Guineas)
• Premio Regina Elena (Italian 1000 Guineas)

Japan

• Arima Kinen (Japanese winter Grand Prix)
• Kikuka Sho (Japanese St.Leger)
• Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas)
• Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas)
• Takarazuka Kinen (Japanese summer Grand Prix)
• Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby)
• Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks)

Mauritius

New Zealand

Norway

Pakistan

• Quaid-e-Azam Gold Cup
• Pakistan Derby
• New Year Cup
• 1000 Guineas of Pakistan
• 2000 Guineas of Pakistan
• Pakistan St. Ledger Cup
• Pakistan Oaks
• Anarkali cup

Philippines

• Gran Copa
• President's Gold Cup

Poland

• Nagroda Derby Half Blood Derby (in English)
• Nagroda Rulera (Polish 2000 Guineas)

Russia

• Bolszoj Vserossijskij Priz (Russian Derby)

Singapore

Slovakia

• Slovenske Velka Jarna Cena (Slovenske 2000 Guineas)

South Africa

• Champions Cup
• S A Derby (South African Derby)
• The Annual Simonsberg Metropolitan

South Korea

Spain

• Premio Beamonte (Spanish Oaks)
• Premio Cimera (Spanish 2000 Guineas)
• Premio Valderas (Spanish 1000 Guineas)
• Premio Villamejor (Spanish St. Leger)
• Premio Villapadierna (Spanish Derby)

Sweden

• Jockeyklubbens Jubileumslopning (Swedish 2000 Guineas)

Switzerland

Turkey

• Ankara Stakes (Turkish St. Leger)
• Dişi Tay Deneme (Turkish 1000 Guineas)
• Erkek Tay Deneme (Turkish 2000 Guineas)
• Gazi Derby (Turkish Derby)
• Kısrak (Turkish Oaks)

United Arab Emirates

United Kingdom

• Doncaster Cup (world's oldest race)
• Derby Stakes (aka Epsom Derby)
• Oaks Stakes (aka Epsom Oaks)
• Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (British Champions Mile)
• Royal Ascot:
  • Day 1 (2015–Present):
  • Day 2:
  • Day 3:
  • Day 4:
  • Day 5:
• See also: List of British flat horse races

United States

• Breeders' Cup series:
  • Day 1 (2013–present):
    • Breeders' Cup Juvenile Sprint (discontinued)
    • Breeders' Cup Marathon (discontinued)
    • Breeders' Cup Distaff (known as the Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic between 2008 and 2012)
  • Day 2 (2013–present):
• Donn Handicap (discontinued)
• Pegasus World Cup (effective replacement of Donn Handicap)

See also: Graded stakes race for a full list of Grade 1 races in the United States

Uruguay

Steeplechases[edit]

Australia

• Grand National Steeplechase

Belgium

Czech Republic

France

Ireland

Italy

Japan

• Nakayama Grand Jump (Recap can be seen via JRA International Race Recap

New Zealand

• Great Northern Steeplechase
• Grand National Steeplechase

United Kingdom

United States

• Iroquois Steeplechase, Nashville, Tennessee
• Queens Cup Steeplechase held in Mineral Springs, North Carolina

See also[edit]

• Early history
• The modern age of racing

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When Was The First Documented Horse Race In France War

Horse racing, sport of runninghorses at speed, mainly Thoroughbreds with a rider astride or Standardbreds with the horse pulling a conveyance with a driver. These two kinds of racing are called racing on the flat and harness racing, respectively. Some races on the flat—such as steeplechase, point-to-point, and hurdle races—involve jumping. This article is confined to Thoroughbred horse racing on the flat without jumps. Racing on the flat with horses other than Thoroughbreds is described in the article quarter-horse racing.

Horse racing is one of the oldest of all sports, and its basic concept has undergone virtually no change over the centuries. It developed from a primitive contest of speed or stamina between two horses into a spectacle involving large fields of runners, sophisticated electronic monitoring equipment, and immense sums of money, but its essential feature has always been the same: the horse that finishes first is the winner. In the modern era, horse racing developed from a diversion of the leisure class into a huge public-entertainment business. By the first decades of the 21st century, however, the sport’s popularity had shrunk considerably.

Early history

Knowledge of the first horse race is lost in prehistory. Both four-hitch chariot and mounted (bareback) races were held in the Olympic Games of Greece over the period 700–40 bce. Horse racing, both of chariots and of mounted riders, was a well-organized public entertainment in the Roman Empire. The history of organized racing in other ancient civilizations is not very firmly established. Presumably, organized racing began in such countries as China, Persia, Arabia, and other countries of the Middle East and in North Africa, where horsemanship early became highly developed. Thence came too the Arabian, Barb, and Turk horses that contributed to the earliest European racing. Such horses became familiar to Europeans during the Crusades (11th–13th century ce), from which they brought those horses back.

Racing in medievalEngland began when horses for sale were ridden in competition by professional riders to display the horses’ speed to buyers. During the reign of Richard the Lionheart (1189–99), the first known racing purse was offered, £40, for a race run over a 3-mile (4.8-km) course with knights as riders. In the 16th century Henry VIII imported horses from Italy and Spain (presumably Barbs) and established studs at several locations. In the 17th century James I sponsored meetings in England. His successor, Charles I, had a stud of 139 horses when he died in 1649.

Organized racing

Charles II (reigned 1660–85) became known as “the father of the English turf” and inaugurated the King’s Plates, races for which prizes were awarded to the winners. His articles for these races were the earliest national racing rules. The horses raced were six years old and carried 168 pounds (76 kg), and the winner was the first to win two 4-mile (6.4-km) heats. The patronage of Charles II established Newmarket as the headquarters of English racing.

In France the first documented horse race was held in 1651 as the result of a wager between two noblemen. During the reign of Louis XIV (1643–1715), racing based on gambling was prevalent. Louis XVI (reigned 1774–93) organized a jockey club and established rules of racing by royal decree that included requiring certificates of origin for horses and imposing extra weight on foreign horses.

Organized racing in North America began with the British occupation of New Amsterdam (now New York City) in 1664. Col. Richard Nicolls, commander of the British troops, established organized racing in the colonies by laying out a 2-mile (3.2-km) course on the plains of Long Island (called Newmarket after the British racecourse) and offering a silver cup to the best horses in the spring and fall seasons. From the beginning, and continuing until the Civil War, the hallmark of excellence for the American Thoroughbred was stamina, rather than speed. After the Civil War, speed became the goal and the British system the model.

Match races

The earliest races were match races between two or at most three horses, the owners providing the purse, a simple wager. An owner who withdrew commonly forfeited half the purse, later the whole purse, and bets also came under the same “play or pay” rule. Agreements were recorded by disinterested third parties, who came to be called keepers of the match book. One such keeper at Newmarket in England, John Cheny, began publishing An Historical List of All Horse-Matches Run (1729), a consolidation of match books at various racing centres, and this work was continued annually with varying titles, until in 1773 James Weatherby established it as the Racing Calendar, which was continued thereafter by his family.

When Was The First Documented Horse Race In France Map

Open field racing

By the mid-18th century the demand for more public racing had produced open events with larger fields of runners. Eligibility rules were developed based on the age, sex, birthplace, and previous performance of horses and the qualifications of riders. Races were created in which owners were the riders (gentlemen riders), in which the field was restricted geographically to a township or county, and in which only horses that had not won more than a certain amount were entered. An act of the British Parliament of 1740 provided that horses entered had to be the bona fide property of the owners, thus preventing “ringers,” a superior horse entered fraudulently against inferior horses; horses had to be certified as to age; and there were penalties for rough riding.

Contemporary accounts identified riders (in England called jockeys—if professional—from the second half of the 17th century and later in French racing), but their names were not at first officially recorded. Only the names of winning trainers and riders were at first recorded in the Racing Calendar, but by the late 1850s all were named. This neglect of the riders is partly explained in that when races consisted of 4-mile heats, with the winning of two heats needed for victory, the individual rider’s judgment and skill were not so vital. As dash racing (one heat) became the rule, a few yards in a race gained importance, and, consequently, so did the rider’s skill and judgment in coaxing that advantage from his mount.

When Was The First Documented Horse Race In France Right Now

Bloodlines and studbooks

All horse racing on the flat except quarter-horse racing involves Thoroughbred horses. Thoroughbreds evolved from a mixture of Arab, Turk, and Barb horses with native English stock. Private studbooks had existed from the early 17th century, but they were not invariably reliable. In 1791 Weatherby published An Introduction to a General Stud Book, the pedigrees being based on earlier Racing Calendars and sales papers. After a few years of revision, it was updated annually. All Thoroughbreds are said to descend from three “Oriental” stallions (the Darley Arabian, the Godolphin Barb, and the Byerly Turk, all brought to Great Britain, 1690–1730) and from 43 “royal” mares (those imported by Charles II). The preeminence of English racing and hence of the General Stud Book from 1791 provided a standard for judging a horse’s breeding (and thereby, at least to some degree, its racing qualities). In France the Stud Book Française (beginning in 1838) originally included two classifications: Orientale (Arab, Turk, and Barb) and Anglais (mixtures according to the English pattern), but these were later reduced to one class, chevaux de pur sang Anglais (“horses of pure English blood”). The American Stud Book dates from 1897 and includes foals from Canada, Puerto Rico, and parts of Mexico, as well as from the United States.

When Was The First Documented Horse Race In France Today

The long-standing reciprocity among studbooks of various countries was broken in 1913 by the Jersey Act passed by the English Jockey Club, which disqualified many Thoroughbred horses bred outside England or Ireland. The purpose of the act was ostensibly to protect the British Thoroughbred from infusions of North American (mainly U.S.) sprinting blood. After a rash of victories in prestigious English races by French horses with “tainted” American ancestry in the 1940s, the Jersey Act was rescinded in 1949.

Evolution of races

The original King’s Plates were standardized races—all were for six-year-old horses carrying 168 pounds at 4-mile heats, a horse having to win two heats to be adjudged the winner. Beginning in 1751, five-year-olds carrying 140 pounds (63.5 kg) and four-year-olds carrying 126 pounds (57 kg) were admitted to the King’s Plates, and heats were reduced to 2 miles (3.2 km). Other racing for four-year-olds was well established by then, and a race for three-year-olds carrying 112 pounds (51 kg) in one 3-mile (4.8-km) heat was run in 1731. Heat racing for four-year-olds continued in the United States until the 1860s. By that time, heat racing had long since been overshadowed in Europe by dash racing, a “dash” being any race decided by only one heat, regardless of its distance.