Horse Racing: The Sport of Kings

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association governs thoroughbred racing in the United States, including the Breeders’ Cup. The NTRA establishes laws and regulations, licenses breeders and organizes political advocacy; learn about its work in the “Industry” section. Use the clickable map to find links to racetracks around the country.

The Thoroughbred Racing Associations (TRA) is a collection of 49 American racing associations, all of which are listed in the TRA member directory. The TRA is known for the creation of the Equibase statistical database and the Eclipse Award for horse of the year.

Churchill Downs Incorporated owns not only Churchill Downs (home of the Kentucky Derby) but also Arlington (Illinois), Calder (Miami) and Fair Grounds (New Orleans).

The New York Racing Association controls three thoroughbred racetracks in New York State: Belmont Park, Saratoga and Aqueduct.

Magna Entertainment manages many well-known tracks, including Pimlico (Baltimore), Gulfstream (Florida) and Santa Anita (California).

The Kentucky Derby is the first jewel of the Triple Crown. Contested annually since 1875, the Derby is run on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. Its Web site includes news, blogs, profiles of contending horses and coverage of prep races. Visit the “History” section to see lists of winning horses and connections, charts of past races and a glance at the role women and African-Americans have played.

The Breeders’ Cup is a series of championship races run over two days in late fall, at a rotating list of host tracks. The site has bios of all the horses, jockeys and trainers contending for a spot in the Breeders’ Cup, as well as historical stats and records in PDF format. There are also recaps and video for each of last year’s races.