2006-10-31 04:54:54 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Sports ➔ Horse Racing
whilst today people purchase articles using" pounds" inthe seventeent and eighteent centuries the guinea" at least among the aristocracy was the prefered currency a guinea was the equivalent of £1and one shilling or twenty one shillings.the practice of buying race horses in guineas is a hangover from that time .There is still also of course the two famous races the thousand and the two thousand guineas which date from that time.
2006-10-31 07:25:55 · answer #1 · answered by michael c 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Guineas were the common currency when the practise of buying and selling racehorses began a few hundred years ago. Only sales companies in Great Britain still use guineas, all other racing countries sell in their own currency, be that $, € or Yen.
A guinea is worth £1.05, the sales companies take the 5p as their commission. Therefore Tattersalls (the sales company in Newmarket) will have made £65,000 commission on the sale of the Pivotal half-brother to George Washington at last month's October Sale, he was sold for 1.3million guineas to Sheikh Mohammed.
2006-10-31 21:03:10 · answer #2 · answered by PNewmarket 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
cool Question i live in newmarket the home of racing in the uk but have never thought about it would love to know
Sorry i cant help
2006-10-31 05:12:09 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
guineas do not fluctuate in price as other curencees do on hte exchange rate becuase there not real money thats why they use them.
2006-10-31 11:15:46 · answer #4 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋