Horse racing batting dates back to 16th century. Humans have been riding horse for a long time now. It was a popular pastime for soldiers. They used to compete with each other in racing.
Even before that the Greeks used to engage in chariot racing, it was a popular game in the Olympics. It dated back to 510 BC. It was also popular among the Romans.
All these things lead to horse racing betting, which has become a billion-dollar sport. It all started with horse racing. Over a period of years, racing evolved into betting and spread all over the world.
Horse racing betting timeline:
Nobody knows the exact time period when horse race betting became prominent in the world. However, we are going to breakdown the events.
- King James l: Horse racing became popular in the UK during the time of Henry ll. However, during the reign of King James l, it became a part of the English culture. During his kingship he established Newmarket. It was a royal resort and town. This resort became a major attraction for horse racing. During this time, horse races started taking place in other places as well.
- Queen Anne ll: During the end of the 17th century and beginning of 18 century, horse racing took traction. Queen Anne ll was pretty fond of horses. She started the Ascot racecourse during her reign. It was an open area for horses. She took huge efforts to transform this pastime into sports.
- British Classics: In the year 1814, Guineas stakes race completed 1000 races. After that classic British races were established, i.e. S.t. Leger Stakes, Epsom Derby and Guineas Stakes. There were five races. These are the top-tier flat races. At that time competition was pretty tough in horse racing.
- Race Betting Act: In the year 1928, the race betting act was passed. It was established to stop illegal betting and give control to a central authority for managing race betting. Winston Churchill passed this act. After this, taxes were put on betting. Horse racing betting was regulated under this act. All the money collected from betting was invested back into the sports to make it more accessible and competitive.
- Betting Levy Act: In the year 1961 betting levy act was passed. This act gave liberty to the bookmakers. After this act, they started conducting business from their shops and workplace instead from the racetracks. The bookmakers had to pay taxes to the government after this act. Betting became quite easier after this act. Everyone got equal opportunity to place their bets.
- Online Sports Betting: The first online betting site was established in the year 1996. It was the first licensed site. Punter and bettors were available to place bets from their home. After the launch of this site, many other sites came up. Online betting became a trend. People started using betting sites and apps to place online bets on a horse race.
This is the evolution of horse racing betting in Europe. Horse race betting became the most popular all around the world.