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MEXICO
Mexican history is filled with horse racing.

According to recent data from the Interior Ministry, there are 175 lanes, tastes or tracks, under its supervision and control in Mexico.
When talking about match racing, one must first refer to Mexico’s history, particularly with the arrival of the conquistador Hernán Cortés in 1519 on the coast of what is now known as Veracruz. Cortés brought with him 15 horses, with which the first competitions of speed on the sandy beaches of the Gulf of Mexico were realized; these races amazed and frightened the natives, for whom the horses were unknown to them. When they saw the mounted conquistadors, they thought it was a single individual gifted with supernatural powers, a fear that the Spanish took advantage of for some time during the conquest of the Aztec Empire.
Those 15 individuals were the genetic base of horse livestock in New Spain, where they found favor- able conditions for reproduction, both domestic and wild, on the large land areas where they settled.
Horseback riding was prohibited to natives. It was the economic and productive development of the haciendas which led to the need to change this policy, since in many tasks—such as handling large herds of cattle on vast areas—it was necessary for the indig- enous worker to use the horse. In 1569, the Viceroy of New Spain, Luis de Tovar González, gave the first written permit so that 20 indigenous workers from the San Javier Hacienda, in Pachuca, Hidalgo, could freely ride horses with a saddle, reins and spurs.
This was the catalyst to improve the perfor- mance of the horse in distinct productive activities and sports, increasing its appreciation in part by the
Beduino and Come Six in a 1974 international Match Race.
Mexicans. In the revolutionary era, the horse played an important role both as a form of transport and
for moving cargo, for both the rebel forces and the government. Famous horses of that era were immor- talized in corridos, like the legendary “Siete Leguas” (Seven Leagues) which General Franciso Villa rode. (A corrido is a regional Mexican song. Even today, people commission to have songs written about important horses or races, including the horses in match races in the U.S. or an important historic event or folklore/story that involved a horse or horses.)
At the conclusion of the Mexican Revolution, the government pushed equestrian activities, among them horse racing. Of particular importance was the construction and start-up of the Hipódromo de las Américas in 1943, under the presidency of General
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SPEEDHORSE, June 22, 2012
Rancho Santin Racetrack in Toluca, a state of Mexico.
AROUND THE GLOBE
Mario Hugo Gutiérrez Archivo, Hipódromo de las Américas.