The Washington Jockey Club was an American association in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

devoted to

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

, founded in 1797. The Club established its first racecourse four blocks from the Executive Mansion where it extended from 17th and 20th Streets and extending across Pennsylvania Avenue into Lafayette Park, what is now the site of Decatur House at H Street and Jackson Place, crossing Seventeenth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue to Twentieth Street, largely on the site of today’s

Eisenhower Executive Office Building The Eisenhower Executive Office Building (EEOB)—formerly known as the Old Executive Office Building (OEOB), and originally as the State, War, and Navy Building—is a U.S. government building situated just west of the White House in the U.S. ca ...

. The course was relocated in 1802 to the Holmead Farm two miles north of the Executive Mansion, to what is now Meridian Hill.

History

Thomas Sully, Charles Carnan Ridgely, 1820, NGA 32582

The inaugural match featured

John Tayloe III John Tayloe III (September 2, 1770March 23, 1828), of Richmond County, Virginia, was a planter, politician, businessman, and tidewater gentry scion. He was prominent in elite social circles. A highly successful planter and thoroughbred horse b ...

's Lamplighter and Gen.

Charles Carnan Ridgely Charles Carnan Ridgely (December 6, 1760July 17, 1829) was born Charles Ridgely Carnan.Gerson G. Eisenberg, ''Marylanders Who Served the Nation: A Biographical Dictionary of Federal Officials from Maryland'' (Annapolis: Maryland State Archives, ...

's Cincinnatus, for 500 guineas, ran in 4-mile heats, and won by the former, a sire of Ridgeley's Imp English bred stallion Grey Medley. The only initial building was a small elevated platform for the judges. The "carriage folk" took to the infield for views of the contests, and the standing spectators crested the outside of the course.John Hervey, Racing in America., 1665–1865 (2 vols.; New York: Privately printed for the Jockey Club, 1944), 2:5. Charles Ridgely raised thoroughbred horses which trained on the racetrack at his estate,

Hampton Hampton may refer to: Places Australia *Hampton bioregion, an IBRA biogeographic region in Western Australia *Hampton, New South Wales *Hampton, Queensland, a town in the Toowoomba Region *Hampton, Victoria Canada *Hampton, New Brunswick *Hamp ...

. He promoted the stud services of his racehorse Grey Medley (f. 1776); his racehorse Post Boy (f. 1800) was destined to win the prestigious Washington Jockey Club cup in 1804, 1805, and 1806. John Tayloe III purchased and bred many thoroughbreds, including

Diomed Diomed, foaled in 1777, was an English Thoroughbred race horse who won 1780 Epsom Derby, the inaugural running of Epsom Derby, the Derby in 1780. He was subsequently a successful sire in the United States. Racing years A bright chestnut standin ...

(f.1777) Grey Diomed (f. 1786), Dungannon (f. 1794), Selima (f. 1805), and

Sir Archy Sir Archy (or Archy, Archie, or Sir Archie; 1805–1833) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse considered one of the best racehorses of his time and later one of the most important sires in American history. He was inducted into the National Muse ...

(f. 1805)- considered the first great racehorse bred in America. Tayloe III built

The Octagon House The Octagon House, also known as the Colonel John Tayloe III House, is located at 1799 New York Avenue, Northwest in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, D.C. After the British destroyed the White House during the War of 1812, the house ...

in downtown Washington City at the behest of his cousin,

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

, and also owned a 204-acre horse farm called

Petworth (Washington, D.C.) Petworth is a residential neighborhood in the Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. It is bounded to the east by the Armed Forces Retirement Home and Rock Creek Cemetery, to the west by Arkansas Avenue NW, to the south by Rock Creek Church R ...

, which stands on the land that now comprises the Petworth neighborhood. Wilhelmus Bryan, a historian of early Washington, attributed the popularity of horse racing in the new federal city "to the interest taken in breeding of racing stock by John Tayloe III, reputed to be the wealthiest man in the city.Wilhelmus Bogart Bryan, A History of the National Capital. Volume I 1790-1814. (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1914), 304; John Hervey, Racing in America 1665-1865. Volume II. (New York: The Jockey Club, 1944), 5. Hervey dates this race in 1798.Irons in the Fire: The Business History of the Tayloe Family and Virginia's Gentry, 1700-1860, Laura Croghan Kamoie, University of Virginia Press, 2007, pg 119

John Tayloe II Colonel John Tayloe II (28 May 172118 April 1779) was a planter and politician, among the richest planters in colonial Virginia. He served in public office including the Virginia Governor's Council, also known as the Virginia Council of State. ...

(1721-1779), father of John Tayloe III, was a fourth generation tobacco planter and avid horse racer. His property, Mount Airy (1758), exists today, Tayloe II’s earliest recorded importation was Childers (whose grandsire was

Flying Childers Flying Childers (1715–1741) was a famous undefeated 18th-century thoroughbred racehorse, foaled in 1714 at Carr House, Warmsworth, Doncaster, and is sometimes considered as the first truly great racehorse in the history of thoroughbreds and the ...

(1714–41)) in 1751. His son, Colonel John Tayloe III, went on to purchase and breed many thoroughbreds, including Grey Diomed (f. 1786), Dungannon (f. 1794), Selima (f. 1805), and Sir Archy (f. 1805). John Tayloe III built the Octagon in the Federal City, and also owned a 204 acre horse farm called Petworth, bounded on the south by Rock Creek Road and on the west by Georgia Avenue, which stood on the land that now comprises the Petworth neighborhood. The eager citizens who attended the four mile heat interpreted the race as a contest between the states; in this instance, Virginia was victorious and Tayloe carried home a purse of 500 guineas! first and foremost a horse farm. In 1802 growth in the Federal City forced abandonment of the initial course, moving to the Holmead Farm, what is now Meridian Hill—south of Columbia Road between Fourteenth and Sixteenth Streets—and races were conducted at the Holmstead Farm's one mile oval track. Gen.

John Peter Van Ness Johannes Petrus "John Peter" Van Ness (November 4, 1769 – March 7, 1846) was an American politician who served as a U.S. Representative from New York from 1801 to 1803 and Mayor of Washington, D.C. from 1830 to 1834. Early life Van Nes ...

, Dr.

William Thornton William Thornton (May 20, 1759 – March 28, 1828) was a British-American physician, inventor, painter and architect who designed the United States Capitol. He also served as the first Architect of the Capitol and first Superintendent of the Uni ...

, G.W. P. Custis,

John Threlkeld John Threlkeld (1757 – 1830) was an American politician, farmer, and landowner who served as an alderman and mayor of Georgetown and a member of the Maryland House of Delegates. Early life and family John Threlkeld was born in 1757, the so ...

of Georgetown and

George Calvert George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore (; 1580 – 15 April 1632), was an English politician and colonial administrator. He achieved domestic political success as a member of parliament and later Secretary of State under King James I. He lost mu ...

of Riversdale, Bladensburg, Maryland. For a time Washington and

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

were leading centers for racing, and like today the best horses raced in the spring and fall. Presidents, military heroes, statesmen, and foreign dignitaries typically attended.

References

{{Reflist, 2 Horse racing organizations in the United States Tayloe family of Virginia