Horse racing in Levantia

Horse racing is one of the largest spectator sports in Levantia and one of the longest established, with a history dating back to the 1600s. While chariot racing had been popular in ancient Great Levantia, organized, single-horse racing was popular in Sarpedon and imported to Levantia beginning in the 17th century. Studies have indicated that the racing and equine industry employ more than 11 million people throughout the Levantine Union, generating more than $304 billion dollars in direct economic impact.

Horse racing, especially thoroughbred racing, was a sport enjoyed by all, especially since the period of the Aedanicad. According to scholars, "Thoroughbred racing was the rare sport that was trending with both social and economic elites and the lower classes". Horse racing was an enamored sport that was popular for its time in all regions of the Holy Levantine Empire and took a downturn for a while as the economy began to decline following the Red Interregnum. Many racing events were canceled altogether during the Levantine theater of the Great War from 1927 to 1935. The post-war period the rebirth of the horse racing sport as a welcome institution of normalcy, even as the Third Fratricide continued to be fought in Dericania, and remains popular today. Racing is governed by the Levantine Union Equine Sport Authority through its national affiliate organizations.

Early History

Equines are not native to Levantia but were instead imported to Levantia by the Adonerii beginning in the 800s and 700s BC. These horses gave the Latinics a clear and decisive military advantage over the Gaels native to Levantia, and consequently the breeding and ownership of horses was strictly and tightly controlled. The first recorded race in Levantia was of the chariot variety close to modern Cana and saw merely four chariots compete due to the scarcity of horses. Continued importing of equines and the spread of Adonerii control to the expansive new empire of Great Levantia saw horse breeding restrictions gradually disappear, leading to widespread availability of horses in Levantia throughout the upper classes. Feral horses, also known as wild horses, began to appear in Levantia at this time as well. The availability of equines lead to a large interest in chariot racing in Great Levantia beginning in the 100s AD. The decline of Great Levantia brought most organized spectator sports to an end alongside the end of chariot racing as a popular sport. In the medieval period, horses were often raced by squires in advance of jousts, providing the earliest examples of semi-organized single-horse racing in Levantia. The popular spectator sport was imported to Levantia from Caphiria and other parts of Sarpedon, where it had become a cultural fascination, in the 1600s.

Steeplechasing

A steeplechase is a distance horse race in which competitors are required to jump diverse fence and ditch obstacles. Steeplechasing is primarily conducted in Burgundie (where it originated), Caphiria, the United Kingdom, Urcea. The name is derived from early races in which orientation of the course was by reference to a church steeple, jumping fences and ditches and generally traversing the many intervening obstacles in the countryside.

Modern usage of the term "steeplechase" differs between countries. In Burgundie and Urcea, it refers only to races run over large, fixed obstacles, in contrast to "hurdle" races where the obstacles are much smaller. The collective term "jump racing" or "National Hunt racing" is used when referring to steeplechases and hurdle races collectively (although, properly speaking, National Hunt racing also includes some flat races). Elsewhere in the world, "steeplechase" is used to refer to any race that involves jumping obstacles.

Flat racing

Flat racing is a form of horse racing which is run on a level racecourse. It is run over a predetermined distance from 2 furlongs (402 m) up to 3 miles (4,828 m) and is either test of speed, stamina, or both, whilst the skills of the jockey is determined by his ability to restrain the horse or impel it. Flat racing does not require horses to jump over any obstacles such as is required for hurdling or steeplechase. It differs from harness racing where horses are pulling a sulky and wear a harness. While in many countries flat racing is the most common form of horse racing, in Burgundie and Urcea it is used to describe the racing season that comes after the steeplechasing which is traditionally held over the winter period.

Many different horse breeds are used in flat racing worldwide, but the Thoroughbred is the most dominant. The races take place on track surfaces suitable for horses. Worldwide, the most common is a natural grass surface, called "turf". In Sarpedon, the most common surface is a harrowed "dirt" surface, often based primarily on a mixture of sand and local soil. Most winter flat races in Levantia and other parts of the world are run on a synthetic or all-weather surface, generally a blend of sand with synthetic fiber and/or rubber, often coated with wax or a similar substance.

Burgundie

Main article: Culture_in_Burgundie § Horse racing

The various principalities that make up modern Burgundie engaged in horse racing to varying degrees until the 1790s when steeplechasing became ubiquitous across the Kingdom of Dericania. Minor, informal races had occurred across the Kingdom prior to this but it become an unofficial sport of the kingdom around this time. As feudalism fell and professional armies rose across the southern portions of Dericania, young professional cavalry officers sought ways to train and compete. By the 1810s in the few principalities that could afford a professional cavalry corps were requiring forms of flat racing and steeplechasing as part of military training. This became associated with the dashing appearance of cavalry officers and became associated with the officer class and civilian landowners took up the sport as a demonstration of status. By the 1830s, nobles and generous landowners would gives days off to their tenant farmers on race days and it became a joyous communal holiday. The later half of the 19th century, theSouthern Levantine Mediatization Wars saw the dissolution of the aristocracy and as such their grand estates. This coincided with the industrial revolution in Burgundie, which when combined saw workers flooding into the coastal cities. Horse racing became a rare phenomenon and was typically was a game played between wealthy friends rather than a spectator sport. For nearly 20 years horse racings prominence waned and almost disappeared. However, in the 1890s the New Stud Movement revived horse racing in Burgundie. In 1892, future Imperator ofCaphiria Juvano Baldolianti, was granted patriarchy of House Tervarinus by Imperator Arieri II. As part of an austerity plan he sold off his father's race horses. The gens des mejans looking to demonstrate their wealth, but separate themselves from the aristocrats of old, flocked to the various auctions and formed Burgoignesc Breed Registry to maintain records of the new studs they were creating. Of the approximately 1,000 horses in the Tervarinus stables, 629 were brought to Burgundie. Horse racing renewed itself as a spectator sport for the working classes who were lucky enough to have a benefactor who owned horses. For the gens des mejans it was an all out competition, not just on the race track, but who could bring bigger crowds, build bigger and more opulent race tracks, and who could breed faster horses. Concurrent with the rise in the interest in human eugenics, equine eugenics became a craze in the early 1900s. Studding fees became astronomical as the pseudo-science purported to become more exacting. The Burgoignesc Breed Registry's recording fees also sky rocketed and the industry of horse racing and its affiliated services became a driving economic factor in many of the upland regions of the country. It was also one of the first legal forms of gambling in Burgundie. The Great Depression put a damper on the rampant spending on horse racing, as well as eugenics falling out of favor, and the Second Fratricide. The opulence and decadence of the gens des mejans and their race horses was eschewed. With the outbreak of the Second Fratricide and the Great War many of the horses were drafted as well as their riders. The horses proved to be poor war horses and few who saw combat survived. The cavalry corps of Burgundie consumed many of the stables and studs with dispensations only for studs with less then 10 horses remaining. This caused incredible resentment between the upper classes and the Army of Burgundie with riots leading to mass arrests and blood shed on multiple occasions. Horse racing stopped altogether from 1927-1955 and for much of the later 1950s and 60s it was a fringe sport. In the 1960s and the early 1970s large public race courses in Burgundie by corporations looking to entice workers. Races were held in the morning and job fairs in the afternoon. The large social gatherings went beyond class or social standing and became an attraction for all. Since few studs survived the Great War Burgoignesc stables were opened to breeds for a variety of places. The Burgoignesc Breed Registry worked tirelessly to track the studs of these new horses and as a result emerged in the 1990s as the premier Breed Registry in the world with the most complete records.

See also

See also: Breeds of Horse and Equestrian sports in Levantia