Horse and harness racing are deeply embedded in the history of Australian sport, and in this anthology their development is placed alongside other case studies from Europe so that the past, present and future of the ‘global racecourse’ can be considered. The Society extends appreciation to all contributors for not only enriching the conference, but for working so hard over an extended period of time to ensure their research endeavours are now available to a wider audience.

This anthology grew out of papers originally presented at ‘Sporting Traditions’, the biennial conference of the Australian Society for Sports History, Melbourne (2005). Edited by Chris McConville, this title is number 23 in the Australian Society for Sports History's monograph series.