The horse racing fan has no shortage of activities to engage him in the sport, from betting on the horses, to learning about the breeding of a horse, to being part of an online horse racing community, or to even owning a horse.

Most horse racing fans do enjoy laying a wager or two from time to time to make things a bit more interesting, and there is no shortage of variety of bets the bettor can place on a race. There are the common win, place, and show wagers, which have been around for a long time. Newer bets such as the daily double, in which the bettor must pick the winner of not one but two consecutive races, and the pick 3, which is the same idea as the daily double but the bettor must correctly select the winners of three straight in order to cash a pick 3 ticket. Other “exotic” bets have followed such as the exacta, quinella, trifecta, superfecta, pick 4, and pick 6 have been introduced more recently.

Sites such as the Bloodhorse.com provide extensive breeding information regarding any horse you might have chosen to follow. Was the horses sire as sprinter or a stayer? Is the blood of any of the illustrious horses of the past such as Seattle Slew, Secretariat, and Sunday Silence running through their veins?

The horse racing enthusiast who prefers a more interactive experience can avail himself of one of several prominent online horse racing games. The best of these is Horse Racing Fantasy, which can be downloaded at Horseracegame.com. It has the most realistic 3-D graphics of any virtual horse racing related game today, not to mention that it is an engaging game of strategy in which players enter their horses against other players horses in tournaments for real prizes. There is even a feature that lets you claim horses! This is the official game of horse racing.

Perhaps you are dreaming of the ultimate interactive experience in horse racing – owning your own real live horse! It doesn’t come cheap, and until recently, the “sport of kings” offered little hope for anyone but the insanely rich to take part in ownership, but these days an owner need not be rolling in dough to participate in the thrill of ownership. Partnership opportunities for thoroughbred ownership at the cheapest levels are available, in which the investor may purchase a share of a horse, making the investment more affordable.

Other horse racing enthusiasts are unconcerned with betting, breeding, ownership and the like, but enjoy simply watching these magnificent animals run, which is the purest pleasure of participating in the sport.