Jack Oxley, a former 5-goaler and owner of Royal Palm Polo Sports Club in Boca Raton, spotlighted the connections between polo and racing when his horse Monarchos won the Kentucky Derby. But the connections between the two sports predate April 2001 by at least 100 years, going back to August Belmont, businessman, polo player and horseracing enthusiast who established Belmont Park racetrack in 1905. Blended history Galloping horses. Muscular forelegs extend gracefully, reach eagerly for new ground to cover. Powerful hind legs, working in an almost circular motion, propel legs up and over, then down and through.
Front legs reach and hold, back legs push and send.
A masterpiece of muscle and bone, horses have been able to carry people at speeds much faster than any mere two legs. No one is sure when or how people first mounted the horse. Polo may have originated after it was determined that in addition to running fast in straight lines, horses could be taught to tolerate a bamboo cane being wielded to hit a ball or a skull, and they could be taught to stop and turn on command. As far as which sport made it to the New World first, there is no question that horseracing was the first. As a mater of fact, the establishment of horse racetracks helped pave the way for polo, providing the game with the earliest and most level areas on which to play.