Horse racing had long been part of British royal culture, from the first recorded royal race held by Henry II at Smithfield in 1174 through the patronage of James I, Charles I, and Charles II, and by 1750 it had become the first regulated sport under the British jockey Club’s racing rules. In the mid 18th century, matched races typically pitted two horses running straight over longer distances, emphasizing stamina, before younger horses racing shorter distances for speed came to dominate. William Whitley moved from Virginia to the Kentucky frontier just before the American Revolution, and during the war with Great Britain he was deeply affected by the killing, scalping, and mutilation of William Ray, who was attacked with his brother and two other young teenagers by American Indians allied with the British on March 7, 1777, while clearing land at Shawnee Springs near Fort Harrod. Whitley’s lifelong hatred of the British crown and culture shaped the race track he later established at Sportsman’s Hill, where racing reversed British custom by running counterclockwise instead of clockwise, using a clay track instead of grass turf, and placing spectators in the center rather than at the side. In 1788, horse racing as it is known today began there at Sportsman’s Hill.