Peytona and Fashion's Great Match

Robinson, Henry R. · New York, New York

In the mid-19h century, before the more recent rise of football, basketball, and baseball, horse racing was considered America’s most popular sport. This 1845 print conveys the same carnival-like atmosphere that has remained a lasting feature of the “Run for the Roses.” Then, as now, crowds of spectators from every walk of life attended races to cheer and bet on their favorite horses. While fierce competition between jockeys, trainers, and breeders is a timeless feature of the sport, antebellum-era races were fueled by political and sectional tensions. The races were dominated by a concurrent debate between North and South over who was superior in equine breeding and training.