The world’s most popular horse racing events

Despite only a few countries actively participating in it, horse racing is one of the most popular sports across the world, even in Nigeria.

Besides the thrill of watching horses and their riders battle it out on the track, horse racing also provides ample opportunities for gambling.

The Kentucky Derby is perhaps the biggest horse racing event of the year.

Established in 1875, the Kentucky Derby does not offer the biggest prize money but is one of the most well-known races in the sport.

That being said, the UK is a hotbed of horse racing and also boasts some of the world’s biggest events. In April of each year, Aintree hosts the Grand National, which sees 40 riders tackling 30 fences.

It is one of the few races in the UK to transcend the sport, with many people placing bets on this race – and this race only – in a given year. It is regularly one of the most watched sports events on television in the UK.

The five-day Royal Ascot meeting is another significant event in the British horse racing calendar, with most of the focus centering on the Ascot Gold Cup. Online betting for horse racing has exploded in recent years and this year’s favourite in the Ascot Gold Cup is Stradivarius.

Another wildly popular horse racing event in the UK is the Cheltenham Festival, which runs over four days in March of each year. The festival is attended by over 260,000 people each year, making it one of the most highly attended sporting events in the UK, generating roughly £100 million annually.

Cheltenham is somewhat unique in that it is almost viewed as more of a social event, rather than a sporting one, hence the huge numbers of people who flock to it each year.

As mentioned, the Kentucky Derby is the biggest horse racing event in America and possibly the world. Taking place on the first Saturday in May of every year, the race features 20 horses, making it one of the larger meetings.

Typically attracting around 155,000 visitors, it is the longest continuously held sporting event in America. Despite all that, the race itself only lasts for about two minutes.

The winning purse at the Derby is $2,000,000 – far from the largest on offer in the sport – however the significance of the event tends to cement the victor in history.

It also serves as the first of three legs in the American Triple Crown, followed by the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes. As it finishes off the Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes is an important event with a winning purse of $1,500,000 on offer.

Outside of the Triple Crown, the Breeders’ Cup is another big horse racing event in the US, consisting of 13 races, tallying up to a total of $28,000,000 in prize money.

Though it receives less attention from the general public, the two-day event is an important one for followers of the sport and those actively involved in it.

The Breeders’ Cup is also fairly unique in that the meeting is held at different tracks in America each year.

The Pegasus World Cup is also worth noting due to its large prize money offerings, becoming the world’s richest horse race in 2017 and 2018 before losing that title to the Dubai World Cup.

The Dubai World Cup is one of the younger horse racing events in the world, having only been established in 1996, yet in that time has become one of the most significant races in the sport.

This is in large part because of the prize money on offer; the winner is awarded a whopping $12,000,000, making this the most valuable race in the world. Outside of that, the event also goes out of its way to provide a spectacle for its viewers, with extravagant light shows and live performances from prominent musicians.

Paris hosts one of Europe’s largest horse races of the year with Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, which takes place on the first Sunday in October each year. With $5,600,000 up for grabs, it’s a significant earner for jockeys and owners alike as well as being steeped in history, having been launched in 1920 and only pausing since then during World War II.

Shortly after the Dubai World Cup launched, the Sheema Classic also popped up in the region, capitalising on the increasing popularity of horse racing amongst sheiks and princes in the Middle East.

The winning prize purse sits at $6,000,000, though entrants are only allowed depending on whether they’re from the Northern or Southern Hemisphere. Southern Hemisphere thoroughbreds can be aged three and up, but the race is only open to Northern Hemisphere four-year-olds and up.

Horse racing has been around for centuries and, in that time, has become one of the most popular spectator sports in the world, particularly amongst bettors.

There are a handful of significant races across the globe, from the Kentucky Derby to the Dubai World Cup, all of which provide drama and excitement for fans.