RacingBetter News
	Saturday 21st September 2019

Most Famous Horse Races

Horse racing has always played a big part in the world of betting. Aside from betting on various casino games, like live roulette, horse races are a favorite to the people that are big betting fans. There are numerous races to choose from, and the profit can be mesmerizing. Every online bookie today has open bets for horse racing.

Horse races can be divided into flat, jump, harness, saddle trot, and endurance races. Each of these types requires a special breed of horses and have different sets of rules. It is interesting to say that horse racing is one of the oldest sports known to man and generates billions of dollars in profits today, mostly from betting.

With that being said, we’d like to take look at some of the most famous horse races in the world and give you a small insight into them.

Kentucky Derby

Let’s start with the most famous horse race in the USA. The Kentucky Derby is held annually in Louisville on the first Saturday in May. It was first inaugurated in 1875 and racers are competing for a prize pool of $3 million. The race outranks every other horse event in North America by attendance. It is a Grade 1 race for 3-year-old Thoroughbred horses and they are competing in 1 ¼ mile, left-handed track. This race is the finale of the famous Kentucky Derby Festival.

Cheltenham Gold Cup

Taking place at the Cheltenham Racecourse, the Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 steeplechase race. Racers are competing for a prize pool of £625,000, half of which goes to the winner. It is a left-handed track that is open to horses older than 5 years. Golden Miller holds the record as the most successful horse with 5 consecutive wins from 1932-1936. Pat Taaffe is the leading jockey with 4 wins.

The Grand National

Unlike the Kentucky Derby and the Cheltenham Gold Cup, the Grand National is a Grade 3 race takes place at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool. The qualification for this race is a bit stricter, the horses have to be 7+ years old, rated 120 or more by BHA, and they have to be previously placed in a recognized chase of 3+ miles. The race is left-handed on a 4-mile distance, with a prize pool of £1 million. The winner gets £560,000. The Grand National is watched by more than 500 million people worldwide.

Melbourne Cup

We transfer to Australia for the last race in our article. The Melbourne Cup is a Thoroughbred horse race that takes place at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne. It was first inaugurated in 1861, and since then rose into one of the most famous horse races worldwide. The track is 2 miles long with a prize pool of A$8,000,000. The Melbourne Cup is a flat race with Thoroughbreds over 3 years old. Each year, approximately 100,000 people are watching the races, and millions more betting on them. In 2018, Cross Counter became the first British-trained horse to win this race.