Presidents and the Hey Day of Horse Racing in the Federal City
President Richard M. Nixon was the first sitting president to attend the Kentucky Derby on May 3, 1969. In his party that...
Main Content
No sport created more excitement, enthusiasm and interest in the colonial period and the early republic than horse racing. Presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson took immense pride in their horses and bred them to improve the bloodlines of saddle, work, carriage and racehorses. Early presidents loved horse racing, the most popular sport in America at that time.
George Washington, considered by his peers as the best horseman of his era, helped organize races in Alexandria, Virginia, and frequently attended race meetings throughout the region. Jefferson rarely missed the meets at the National Race Course in Washington, D.C., which opened just outside the city boundary two miles north of the White House in 1802. The best horses in the country competed there into the 1840s, and the Jockey Club dinner and ball, a highlight of the social season, concluded the meeting.
Andrew Jackson's passion for horse racing and gambling was renowned and he once fought a duel over an argument sparked by a wager. Jackson bred racehorses at the Hermitage and operated a racing stable from the White House during his presidency. It was an open secret that Jackson entered runners in the name of his nephew and private secretary Andrew J. Donelson. Ulysses S. Grant was the last president actively involved in horse racing. He bred Arabians and loved mounting a sulky and driving trotters at high speed down Pennsylvania Avenue.
Jackson’s gray mare, Bolivia, painted by Edward Troye in 1836, was a part of a White House racing stable that also included Lady Nashville, Emilie, and Busiris.
Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, MassachusettsWoodcut scene of a race meeting in 1834. The "carriage folk" paid a toll to look on from covered stands for spectators, especially for the ladies. Standees watched the races for free outside the rails. American Turf Register and Sporting Magazine, 1834.
Andrew Jackson on horseback, engraving by an unidentified artist, c. 1830.
Thomas Jefferson was a fine horseman who rode horses almost daily for exercise while president.
Washington, a skilled rider and an avid sportsman, greatly enjoyed fox hunting and horse racing. Rembrandt Peale, Oil on canvas on panel, c. 1823.
This 1837 map of Washington located the National Race Course. Booths selling wine, whiskey, rum and other refreshments and food insured a festive air on race day with lively betting.
Historical Society of WashingtonDexter, famed for his ideal trotting action called the "Dexter stroke," won 46 of 50 races and trotted the mile in a record 2:17.1/4 during the 1860s. Robert Bonner bought and retired the horse, but allowed presidential candidate Ulysses S. Grant the thrill of taking the reins at top speed in this popular 1868 lithograph by Currier & Ives.
Library of CongressOne day at the National Race Course in Washington, D.C., President Andrew Jackson took Vice President Martin Van Buren up to the course to watch Busiris train. General Callender Irvine owned and stabled Busiris with Jackson when he raced in Washington. While on the track the horse became unruly and Jackson shouted, "Get behind me, Mr. Van Buren. He will run you over!" For a long time afterwards, newspapers and cartoonists used this incident to ridicule Van Buren's reliance on Jacksons fatherly political support. The faces of William Henry Harrison, Martin Van Buren, Daniel Webster and Hugh Lawson White have been
President Richard M. Nixon was the first sitting president to attend the Kentucky Derby on May 3, 1969. In his party that...
Historian William Seale has described presidential protection as a learning process, with presidents and their families and the Secret Service...
The national parks preceded the National Park Service, but the first great natural park was a state park. California’s Yo...
On April 23, 1932, Shakespeare-lovers from around the country flocked to Washington, D.C., to attend the dedication of the handsome new...
For the politicians, civil servants, and accompanying citizenry of the new federal government—freshly arrived in 1800 from comfortable, sophisticated Philadelphia—the...
Just how does the president celebrate Presidents’ Day? Throughout the more than 200-year history of the White House, presidents themselves ha...
Nearly 150 years after its beginnings college football season is in full swing. The sport has attracted countless players and even...
December 12, 1874: First state dinner for a foreign head of state King David Kalakaua of the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii). Hosted by...
On June 11, 1945, nearly two months into his presidency, Harry Truman wrote to his daughter Margaret: “you evidently are just finding ou...
Papal visits to the White House have been rare—with Pope Francis' recent visit, just three popes in history have vi...
1790sBefore the White House was completed in 1800, President George Washington and his wife Martha lived first in New York City,...
Nicholas Stefanos “Steve” Vasilakes emigrated from Ligerea, Greece, to the United States in 1910 and soon thereafter set up his hot pean...