Editing Horse racing in Great Britain (section)

===19th century===

Interest in the sport was at a high throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. As Whyte's History of the English Turf noted in 1840, "For nearly a century and a half, the "Turf" has formed a favourite amusement of "Kings, Lords and Commons".{{sfn|Whyte|1840|p=i}} Or as Rice's History reported in 1879, "for some two hundred years the pursuit of Horse-racing has been attractive to more of our countrymen than any other out-door pastime"<ref>
{{cite book |last=Rice |first=James |title=History of the British turf ''from the earliest times to the present day'', Volume I |year=1879 |publisher=Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, and Rivington |location=[[London]] |page=ix|ol=23752704M }}</ref> Other traditional rural sports, including hawking, shooting and hare-hunting, had much diminished by this period, due to [[enclosure]] and "gradual refinement of manners"{{sfn|Nimrod|1901|p=5}} and racing was at its "acme".{{sfn|Nimrod|1901|p=7}}

[[Handicap (horse racing)|Handicap]] races, in which horses are assigned weights to carry in proportion to their ability, became popular from the turn of the 19th century onwards. The first had been run at [[Ascot Racecourse|Ascot]] in 1791{{sfn|Barrett|1995|p=10}} and others followed. Many have persisted to this day including the Chester Cup (from 1824), Northumberland Plate (1833), [[Cesarewitch Handicap|Cesarewitch]] and [[Cambridgeshire Handicap]]s at Newmarket (both 1839), Goodwood's [[Stewards' Cup (Great Britain)|Stewards' Cup]] (1839), the [[Ebor Handicap|Ebor]] at York (1843), the [[City and Suburban Handicap]] at [[Epsom Racecourse|Epsom]] (1851) and the traditional opener for the flat racing season, the [[Lincoln Handicap|Lincoln]] (1853).{{sfn|Cawthorne|Herod|1902|p=11}}

[[Steeplechase (horse racing)|Steeplechasing]] first became organised by Tom Colman at [[St Albans]] in the early 1830s. By the end of that decade, the [[Grand National]] had been established at [[Aintree Racecourse|Aintree]] by William Lynn.{{sfn|Barrett|1995|p=6}}

In 1875, [[Sandown Park]] became the first racecourse to open a separate members' enclosure.{{sfn|Plumptre|1985|p=11}}

By the turn of the 20th century, it was said that "time has only strengthened and confirmed the national passion for the sport."{{sfn|Cawthorne|Herod|1902|p=13}} Concerns over its moral effects were prevalent though. An interest in horse racing and the attendant gambling was described as the "offspring of a passion we should wish to disown", with a warning that "the modern turf is fast becoming the very manor of the worst".{{sfn|Nimrod|1901|p=6}}