This guide is more about the history of the horse at the Cape culminating in horse racing which was the only means of gambling in South Africa prior to 1996. Seeing as horses are not indigenous to Africa south of the equator, they had to be brought here. Jan van Riebeeck, in the early 1650s, brought horses to the Cape. These horses were Timor ponies obtained from the Dutch settlement in Java in the Far East. With interbreeding, these horses were used in many wars later on because of there reliability and, today, they live on as the Basuto pony found manly in the Kingdom of Lesotho. It was only in 1797, under the British, that organised horse racing started and thoroughbred horses were introduced to the Cape. Today, horse racing is not as popular as previously, but the annual mets still bring in large crowds.  This FREE printed and downloadable guide will give you by far the best information you need when visiting Kenilworth Racecourse.

Click on the guide to open a high resolution PDF