1.
Jockey
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A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing, the word is by origin a diminutive of jock, the Northern English or Scots colloquial equivalent of the first name John, which is also used generically for boy, or fellow, at least since 1529. A familiar instance of the use of the word as a name is in Jockey of Norfolk in Shakespeares Richard III. v.3,304, the current usage which means a person who rides a horse in races was first seen in 1670. Another possible origin is the Gaelic word eachaidhe, a horseman, the Irish name Eochaid is related to each, horse, and is usually translated as horse rider. This is phonetically similar to jockey Jockeys must be light to ride at the weights which are assigned to their mounts. There are horse carrying weight limits, that are set by racing authorities, the Kentucky Derby, for example, has a weight limit of 126 lb including the jockeys equipment. The weight of a jockey usually ranges from 108 to 118 lb, despite their light weight, they must be able to control a horse that is moving at 40 mph and weighs 1,200 lb. Though there is no limit for jockeys, they are usually fairly short due to the weight limits. Jockeys typically stand around 4 ft 10 in to 5 ft 6 in, Jockeys are normally self employed, nominated by horse trainers to ride their horses in races, for a fee and a percentage of the purse winnings. In Australia, employment of apprentice jockeys is in terms of indenture to a master, Jockeys often cease their riding careers to take up other employment in racing, usually as trainers. In this way the system serves to induct young people into racing employment. Jockeys usually start out when they are young, riding work in the morning for trainers and it is normally necessary for an apprentice jockey to ride a minimum of about 20 barrier trials successfully before being permitted to ride in races. An apprentice jockey is known as a bug boy because the asterisk that follows the name in the program looks like a bug, all jockeys must be licensed and usually are not permitted to bet on a race. An apprentice jockey has a master, who is a horse trainer and this allowance is adjusted according to the number of winners that the apprentice has ridden. After a four-year indentured apprenticeship, the apprentice becomes a jockey and usually develops relationships with trainers. Sometimes senior jockeys are paid a retainer by an owner gives the owner the right to insist the jockey ride their horses in races. Racing modeled on the English Jockey Club spread throughout the world with colonial expansion, the colors worn by jockeys in races are the registered colors of the owner or trainer who employs them. The practice of riders wearing colors probably stems from medieval times when jousts were held between knights, however, the origins of racing colors of various patterns may have been influenced by racing held in Italian city communities since medieval times
2.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
3.
California
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California is the most populous state in the United States and the third most extensive by area. Located on the western coast of the U. S, California is bordered by the other U. S. states of Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona and shares an international border with the Mexican state of Baja California. Los Angeles is Californias most populous city, and the second largest after New York City. The Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nations second- and fifth-most populous urban regions, California also has the nations most populous county, Los Angeles County, and its largest county by area, San Bernardino County. The Central Valley, an agricultural area, dominates the states center. What is now California was first settled by various Native American tribes before being explored by a number of European expeditions during the 16th and 17th centuries, the Spanish Empire then claimed it as part of Alta California in their New Spain colony. The area became a part of Mexico in 1821 following its war for independence. The western portion of Alta California then was organized as the State of California, the California Gold Rush starting in 1848 led to dramatic social and demographic changes, with large-scale emigration from the east and abroad with an accompanying economic boom. If it were a country, California would be the 6th largest economy in the world, fifty-eight percent of the states economy is centered on finance, government, real estate services, technology, and professional, scientific and technical business services. Although it accounts for only 1.5 percent of the states economy, the story of Calafia is recorded in a 1510 work The Adventures of Esplandián, written as a sequel to Amadis de Gaula by Spanish adventure writer Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo. The kingdom of Queen Calafia, according to Montalvo, was said to be a land inhabited by griffins and other strange beasts. This conventional wisdom that California was an island, with maps drawn to reflect this belief, shortened forms of the states name include CA, Cal. Calif. and US-CA. Settled by successive waves of arrivals during the last 10,000 years, various estimates of the native population range from 100,000 to 300,000. The Indigenous peoples of California included more than 70 distinct groups of Native Americans, ranging from large, settled populations living on the coast to groups in the interior. California groups also were diverse in their organization with bands, tribes, villages. Trade, intermarriage and military alliances fostered many social and economic relationships among the diverse groups, the first European effort to explore the coast as far north as the Russian River was a Spanish sailing expedition, led by Portuguese captain Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, in 1542. Some 37 years later English explorer Francis Drake also explored and claimed a portion of the California coast in 1579. Spanish traders made unintended visits with the Manila galleons on their trips from the Philippines beginning in 1565
4.
Santa Anita Park
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Santa Anita Park is a thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It offers some of the prominent racing events in the United States during the winter, with its backdrop of the San Gabriel Mountains, it is considered by many the worlds most beautiful race track. In 2010, Santa Anitas ownership was moved to MI Developments Inc, Santa Anita Park was originally part of Rancho Santa Anita, which was owned originally by former San Gabriel Mission Mayor-Domo, Claudio Lopez, and named after a family member, Anita Cota. The ranch was acquired by rancher Hugo Reid, a Scotsman. Later, it was owned by multimillionaire horse breeder and racer Lucky Baldwin, Baldwin initially built a racetrack adjacent to the present site in what is today Arcadia, outside of the city of Los Angeles, in 1904. It closed in 1909 and burned in 1912, in 1933, California legalized parimutuel wagering and several investor groups worked to open racetracks. In the San Francisco area, a group headed by Dr. Charles H Doc Strub was having trouble locating a site, in the Los Angeles area, a group headed by movie producer Hal Roach was in need of further funds. These two groups combined and the newly formed Los Angeles Turf Club reopened the track on Christmas Day in 1934, in February 1935, the first Santa Anita Handicap was run. The races $100,000 purse, largest of any race ever in the United States until that time, in its heyday, the tracks races attracted such stars Betty Grable, Lana Turner, Edgar Bergen, Jane Russell, Cary Grant, Esther Williams, and other stars. Bing Crosby, Joe E. Brown, Al Jolson, under the leadership of Doc Strub, Santa Anita initiated many innovations that are now standard in thoroughbred horse racing, such as the use of starting gates and photo finishes for every race. It is interesting to note that the implementation of photo finishes at Santa Anita actually recorded an increase in dead heats, Santa Anita was so successful that in its first year under Doc Strubs leadership, it paid its investors a 100% dividend on their investment. In 1940, Seabiscuit won the Santa Anita Handicap in his last start, two years later, in 1942, racing at Santa Anita was suspended due to the Second World War, when Santa Anita was used as an assembly center for Japanese Americans excluded from the West Coast. For several months in 1942, over 18,000 people lived in horse stables and military-style barracks constructed on the site, including actor George Takei, after the track reopened in 1945, it went through the postwar years with prosperity. A downhill turf course, which added a distinctly European flair to racing at Santa Anita, was added in 1953, due to its proximity to Los Angeles, Santa Anita has traditionally been associated with the film and television industries. The racetrack sequences in the Marx Brothers 1937 classic A Day at the Races were filmed there, several stars, including Bing Crosby, Spencer Tracy, Errol Flynn, Alex Trebek, and MGM mogul, Louis B. Mayer, have owned horses that raced at the park, the 1958 Santa Anita Derby was attended by 61,123 people, making the attendance that day a record crowd. They had come to watch Silky Sullivan come from 28 lengths off the pace, the 1960s brought about a major renovation of Santa Anita Park, including a much-expanded grandstand as well as major seating additions. In 1968, Del Mar Racetrack relinquished its dates for a fall meeting, a group of horsemen including Clement Hirsch intervened and established the not-for-profit Oak Tree Racing Association
5.
National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
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The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American Thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers. In 1955, the moved to its current location on Union Avenue near Saratoga race course. Each spring, following the tabulation of the votes, the announcement of new inductees is made. The actual inductions are held in mid-August during the Saratoga race meeting, the Hall of Fames nominating committee selects eight to ten candidates from among the four Contemporary categories to be presented to the voters. For example, in 2016, two horses were inducted at the same time. The museum also houses a collection of art, artifacts. Under current rules, a horse must have retired for a minimum of five full calendar years to be eligible for the hall of fame. Thoroughbreds remain eligible between five and 25 calendar years following their final racing year, Thoroughbreds retired for more than 25 calendar years become eligible through the Historic Review Committee. In the early years, inductions were made exclusively through historical review, in 1955, a group of 9 horses from the earliest years of the American turf were inducted. The 1956 class included 11 horses that raced around the turn of the century, since then, the classes have been significantly smaller as the inductions shifted to more contemporary horses. To be eligible for the Hall of Fame, a jockey must be licensed for 20 years or have retired for at least five years. To be eligible for the Hall of Fame, a trainer must be licensed, the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame has named only five people in the history of American Thoroughbred horse racing as Exemplars of Racing. In addition to the Hall of Fame, the houses numerous exhibits. These range from paintings of the days of racing in England by John E. Ferneley. Featured artists include, William Smithson Broadhead, Vaughn Flannery, Sir Alfred J. Munnings, Frederic Remington, Martin Stainforth, George Stubbs, Henry Stull, Edward Troye, also on display are Kelsos five Jockey Club Gold Cup trophies and the Triple Crown trophies of Count Fleet
6.
United States Army
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The United States Armed Forces are the federal armed forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, from the time of its inception, the military played a decisive role in the history of the United States. A sense of unity and identity was forged as a result of victory in the First Barbary War. Even so, the Founders were suspicious of a permanent military force and it played an important role in the American Civil War, where leading generals on both sides were picked from members of the United States military. Not until the outbreak of World War II did a standing army become officially established. The National Security Act of 1947, adopted following World War II and during the Cold Wars onset, the U. S. military is one of the largest militaries in terms of number of personnel. It draws its personnel from a pool of paid volunteers. As of 2016, the United States spends about $580.3 billion annually to fund its military forces, put together, the United States constitutes roughly 40 percent of the worlds military expenditures. For the period 2010–14, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute found that the United States was the worlds largest exporter of major arms, the United States was also the worlds eighth largest importer of major weapons for the same period. The history of the U. S. military dates to 1775 and these forces demobilized in 1784 after the Treaty of Paris ended the War for Independence. All three services trace their origins to the founding of the Continental Army, the Continental Navy, the United States President is the U. S. militarys commander-in-chief. Rising tensions at various times with Britain and France and the ensuing Quasi-War and War of 1812 quickened the development of the U. S. Navy, the reserve branches formed a military strategic reserve during the Cold War, to be called into service in case of war. Time magazines Mark Thompson has suggested that with the War on Terror, Command over the armed forces is established in the United States Constitution. The sole power of command is vested in the President by Article II as Commander-in-Chief, the Constitution also allows for the creation of executive Departments headed principal officers whose opinion the President can require. This allowance in the Constitution formed the basis for creation of the Department of Defense in 1947 by the National Security Act, the Defense Department is headed by the Secretary of Defense, who is a civilian and member of the Cabinet. The Defense Secretary is second in the chain of command, just below the President. Together, the President and the Secretary of Defense comprise the National Command Authority, to coordinate military strategy with political affairs, the President has a National Security Council headed by the National Security Advisor. The collective body has only power to the President
