Known as the Sport of Kings, horse racing has been around for over a thousand years, with the sport in Britain coming into its own from the 17th Century when the first of the thoroughbreds arrived on our shores. With race sports betting at Timeform and other betting platforms, today it is worth around £4 billion a year, these beautiful animals are the true heroes of the racetrack. We take a sneaky peek into the pampered lives of racing horses. 

Why the thoroughbred is so special

To understand the significance of the racehorse, you need to delve back into its past. Racehorses registered in the UK today must be a descendant of one of the three original thoroughbreds which arrived in the 17th and 18th Centuries. The stallions, imported from the East and of Arabian and Turkoman breeding, can even be identified – the Byerley Turk, the Darley Arabian and the Godolphin Arabian. These magnificent horses were bred with native English mares to create a new breed that was fast, powerful and intelligent. All modern racehorses can be traced back to these original three sires. 

A significant investment

The world’s most expensive racehorse was a yearling called Fugaichi Pegasus who was bought for the regal sum of £3m back in 1997. After a successful career, Pegasus was then sold to stud for £53.7 million. While Pegasus was the exception, bringing a new racehorse into your yard is still a significant investment, with the average racehorse costing around £15,000. And to care for the horse, it’s estimated to cost between £17,000 and £23,000 a year to produce an equine athlete. 

The pampered life

With its thoroughbred heritage and the financial investment required, a racehorse needs careful and consistent care and management. A race yard provides the equivalent of a five-star hotel for their horses, ensuring that the animals get top class attention. From their feed to physiotherapy, stabling, rest and exercise, the care of a racehorse is a strict routine that runs from dawn to after dark. Most racehorses will also be looked after by the same groom (known as a lad or lass) so they have a consistency of care and attention. 

Racehorses are typically fed three to four times a day, dining on a top-quality diet that is specially formulated for optimum performance and support the needs of a top equine athlete. They will also be exercised for around 1 ½ hour a day, with additional time for rest, therapy, physio, one-to-one pampering, vet checks, sessions in the horse walker and chillout time in the paddock. 

Potential returns on the investment

Yes, racehorses are spoiled, compared to many other horses, but all that pampering is designed to keep the animal injury-free, at the peak of their fitness and consistent in their performance. And time invested in a racehorse will hopefully pay off for their trainers and owners come race day. 

The total prize pot for the top UK racing events is often more than £1m, with Royal Ascot offering the richest pickings thanks to its total prize fund of over £7million. So, for today’s race horses there’s a lot at stake for their owners and trainers, as well as sports bettors. Add into the mix that a successful racehorse is also valuable off the racetrack if sold to stud, and you can see the sums adding up. Which is why their owners go the distance when it comes to caring for and pampering their equine investments.