JUST as early modern football later evolved into different forms whose rules changed over time, from soccer and rugby to American football, horse racing likewise has evolved rules for different types of race, ranging from those for specific ages to handicaps and selling plates. Rules formed part of racing's growing rationalization but, to be viewed as ‘modern’, rules had to set out the constraints within which races had to be run and be universally applied and accepted, not differing from place to place. Sportization theory suggests that formal, standardized and written rules form part of the ‘ideal type’ of modern sport.

So how ‘modern’ were eighteenth-century racing's rules? Though it has been argued that eighteenth-century racing was already ‘highly organized, standardized and bureaucratized … and was truly national in scope’, while the Jockey Club had ‘administrative and legal control’ this view is in error. Eighteenth-century races, not yet fully modern, occupied a proto-modern transitional phase, with only some elements of standardization. Contrary to conventional belief, the Jockey Club was not founded in c.1750 but first appeared earlier in the eighteenth century. Its actual power was much more limited than many historians have mistakenly claimed, since its rules only applied to Newmarket, but its cultural significance meant its rules were sometimes copied elsewhere. Across Britain, race rules varied from place to place and over time, but were moving towards growing standardization.

A first tentative schema of the chronology of rule development in horse racing by economic historian Wray Vamplew largely focused on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This chapter extends his analysis by examining the important proto-modern period in more detail.3 It focuses on rules relating to the horses, the course and race riding, and not those aspects concerned with organizational issues such as judging, dispute resolution or gambling, which are addressed later.

The rules governing contests were almost always written down and contractual in nature. They were usually called ‘Articles’ (an abbreviation of Articles of Agreement). They evolved during the process of issuing and accepting a racing challenge. They were needed to prevent or minimize disputes and cheating by people testing the limits of arrangements. They clarified various aspects of play and set out the terms of the wager. Initially there were separate ‘Articles’ for each racing match or contest, and despite increasing consensus and emulation there was much local variation.