Book Review: Thoroughbred Nation: Making America at the Racetrack, 1791-1900

Thoroughbred Nation: Making America at the Racetrack, 1791-1900. By Natalie A. Zacek. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2024. Hardcover, 331 pp. $39.95.

Reviewed by Chris Goodlett

In Thoroughbred Nation, Natalie Zacek looks at how horse racing and the racetrack shaped communities both before and after the Civil War. Moving through the Southern dominance of the antebellum era, the transition to the North in the postbellum era, and the emergence of what was at the time considered the West moving into the 20^th century, Zacek provides both interesting historical perspective and a window into horse racing in the modern era.

The first four chapters of Zacek’s book show how Thoroughbred racing became a pillar of the South. In Virginia, jockey clubs (organizers of horse racing meets) valued the ties to the English equivalent and wanted to create a premier sport within their region. Charleston, South Carolina established racing as a major social event that had broad appeal, too. The place of racing among different classes became very pronounced in Natchez, Mississippi. With a heavy focus on the gambling component of the sport, the upper classes kept their betting strictly among and against each other, while lower classes made heavy use of bookmakers and similar forms of professional gambling.

The story of the New Orleans Metairie Race Course in chapter four exemplifies how the epicenter of racing shifted from the South to the North in the postbellum era. Zacek does an excellent job of establishing the significance of the sport across the city in the chapter’s opening paragraphs by leading with the historic rivalry between Lecomte and Lexington. Racing at the then common distance of four miles, this event drew all walks of life “. . . .both aristocratic women and formerly enslaved men. . . .” (107) The fandom for this race is but one example of how racing and race tracks were reflective of Southern communities, and Zacek shows how the end of the Metairie course soon after the Civil War was the end of an era in the South.

Works of history are stronger when individual stories are included. Two such stories provide good examples: in Natchez, it’s the story of William Johnson. The son of an enslaved Black woman and a white plantation owner, Johnson amassed a sizeable estate that included enslaved persons and where he could pursue his passion for horse racing. His story is essential to understanding the place of the industry in Natchez. In New Orleans, the story of Richard Ten Broeck stands out. Ten Broeck began his career in New Orleans as a noted gambler. However, he saw the demise of Southern racing in the antebellum era and remained integral to the sport as it moved east and north in the postbellum era. Specifically, Ten Broeck is integral to the renewal of racing in Louisville, Kentucky, and the creation of the Louisville Jockey Club (better known as Churchill Downs) in the years immediately following the Civil War.

Speaking of Louisville and Churchill Downs, it is a feature of the latter part of Zacek’s work. Zacek first draws readers’ attention to the rise of New York racing and the Saratoga Race Course in the postbellum era. Belmont, Whitney, and Travers aren’t just names of prominent New York races, these are names of influential individuals who shaped New York racing in the late 19^th century. Zacek outlines the emergence of Saratoga as a prime racing venue and explains the creation of the Jockey Club, a national organization that retains great influence on the Thoroughbred industry to this day, maintaining responsibility for the American Stud Book but also now involved in various animal welfare, aftercare, and general marketing of the industry.

The final chapter of Zacek’s study discusses Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby. In this short closing chapter, Zacek’s focus is that the Kentucky Derby succeeds via a promotion of manufactured “southern identity.” (219) This thesis has been covered thoroughly in other works such as James Nicholson’s The Kentucky Derby: How the Run for Roses Became America’s Premier Sporting Event (University Press of Kentucky, 2012). Although an informative chapter, one would think that an event and venue that commands public attention like none other in the horse racing industry needs a greater presence in this narrative.

In the end, anyone interested in the development of sport and community in the years surrounding the American Civil War should read Thoroughbred Nation by Natalie Zacek. It builds upon recent scholarship on the Thoroughbred industry in America and is soundly researched. It outlines the importance of racing venues, both North and South, while also weaving in stories of influential individuals. As someone who has been associated with the Thoroughbred industry for over 20 years, I’m pleased to see scholars investing their resources in this important history.

Chris Goodlett received his BA in History/Secondary Education and MA in Public History from Murray State University. He has a 22-year tenure at the Kentucky Derby Museum, currently serving as the Senior Director of Curatorial and Educational Affairs. The education and curatorial teams are a huge part of the mission-driven activities of the Museum, educating approximately 30,000 students annually, creating exemplary exhibits and programs, managing a one-of-a-kind artifact and archival collection and caring for the Museum’s resident Thoroughbred and miniature companion.  In his role, Chris also serves as a key spokesperson on various historical and exhibit-related topics