User:TabbyLadrona/sandbox/Horse Racing in Latin America

Horse racing in Latin America is a major sport? (find something to put here as an introduction)

Organized racing in Latin America consists almost solely of Thoroughbred flat racing, but Quarter Horse racing is also conducted in Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay.

includes racing in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Columbia doesn't have organized racing, but breeds Thoroughbred racehorses. Together, the region breeds 14% of Thoroughbreds worldwide and conducts 13% of global flat races.

Argentina is easily the most important racing country in South America, and serves as the principal authority for the South America Area of the International Stud Book Committee, run under OSAF and consisting of Argentina, Ecuador, Bolivia, Paraguay, Brazil, Peru, Chile, Uruguay, Columbia and Venezuela. The USA is the principal authority for the North America, Central America & Caribbean Area, consisting of Barbados, Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Dominican Republic, Trinidad & Tobago, Guatemala, USA, and Jamaica.

An OSAF representative to the ICSC was added in 1995. In 1985, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru, and Uruguay were added to Part 1 of the ICSC, denoting them as being among the world's major racing countries. In 1992, Uruguay was demoted to Part 2, where it has remained since, although it runs several races listed under Part 1.

The only Latin American member of the Society of International Thoroughbred Auctioneers (SITA) is Antonio Bullrich S.A., in Argentina.

Longrigg gives order of importance as: Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela,Columbia,Chile, Peru, Uruguay, Panama

Breeds in South America include Standardbred, Arabian, Thoroughbred, and Quarter Horse.

https://www.paulickreport.com/news/ray-s-paddock/competition-collaboration-latin-america/

Caribbean adds Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago

Flat TB only

Argentina

Brazil

Chile

Peru

Mexico

Uruguay

Columbia, Ecuador do some breeding.

% of global TB breeding (https://www.ifhaonline.org/resources/Annual_Report_2019.pdf)

Argentina: 7.08%

Chile: 1.82%

Brazil: 1.67%

Columbia: 0.01%

Ecuador: 0.08%

Mexico: 0.17%

Panama: 0.21%

Paraguay: 0.07%

Peru: 0.52%

Puerto Rico: 0.25%

Uruguay: 1.96%

Venezuela: 0.51%

Total: 14.35%

Number of races (2019):

Argentina: 5613

Chile: 4978

Brazil: 3039

Columbia: -

Ecuador: -

Mexico: 474

Panama: 1250

Paraguay: -

Peru: 1763

Puerto Rico: -

Uruguay: 1640

Venezuela: -

Total: 18757 or 13.39% of 140094

Prize Money (in Euros)

Argentina: 25,558,402

Chile: 24,295,804

Brazil: 13,024,200

Columbia: -

Ecuador: -

Mexico: 1,620,729

Panama: 7,152,275

Paraguay: -

Peru: 5,054,458

Puerto Rico: -

Uruguay: 10,039,718

Venezuela: -

Total: €86,745,586 or 2.59% of 3,348,854,616

Betting Turnover (in Euros)

Argentina: 80,106,969

Chile: 234,923,199

Brazil: 58,755,090

Columbia: -

Ecuador: -

Mexico: -

Panama: 36,518,578

Paraguay: -

Peru: 18,682,048

Puerto Rico: -

Uruguay: 19,215,838

Venezuela: -

Total: 448201722 or 0.39% of 115,444,767,582

History
Horses were first brought over to the Americas at the end of the 15th century

When Hernán Cortés went to Mexico, he brought with him several horses noted for being fast, including "a very good sorrel mare, turning out excellent both for tilting and racing." Based upon racing in Mexico and Peru, it is probable that horses were raced throughout Spanish America in the 16th century.

By the 19th century, a tradition of horse racing had been founded across Spanish America, namely of native breeds such as the Costeña in Peru, the caballo Chileno in Chile, and the Criollo in Argentina and Brazil. Racing of short distance matches (600 to 1000 meters), in a manner similar to American Quarter Horse racing, was particularly widespread in Argentina. The first known thoroughbred importation was to Chile in 1835 by the American Balie Peyton, who had two horses imported as he was disappointed with the native Chilean horse. He himself rode a widely attended and heavily bet-upon match on one of them, a son of Leviathan, at Valparaiso against a prominent Chilean racing secretary, and won easily. The first thoroughbred stallion to stand at stud was imported from Australia in 1845 but was largely rejected by Chilean breeders.

In contrast, Argentina and Brazil imported large numbers of Thoroughbred horses for the purposes of racing and crossing upon their native horses to produce better racehorses. They were imported in such numbers that in 1880 at least one English thoroughbred horse was aboard nearly every ship that came into Buenos Aires. The first modern racing institution in Latin America was the Argentine Jockey Club, founded in 1881 with rules copied from English and French racing. Many notable European racehorses were imported to serve as studs during this period, including Orbit, Ormonde, Diamond Jubilee, and Dollar.

When the Boer War prevented the importation of English racehorses to South Africa, Argentinian racehorses were imported instead and won "nearly every big race from June 1899 to September 1905."

Prize money in Latin America was high in the 1970's, but in the modern day has greatly decreased in comparison to other prominent racing countries, with Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Peru being among the five important racing countries with the lowest average 1st place money for graded and black type stakes races in 2019 and 2020.

Organisation
OSAF, Caribé

Principal Races
The Gran Premio Carlos Pellegrini is the premier race in Latin America. In 2020, it was tied for the 93rd highest rated Group/Grade 1 Race for three-year-olds and upwards in the Longines World Rankings, with an rating of 115.75.

Major Racecourses
Hipódromo Argentino de Palermo in Buenos Aires, Argentina

Hipódromo de San Isidro in San Isidro, Argentina

Hipódromo de La Plata in La Plata, Argentina

Hipódromo Cidade Jardim in São Paulo, Brazil

Hipódromo da Gávea in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Club Hípico de Santiago in Santiago, Chile

Hipódromo Chile, in Independencia, Chile

Valparaiso Sporting Club, in Viña del Mar, Chile

Hipódromo de Monterrico, in Lima, Peru

Hipódromo Nacional de Maroñas, in Montevideo, Uruguay

Hipódromo de las Américas, in Mexico City, Mexico

Hipódromo Presidente Remón, in Panama City, Panama

Hipódromo La Rinconada, in Caracas, Venezuela

Hipódromo Camarero, Canóvanas, Puerto Rico

History
In the 17th, 18th, and early 19th century, Argentinian racing consisted of short races along a straight line called carreras cuadreras, often run over 600 to 1000 meters, reminiscent of American Quarter Horse racing. The first English-style races were conducted in 1852, but they were much less popular than the enthusiastically supported local style of races. A racecourse began operations in Belgrano in 1849 under the name of the Foreign Amateur Racing Society, using native criollo and mixed breed horses. The racecourse was officially inaugurated in 1857, and followed in 1869 by a racecourse in Morón, the Hipódromo Santa Teresa in Lanus in 1871, and the Hipódromo Argentino in Palermo in 1876. The Hipódromo Santa Teresa ran races until 1904, with the politician Alberto Barceló running illegal gambling to fund his Partido Conservador.

The first thoroughbred imported to Argentina was Bonnie Dundee in 1850. Bonnie Dundee was sired by Ascot Gold Cup winner Lanercost and out of St Leger Stakes winner Blue Bonnet. He had finished second in the Ham Produce Stakes at Goodwood and stood at stud at Cabaña Los Blanqueadas in Buenos Aires. Bonnie Dundee's sole lasting impact was as the sire of a mare known as Bonnie Dundee Mare, out of a native non-thoroughbred mare, who became the foundation of the Ar1 family.

The second imported thoroughbred was Elcho, imported by Wilfredo Latham and arriving in 1853. Elcho was sired by two-time Goodwood Cup winner Harkaway, and stood at stud at Cabaña Los Alamos, also in Buenos Aires. Bonnie Dundee Mare was repeatedly bred to Elcho, producing Bella Donna and Bridesmaid, who helped establish the family.

Thoroughbred mares were first imported into Argentina in 1865, but the native lines of Bonnie Dundee Mare as well as Eve, a bay mare of unknown parentage foaled in 1872, continued, eventually becoming the two Argentinian thoroughbred families.

The Argentine Jockey Club, the first modern racing body in Latin America, was founded in 1881 under its first president Carlos Pellegrini, and organized races at Palermo, in Buenos Aires. The Argentinian Stud Book was founded a year later, in 1882. Argentinian horse racing developed under a largely French model, with an emphasis on breeding tough middle-distance horses.

From the 1930s to 1950s, tangos with lyrics about horse racing were popular, with over fifty recorded, including "Leguisamo solo", "Bajo Belgrano", "Palermo", and "Por una cabeza".

Uruguay
Ur1 is a family number to an Uruguayan family of thoroughbreds descended from a chestnut half-bred mare foaled in 1884 named Pipe-En-Bois. The family was identified in 2001 from Snow Foss, winner of the 1996 G1 Gran Premio Nacional and 1997 G1 Gran Premio José Ramríez.

Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico's single official racecourse opened in San Juan in January of 1957, under the name of El Commandante. Many of its races were limited to locally bred horses.

Info on shipping horses to PR: https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/256130/puerto-rico-sets-new-rules-for-shipping-horses-by-boat

Mexico
During the racing blackout in the United States in the 1910's (NOTE: check dates), the racetrack at Tijuana flourished as Californians looking to watch and bet on horse races travelled south across the border. In 1929, the Tijuana racecourse was replaced by the nearby one at Agua Caliente, which remained the only racetrack in the country until 1943, when the Hipódromo de las Américas opened in Mexico City. In 1965, the Juarez racecourse opened, bringing the total number of racetracks in the country up to three.

Other South American Countries
Mostly just breeding

Central America and the Caribbean
Add Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago (since would be the closest, unless there's a Horse Racing in the Caribbean)

Facts and Figures - EDIT
Data is from 2020 and 2019.

External links - Trim

 * OSAF – Organización Sudamericana de Fomento del Sangre Pura de Carrera (South American Organization for the Promotion of the Thoroughbred)
 * Confederación Hípica del Caribe (Caribbean Horse Racing Confedertion)
 * Jockey Club Argentino (Argentinian Jockey Club)
 * Jockey Club Brasileiro (Brazilian Jockey Club)
 * Jockey Club de São Paulo (São Paulo Jockey Club)
 * Club Hípico de Santiago (Santiago Racing Club)
 * Valparaíso Sporting Club
 * Jockey Club Mexicano (Mexican Jockey Club)
 * Hípica de Panama S.A. (Panamanian Horse Racing)
 * Jockey Club del Paraguay
 * Jockey Club del Perú (Peruvian Jockey Club) (dead link)
 * Asociación Colombiana de Criadores de Caballos Pura Sangre Inglés (Columbian Thoroughbred Breeders' Association)
 * HRU S.A. (Uruguay)
 * SUNAHIP – Superintendencia Nacional de Actividades Hípicas (Venezuelan National Superintendent of Horse Racing Activities) (dead link)
 * Trinidad & Tobago Racing Authority
 * Jamaican Racing Commission