The horses were sent out for a race during the time of Hajjaj, when Hakam bin Ayub was governor over Basra. We came to watch the race, and when the horses arrived, we said, "Why don't we go to Anas bin Malik and ask him whether you used to hold horse races during the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ?"So we went to him at his palace in al-Zawiya and asked him, "Abu Hamza, did you used to race horses during the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ? Did the Messenger of Allah ﷺ himself race?"He replied, "Yes, by Allah, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ raced a horse of his called Sabha, and it outran all the others. He was delighted and pleased by that."
أرسلت الخيل زمن الحجاج، والحكم بن أيوب أمير على البصرة، قال: فأتينا الرهان، فلما جاءت الخيل، قلنا: لو ملنا إلى أنس بن مالك فسألناه: أكنتم تراهنون على عهد رسول الله ﷺ؟ فأتيناه وهو في قصره في الزاوية، فسألناه، فقلنا: يا أبا حمزة أكنتم تراهنون على عهد رسول الله ﷺ؟ أكان رسول الله ﷺ يراهن؟ قال: نعم، والله لقد راهن رسول الله ﷺ على فرس له يقال له: سبحة، فسبق الناس، فانتشى لذلك، وأعجبه.
Ahmad (13689, 12627), Darimi (2474), Daraqutni (4/301), and Bayhaqi (10/12) narrated it through various routes from Saeed bin Zayd, who said, "Zubayr bin Kharit narrated to me, from Abu Labid Limaza bin Zabbar," who said, so he mentioned it. The wording given is Ahmad's.Its chain of transmission is hasan on account of Saeed bin Zayd and Abu Labid, for both of them make the hadith hasan.Ibn Qayyim said, "It is a hadith with a good chain of transmission," Furusiyyah (p. 166).