Placing Bets

Charles Newdigate Newdegate. Sketches for the Washington Races in 1840. [London?, ca. 1840].

Horse-racing was especially popular in the South, where status-conscious plantation owners not only invested in expensive thoroughbred horses but also placed large bets on them. Slaves were often made stable hands and at times were even permitted to attend the races and place small side bets. In this image, two jockeys, slaves in brightly-colored garb, race horses at the Washington Race Course in Charleston, South Carolina, while men in formal dress time the race and examine their betting slips from the boxes above.