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Riderless Racers at Rome, 1817. Creator: Theodore Gericault. Riderless Racers at Rome, 1817. From the mid-15th century until 1882, spring carnival in Rome closed with a horse race. Fifteen to 20 riderless horses, originally imported from the Barbary Coast of North Africa, ran the length of the Via del Corso, a long, straight city street, in about 2½ minutes. (KEYSTONE/HERITAGE IMAGES/HERITAGE ART)