Horseracing and the British, 1919-39From the prize-winning author of Flat Racing and British Society 1780-1914, this is the first book to provide a detailed consideration of the history of racing in British culture and society and to explore the cultural world of racing during the inter-war years. It breaks new ground by showing how racing's pleasures were enjoyed even by the supposedly respectable middle classes, and gave some working-class groups hope and consolation during economically difficult times. Regular attendance and increased spending on betting were found across class and generation, and women too were keen participants. Enjoyed by the Royal Family and controlled by the Jockey Club and National Hunt Committee, racing's visible emphasis on rank and status helped defend hierarchy and gentlemanly amateurism, and provided support for more conservative British attitudes. The mass media provided a cumulative cultural validation of racing, helping define national and regional identity, and encouraging the affluent consumption of sporting experience and frank enjoyment of betting. The broader cultural approach of the first half of the book is followed by an exploration of the internal culture of racing itself: the racecourse and course life, trainers and jockeys, owners and breeders. Written with flair and making full use of thorough research and original sources, Horseracing and the British 1919-39 is an important text for undergraduate courses on the history of modern British society, sport, and cultural studies, and will be welcomed by racing enthusiasts everywhere. |
Contents
The racing business between the wars | 15 |
Horseracing the media and British leisure culture 191839 | 41 |
Offcourse betting bookmaking and the British | 69 |
Copyright | |
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1923 Select Committee 1932/3 Royal Commission Aga Khan Aintree amongst annual anti-betting anti-gambling Ascot attendance Better betting betting Betting Duty Bloodstock breeders bookies bookmakers breeding Britain British society cash betting cent Chinn Church Committee on Betting courses credit bookmakers cricket crowds cultural Daily Derby Doncaster Donoghue economic England Epsom Epsom Derby example films flat racing football gambling gang Grand National horses increased increasingly interwar Jack Fairfax-Blakeborough Jockey Club John Hislop large numbers leisure Liverpool London Lord Lord Derby major Manchester mares McKibbin middle-class National Hunt racing Newmarket numbers organised owners point-to-points police popular Prince Monolulu prize money prohibition to regulation punters race meetings racecourse racegoers racehorse racing and betting racing's Richards riding Ruff's Guide runners social Sporting Chronicle stable lads stallions steeplechasing Steve Donoghue stewards street betting stud successful sweepstakes thoroughbreds tipsters top jockeys trainers University Press winner winning women working-class yearlings