October 2, 2003
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News and notes from around the Thoroughbred racing world, compiled by
Thoroughbred Racing Communications, Inc. (TRC) (212) 371-5911.
KEENELAND MEET BEGINS TOMORROW WITH FALLSTARS WEEKEND Keeneland will kickoff its prestigious fall meeting tomorrow with a stakes bonanza called FallStars Weekend, a three-day period that features seven graded stakes races that all serve as important stepping stones to the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships, to be run three weeks later at Santa Anita Park in California. The winners of 19 Breeders' Cup races made their previous start at Keeneland. "Throughout opening weekend, we will showcase world-class racing while offering unique wagering opportunities and a festival atmosphere," said Keeneland's Director of Communications Jim Williams. Opening Day will be highlighted by the $400,000, Grade II Darley Alcibiades Stakes for 2-year-old fillies with designs on the Breeders´ Cup Juvenile Fillies and the $250,000-added, Grade III Phoenix Breeders' Cup Stakes for some of the nation´s top sprinters aiming for the Breeders´ Cup Sprint. On Saturday, top grass milers will do battle in the $600,000, Grade I Shadwell Turf Mile, while some of the country´s best two-year-old colts will contest the $400,000, Grade II Lane's End Breeders' Futurity. Also on Saturday´s agenda is the Grade III Sycamore Breeders' Cup Stakes for turf marathoners. The Sunday program features the $500,000, Grade I Overbrook Spinster for fillies and mares on the main track and the $500,000, Grade II WinStar Galaxy Stakes for fillies and mares on the turf. ESPN2 will televise each of those races on a special 90-minute program airing from 6:00-7:30 p.m. (ET). Purses for the 17-day meet, which concludes on October 25, total nearly $10 million. NATIONAL PICK SIX ON TAP FOR SATURDAY The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) will offer a nationwide Pick Six wager, called the NTRA National Pick 6, on six important Breeders´ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships prep races being contested this Saturday, October 4, and televised live on CNBC (Bessemer Trust Two-Year-Old Challenge, 3:30-4:30 p.m. ET) and NBC (NTRA Road to the World Thoroughbred Championships, 4:30-6:00 p.m. ET). The $2 minimum bet, at outlets around the country, challenges fans to select the winners of the Lane´s End Breeders´ Futurity from Keeneland (CNBC, post time: 3:55 p.m. ET), the Kelso Breeders´ Cup Handicap from Belmont (NBC, 4:47 p.m.), the Oak Tree Derby from Santa Anita (NBC, 5:12 p.m.), the Beldame from Belmont (NBC, 5:20 p.m.), the Shadwell Turf Mile from Keeneland (NBC, 5:32 p.m.) and the Goodwood Breeders´ Cup Handicap from Santa Anita (NBC, 5:47 p.m.) "This represents another effort by the NTRA to link its television inventory with a wagering product," said Ken Kirchner, the NTRA´s senior vice president of product development. "Fans have responded enthusiastically to national Pick 3 and Pick 4 wagers tied to previous telecasts, and we think this new National Pick 6 will similarly drive viewers to the Saturday programs airing on CNBC and NBC." MOVE OVER VISA, HERE COMES OAKLAWN PARK To honor its upcoming 100th Anniversary in 2004, Oaklawn Park has announced that the Hot Springs, Ark., racetrack will present the nation´s richest program for three-year-olds next year, with over $6 million available to that age group during the 2004 meet. Oaklawn will double the purse for its marquee event, the Arkansas Derby, to $1 million, making it the richest race in Oaklawn's 100-year history. In addition, Oaklawn has established an astounding $5 million bonus should any horse sweep the March 20 Rebel Stakes, the April 10 Arkansas Derby and the May 1 Kentucky Derby. No racetrack has ever offered such substantial bonus money in American racing history. The $5 million prize, known as the "Oaklawn Centennial Bonus", equals the amount of the VISA Triple Crown Challenge, which is available to any horse that sweeps the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes. "By taking this action, we commit ourselves to creating a vibrant three-year-old racing program, which may attract the finest of the breed for years to come," said Charles J. Cella, owner and president of Oaklawn Park. ELEVEN SET FOR INDIANA DERBY SATURDAY Eleven horses will go to the post in the ninth running of the Grade III Indiana Derby this Saturday night. Interestingly, all three early favorites for the $400,000 race have drawn difficult, outside post positions. Pennsylvania Derby winner Grand Hombre, 2-1 in the morning line, will begin from post 11. Canadian Triple Crown winner Wando, second choice at odds of 5-2, begins from post nine. Wiggins, the third choice in the race at odds of 5-1, will start from post ten. The entire Indiana Derby field in post position order is: Comic Truth (jockey: Rafael Bejarano, morning line odds: 20-1), Excessivepleasure (Jon Court, 8-1), Christine's Outlaw (Cornelio Velazquez, 20-1), Hackendiffy (Eddie Martin Jr., 20-1), Shawklit Man (Corey Lanerie, 12-1), Ashmore (Jeremy Rose, 10-1), Offlee Wild (Mark Guidry, 12-1), Roses In May (Robby Albarado, 15-1), Wando (Patrick Husbands, 5-2), Wiggins (Eddie Razo Jr., 5-1), and Grand Hombre (Edgar Prado, 2-1). Approximate post time on Saturday for the Indiana Derby is 9:50 p.m. ET.
October 4 Wire to Wire, 5:30-6:00 a.m., ESPN
Oct. 2, 1943: Belmont Park hosted "Back the Attack" day in support of the war effort. Admission was by purchase of $25 or $100 war bonds. Approximately $25 million was raised. Oct. 2, 1981: At age 17, Behavin Jerry, the oldest Thoroughbred in racing competition, set the record for most career starts by a Thoroughbred, 307. Behavin Jerry began his career as a two-year-old in 1966 and raced every year thereafter through 1978. He took two years off, 1979-80, and returned to racing at age 17 in 1981. Oct. 2, 1995: Jockey Mike Smith won his 3,000th career race, aboard Old Chapel, in the seventh race at Belmont Park. Oct. 3, 1942: With a victory in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, Whirlaway, ridden by George Woolf, became the first Thoroughbred to amass more than $500,000 in lifetime earnings. Oct. 4, 1762: Nineteen members of England´s Jockey Club announced an agreement at Newmarket to register their racing colors for purposes of distinguishing runners among a field of horses. The Duke of Devonshire chose "straw," and the color, still registered for the family, is the oldest continuously used color in racing. Oct. 4, 1970: Nijinsky II´s 11-race winning streak came to an end when he ran second to Sassafras in the Prix de l´Arc de Triomphe. Oct. 4, 1972: Secretariat worked a mile in 1:37 in preparation for the Oct. 14 Champagne Stakes. Oct. 4, 1980: Less than an hour before post time, Spectacular Bid was scratched from the Jockey Club Gold Cup, the race that was to have been his last. Trainer Bud Delp claimed that "Bid" had a slight leg injury, but refused to allow a veterinarian to examine the horse and insisted he be retired. Despite this ignoble end to his career, Spectacular Bid´s 1980 racing season was perfect: he won each of his nine starts, all of them stakes, and was subsequently voted Horse of the Year. Oct. 4, 1989: Secretariat, 1973 Triple Crown champion, was euthanized at Claiborne Farm, Paris, Ky., after suffering a severe case of laminitis. He was 19. Oct. 5, 1933: Jockey Gordon Richards concluded a 12-race winning streak that had begun on Oct. 3 when he won the last race at Nottingham, followed by a six-for-six day at Chepstow on Oct. 4 and five wins at Chepstow on Oct. 5. Oct. 5, 1953: Twenty-one years after he retired from riding, 54-year-old Earl Sande, ‘the Handy Guy,´ returned to the saddle, finishing third on Honest Bread at Belmont Park. Oct. 5, 1973: In his final workout for his first grass race, the Man o´ War Stakes, Secretariat went five furlongs on the turf in :56 4/5 at Belmont Park. Oct. 5, 1983: Jockey Jorge Velasquez won his 5,000th career race, riding Banquet Scene to victory in the fourth race at Belmont Park. Oct. 5, 2001: The U. S. House of Representatives passed the 2001 Farm Bill, which included two provisions that will offer economic relief to owners and breeders who have suffered substantial losses among their breeding stock due to Mare Reproductive Loss Syndrome. Oct. 6, 1949: Col. Matt J. Winn, credited with making the Kentucky Derby the greatest horse race in America, died at the age of 88. He witnessed all of the first 75 Derbies. Oct. 6, 1979: In their only race together, champions Affirmed and Spectacular Bid met in the Jockey Club Gold Cup. Odds-on favorite Affirmed, ridden by Laffit Pincay Jr., won by 3-4 of a length and became the first horse ever to earn more than $1 million in a single racing season. Affirmed was later voted Horse of the Year off this convincing victory over Spectacular Bid, who was named champion three-year-old. Oct. 6, 1989: Parimutuel racing returned to Texas with a meet held at G. Rollie White Downs. Racing had been banned in the state since 1937. Oct. 7, 1956: In his final start of his career, four-year-old Ribot won the Prix de l´Arc de Triomphe for the second consecutive year and retired a perfect 16-for-16. Oct. 7, 2001: Jockey Jerry Bailey became the first jockey in history to surpass $20 million in purses in a single year, eclipsing his own single-season record of $19,465,376 set back in 1996. Oct. 8, 1973: Secretariat made his grass-racing debut in the Man o´ War Stakes at Belmont Park, winning the 1 1-2-mile race by five lengths in a time of 2:24 4-5. He overran the finish line by another furlong, running 1 5-8 miles in a world-record-equaling time of 2:37 4-5. Oct. 10, 1974: With female riders still a novelty, Lincoln Downs staged a $5,000 match race between jockeys Denise Boudrot and Mike Lapensee. The race, dubbed the ‘contest of the sexes,´ was won by Boudrot. In a rematch one week later, in which the riders switched their mounts from their previous encounter, Boudrot again prevailed. Oct. 11, 1924: A crowd of 60,000 assembled at Latonia to watch the third and final International race, for which a French colt, Epinard, was the headliner. Epinard, who had finished second in his two previous Internationals, did so again, losing as the even-money favorite to Sarazen. Oct. 12, 1920: In the final race of his career, three-year-old Man o´ War defeated 1919 Triple Crown winner Sir Barton in a match race, the Kenilworth Park Gold Cup, at Kenilworth Park. Sent off at odds of 1-20, Man o´ War won by seven lengths in his 14th consecutive victory. Oct. 12, 1966: Damascus, owned by Edith W. Bancroft, broke his maiden at Aqueduct Racetrack, winning by eight lengths. Oct. 12, 2000: A new ESPN Sports Poll measuring fan interest in major sports during the first half of 2000 showed an interest growth in horseracing of 8.5 percent when measured against the same period in 1999. Oct. 13, 1927: Arlington Park opened. The track, built by H. D. Brown, had a steeplechase course and a polo field and was adjacent to tennis courts, a golf course and a one-mile training track. Oct. 13, 1956: At age four, 1955 Horse of the Year Nashua won his last race, the Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes at Belmont Park. Oct. 13, 1984: At age nine, odds-on favorite John Henry won his last race, the Ballantine´s Scotch Classic at The Meadowlands, to earn the richest purse of his career, $740,000, which included a $500,000 bonus for winning both the Turf Classic, run at Belmont Park on Sept. 22, and the Meadowlands´ race. John Henry retired as America´s then-richest horse with earnings of $6,597,947. Oct. 14, 1952: Jockey Bill Hartack rode his first career winner, at Waterford Park. Oct. 14, 1953: After a 21-year hiatus as a professional jockey, Earl Sande, 54, won his first race in a comeback, with Miss Weesie, at Jamaica. Sande´s comeback began on Oct. 5 and ended with his win at Jamaica, where he received an ovation from a crowd of 18,184. Oct. 14, 1968: Sandy Hawley won his first race aboard a two-year-old gelding named Fly Alone, riding at Woodbine Racecourse. Oct. 14, 1972: After finishing first in the Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park, Secretariat was disqualified and placed second, after bearing in on Stop the Music, who was declared the official winner. Oct. 15, 1977: In the fifth of their 10 meetings, Alydar won his second victory over Affirmed in the Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park.
Darley Alcibiades Stakes, 2yo fillies, $400,000, Grade II, 1 1-16M, Keeneland
Beldame Stakes, 3&up (f&m), $750,000, Grade I, 1 1-8M, Belmont Park
Overbrook Spinster Stakes, 3&up (f&m), $500,000, Grade I, 1 1-8M, Keeneland
Perryville Stakes, 3yo, $100,000, 7F, Keeneland
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