Horse Racing Around The World
By Charlie Winters

Horse racing styles as well as the types of events and the distances covered tend to vary greatly from one country to another. Here we will discuss some of the major differences between North American, European and Australian horse racing.

North American Horse Racing

In the United States thoroughbred racing is the most popular type of horse racing and racing is done on flat surfaces consisting of either grass or dirt. Some horse racing tracks offer harness racing and quarter horse racing, while others provide a combination of all three types. There is also limited horse racing of rarer breads, such as Arabian horse racing.

In the United States, the pinnacle of horse racing has historically been the Kentucky Derby. Together with the Belmont Stakes and the Preakness Stakes, these three racing events make up what is known as the Triple Crown. More recently, Breeders’ Cup horse races have been becoming at least as popular as the Triple Crown.

In Canada, harness racing is more popular than thoroughbred racing and the Queen’s Plate, held at the Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto is Canada’s most well known thoroughbred high stakes horse race.

Horse Racing In Europe

Ireland is known for its horse racing history and many extremely successful and popular thoroughbred hail from Ireland.

In the United Kingdom most horse races include various obstacles such as fences and hurdles that


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horses and riders must clear. There are also flat racing events like those in North America. Some of the greatest and most well known jockeys come from the United Kingdom.

Australian Horse Racing

The world renowned Melbourne Cup is held in Australia each year and is known as ‘the race that stops a nation’. This particular event draws the most international entries of all the top races around the world. Harness racing and flat surface racing are both popular forms of horseracing in Australia.