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Since racing had and still has a distinct bearing upon the industrial and
social life of Kentucky, and since its development is intimately bound up with
that of the fairs, the story is not complete without some account of its rise and
general history. _
\ `. The attention given racing by Kentuckians can best be understood if we re- -
member the conditions that surrounded the pioneer. To the statement that "An
horse is a vain thing for safety," he would have doubtless replied, "Not my
horseL" And he would hack up his answer ‘withi instances when the speed of his
_ horse, its sure-footeduess, its stamina, and dependability had been the means of EEQX
Vsaving his life. _ _ A fOV
Long after the Indian enemy was_no longer a menace, the Kentuckian` looked
to his mount for those things that denoted the qualities just mentioned. Again
and again succeeding generations of Kentuckians rode into battle the horses upon
which, in time of supreme danger, they dependei for their lives. Under such con- .
ditions, tests of speed and stamina are not only natural but inevitable. The
race track·and the show ring were and are, for the horse, what the judging arena
is for other classes of stock»- the proving ground of excellence.
With this idea uppermost, impromptu races were run wherever, in pioneer
days, good riders mot. . ` i
The Shallowford Course, conveniently located between Boonesborough (now
Boonesboro) and harrodsburg, was run—in l775. `At a race at Haggin's Track in EEE
Harrodsburv, run in l785, Hugh NcGary bet a horse worth eee on the outcome. For
,g this he was arrested, tried, convicted in court, and found to be "an infamous
gambler ... not eligible to any office of trust or honor within the state."
Humble's Course at Iarrodsburg (1783) and Col. Willian. Whitley*s Course at
Sportsman's Hill, about l8lO, are among numerous examples of early-day race
tracks conducted by private enterprise. As early as 1785 Louisville held races
on Market Street.
During the l790's race meets became common throughout the State. A purse
_ race run in Danville, November 50, 1796, was "free to any horse, mare, or geld-
ing." Three-, two-, and one-mile heats were run on successive days. Aged horses
carried l3d pounds; colts and fillies ll8. ln general, at such meetings the
Newmarket rules already in vogue in Virginia were employed.
At Lexington where, early in the l7BO’s, racing had been banned from Main ass
Street, and in l788 from the common where next the horsemen congregated, a quar— yea
ter—mile course was laid out on South Broadway. This was succeeded, after the 2;;
formation of the Lexington Jockey Club, by a track located on the site of the mot
present Lexington Cemetery. Here, in the autumn of l797, a three—day meet was ém¥
held. The notice of the event, first in _point of direct sequence of the long SG1
series of meets that is continued in the most recent Kentucky Derby, reads: th€
"Resolved - That there be a purse race run over the Lexington course 5gE
on the second Wednesday and the two following days in November next; vi,
the first day, four-mile heats; second day, three-mile heats; and St,
third day, for four-year-olds, two—mile heats; aged horses carrying
l30 pounds; six-year—olds, 120 pounds; five-year-olds, lO0 pounds; and
three-year-olds, a feather (jp poundg). LO,
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