Between Purity and Pragmatism: The Politics of Purebred Breeding and Racing of the Orlov Trotter in Imperial Russia, 1880–1915
Journal: The International Journal of the History of Sport
Year: 2023

Towards the end of the nineteenth century, trotting racing had become a popular urban pastime in imperial Russia, largely due to the Imperial St. Petersburg Society of Trotting Horse Breeding. Founded in 1860, this semi-state organization ran tri-annual racing events, managed the totalizator – a pari-mutuel betting system – and invested in nationwide breeding programmes. It notably championed the Orlov Trotter, a famous Russian horse breed originating from crossbreeding between Dutch, English, a