Universal Birthdate No Joke
www.thoroughbreddailynews.com
American Pharoah, who turns 3 today
© Benoit
by T.D. Thornton
Today is the “universal birthdate” for all Thoroughbreds foaled in the Northern Hemisphere. Regardless of their actual foaling date, all racehorses turn a year older every time the calendar flips from December to January.
Ever wonder how Jan. 1 came to be the standard?
Like many of the sport’s long-accepted traditions, the answer traces back to the Jockey Club in Britain.
A potential mistake in how the rules were set down in ink also might have played a role.
Shortly after the Jockey Club’s formation in London in 1750, the epicenter of racing shifted to Newmarket. There the organization’s noblemen took it upon themselves to publish a “calendar” of proclamations, which initially pertained only to the racing upon Newmarket Heath.
But according to Robert Black’s 1891 book The Jockey Club and Its Founders, safety measures like “putting a stop to the detestable practice of crossing and jostling” were deemed logical enough to become accepted at meets all across Britain.
The Jockey Club’s outlawing of the “mischievous practice” of racing yearlings against 2-year-olds was also widely adoptedbut it demonstrated the need for a better way to determine a Thoroughbred’s age.
Prior to 1833, May 1 had been accepted as the “natural” time of year when foalings occurred. So that date was used in determining weight-for-age allowances--even if it meant yearlings became 2-year-olds in the middle of the racing season.
On April 25, 1833, the Jockey Club decreed that “from and after the year 1833, horses shall be considered at Newmarket as taking their ages from Jan. 1 instead of May 1.”
This rule “put a stop to the confusion caused by a sudden change of age in the very middle of the racing season,” Black wrote. “So far as the breeding of racehorses is concerned, [it was] a complete revolution.”
Yet it was not the Jockey Club’s intent to force other jurisdictions to adopt the decree: “With respect to other places, they will be considered as taking their ages from May 1 until the Stewards of those races shall order otherwise,” the rule continued.
Despite this distinction, the Jan. 1 decree was copied--perhaps in error--into the books under “Rules Concerning Horse–Racing in General” instead of just the course rules for Newmarket.
Other jurisdictions felt compelled to comply, presumably out of fear that the Jockey Club would refuse to recognize them.
By the time the Jockey Club rules were revised in 1851, the exception pertaining to “other places” had been deleted. By 1857, any mention about Jan. 1 only applying to Newmarket had vanished entirely.
The United States largely followed Britain’s lead, but several jurisdictions (notably Louisiana) used May 1 through the Civil War years.
As late as 1883, Krik’s Guide to the Turf listed Savannah Jockey Club in Georgia as the lone holdout to May 1.
A 1947 Daily Racing Form article notes the last serious attempt to change the universal birthdate in America. Al Luke, president of the California Thoroughbred Owners and Trainers Association, advocated a switch starting with foals of 1949.
But Luke’s campaign never gained traction, possibly because the date he chose seemed in and of itself a jokeApril 1.
www.thoroughbreddailynews.com
American Pharoah, who turns 3 today
© Benoit
by T.D. Thornton
Today is the “universal birthdate” for all Thoroughbreds foaled in the Northern Hemisphere. Regardless of their actual foaling date, all racehorses turn a year older every time the calendar flips from December to January.
Ever wonder how Jan. 1 came to be the standard?
Like many of the sport’s long-accepted traditions, the answer traces back to the Jockey Club in Britain.
A potential mistake in how the rules were set down in ink also might have played a role.
Shortly after the Jockey Club’s formation in London in 1750, the epicenter of racing shifted to Newmarket. There the organization’s noblemen took it upon themselves to publish a “calendar” of proclamations, which initially pertained only to the racing upon Newmarket Heath.
But according to Robert Black’s 1891 book The Jockey Club and Its Founders, safety measures like “putting a stop to the detestable practice of crossing and jostling” were deemed logical enough to become accepted at meets all across Britain.
The Jockey Club’s outlawing of the “mischievous practice” of racing yearlings against 2-year-olds was also widely adopted
Prior to 1833, May 1 had been accepted as the “natural” time of year when foalings occurred. So that date was used in determining weight-for-age allowances--even if it meant yearlings became 2-year-olds in the middle of the racing season.
On April 25, 1833, the Jockey Club decreed that “from and after the year 1833, horses shall be considered at Newmarket as taking their ages from Jan. 1 instead of May 1.”
This rule “put a stop to the confusion caused by a sudden change of age in the very middle of the racing season,” Black wrote. “So far as the breeding of racehorses is concerned, [it was] a complete revolution.”
Yet it was not the Jockey Club’s intent to force other jurisdictions to adopt the decree: “With respect to other places, they will be considered as taking their ages from May 1 until the Stewards of those races shall order otherwise,” the rule continued.
Despite this distinction, the Jan. 1 decree was copied--perhaps in error--into the books under “Rules Concerning Horse–Racing in General” instead of just the course rules for Newmarket.
Other jurisdictions felt compelled to comply, presumably out of fear that the Jockey Club would refuse to recognize them.
By the time the Jockey Club rules were revised in 1851, the exception pertaining to “other places” had been deleted. By 1857, any mention about Jan. 1 only applying to Newmarket had vanished entirely.
The United States largely followed Britain’s lead, but several jurisdictions (notably Louisiana) used May 1 through the Civil War years.
As late as 1883, Krik’s Guide to the Turf listed Savannah Jockey Club in Georgia as the lone holdout to May 1.
A 1947 Daily Racing Form article notes the last serious attempt to change the universal birthdate in America. Al Luke, president of the California Thoroughbred Owners and Trainers Association, advocated a switch starting with foals of 1949.
But Luke’s campaign never gained traction, possibly because the date he chose seemed in and of itself a joke
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