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July Horse History- |
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1 -
1966: Jockey Laffit Pincay
Jr. won with his first mount in the United States, at
Arlington Park, aboard two-year-old filly Teacher's Art,
owned and bred by Fred W. Hooper. |
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1998: Hall of Fame jockey Sandy Hawley
retired from race riding after competing in the Dominion Day
Handicap at Woodbine Racecourse.
2000: Jockey Mark Guidry became the 36th
jockey in history to win 4,000 races when he rode Manitowish
to victory in the fifth race at Arlington International
Racecourse. 2001:
Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Frankel won two Grade I races on
opposite coasts, on different surfaces, both via
disqualification. First, Senure was elevated to the top spot
in the United Nations Handicap, a turf race at Monmouth Park
in Oceanport, N.J., following the disqualification of With
Anticipation for a bumping incident in midstretch. Then,
just 30 minutes later and on the same CBS telecast, Aptitude
was placed first after Futural was disqualified for a
similar infraction in the Hollywood Gold Cup, a top dirt
race at Hollywood Park in Inglewood, Calif.
2 -
1989:
Jockey Steve Cauthen became the first rider in history to
sweep the world's four major derbies after winning the Irish
Derby with Old Vic. He had previously won the Kentucky Derby
with Affirmed (1978), the Epsom Derby with Slip Anchor
(1985) and Reference Point (1987) and the French Derby with
Old Vic (1989). |
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3 -
Today in 1937, the Del Mar Race
Track was opened in sunny Del Mar, California. Bing Crosby
collected the first ticket on the opening day.
1977: Seattle Slew's nine-race
winning streak came to an end in the Swaps Stakes at
Hollywood Park, when he finished fourth, beaten 16 lengths
by J.O. Tobin.
1982: D. Wayne Lukas-trained Landaluce, ridden by Laffit
Pincay Jr., won the first of her five consecutive victories
at Hollywood Park. The daughter of Seattle Slew, owned by
Barry Beal and Lloyd French, died of a viral infection in
November of that year but was posthumously voted champion
two-year-old filly of 1982. |
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4 -
1886 - The first rodeo in America was held at
Prescott, Arizona.
Today
was Secretariat's first race, taking place in 1972. He
finished fourth in the race, which was at the Aqueduct.
1954: Two-year-old
Ribot won his first race, the Premio Tramuschio. He
concluded his career in 1956, with 16 wins in as many
starts.
1976: Charlie Whittingham swept the top
three spots in the American Handicap at Hollywood Park with
his trainees King Pellinore, Riot in Paris and Caucasus. On
July 26, he repeated the feat in the Sunset Handicap, with
Caucasus first, King Pellinore second and Riot in Paris
third.
1978: Trainer D. Wayne Lukas won his
first $100,000 stakes race--over the turf--taking the
American Handicap with Effervescing, ridden by Laffit Pincay
Jr., at Hollywood Park.
1998: Elusive Quality
ran the fastest mile in history in the Poker Handicap at
Belmont Park. The five-year-old horse was timed at 1:31 3/5
over a firm turf course.
2000: Hall of
Fame jockey Russell Baze scored his 7,000 career victory
aboard This Is the Moment at the Alameda County Fair in
Pleasanton, Calif. Baze became the sixth jockey to join the
7,000-win club. |
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5 -
1991: Jockey Ray Sibille won his 3,000th career race, aboard
Sporting Surf at Pleasanton. |
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6 -
1975: Locust Hill Farm's undefeated filly Ruffian engaged
Kentucky Derby winner Foolish Pleasure in a match race at
Belmont Park. Racing on the lead, Ruffian sustained a severe
leg injury and was pulled up by jockey Jacinto Vasquez. The
filly was euthanized the following day when efforts to save
her proved futile. 1977: In the
second of their 10 meetings, Alydar defeated Affirmed to win
the Great American Stakes at Belmont Park. This was the
first of Alydar's three victories over Affirmed. |
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7 -
1962 - Race jockey
Bill Hartack won race number 3,000. He was riding Big Steve
at Arlington Park in Chicago, IL.
1934: Mary Hirsch became the first
female to be licensed as a Thoroughbred trainer, in
Illinois. Hirsch subsequently was licensed in Michigan that
year and two years later, on April 9, she was licensed by
The Jockey Club to train in New York. |
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8 -
2000: General Express set a world record
when he went five furlongs on the turf in :54.60 in the
Decathlon Stakes at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J. General
Express eclipsed the mark of :54.97 set by Klassy Briefcase
in a Monmouth allowance race on June 8, 1991. |
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9 - |
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10 - 1920 - One of the
greatest horse races in America was run as Man o’ War
defeated John P. Grier in the Dwyer Stakes. Man o’ War set a
world-record time of 1 minute, 49-1/5 seconds in the 1-1/8
mile event.
1982: Landaluce, a two-year-old
daughter of Seattle Slew, won the Hollywood Lassie Stakes by
21 lengths under the guidance of Laffit Pincay Jr. She ran
the six furlong race in 1:08, just 3/5 of a second off the
track record at Hollywood Park.
2000: The National Thoroughbred Racing
Association unveiled the "NTRA Two-Year-Old Challenge," a
televised racing series and promotional program for
2-year-old Thoroughbred colts and geldings carrying a
potential bonus of $1.3 million. |
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11 - 1916 - One of
America’s great race horses died. Dan Patch was the
celebrated horse that had never lost a race. He first became
known for promoting his owner’s feed company in Savage,
Minnesota. Interestingly, Mr. Savage died several days after
his beloved trotter died.
1997: Breeders' Cup Ltd. announced
that supplemental entry fees would be added to the purses of
Breeders' Cup Championship Day events. |
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12 -
1971: Bold Ruler, sire of 82 stakes winners, including
Secretariat, died at Claiborne Farm. |
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13 -
1986: Jockey Kent Desormeaux rode his first winner, a
three-year-old filly named Miss Tavern, in the fifth race at
Evangeline Downs. 1996: Cigar
tied Citation's record of 16 consecutive victories, winning
the Citation Challenge at Arlington International
Racecourse. |
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14 - 1951 - In his last
race, Citation became the winningest thoroughbred in horse
racing as he won the Hollywood Gold Cup at Hollywood Park.
Citation earned a total of $1,085,760 in his career.
1951: In his last race, Calumet Farm's
six-year-old Citation won the Hollywood Gold Cup by four
lengths, and became racing's first millionaire horse.
1999: Television Games Network (TVG)
made its official debut with horse racing programming
available to 1.1 million C-band satellite homes though
Superstar/Netlink Group, the nation's largest satellite
programming provider. |
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15 -
1966: Dr. Fager won his first race by seven lengths at
Aqueduct racetrack. He was sent off at odds of 10-1.
1972: After finishing fourth in his
racing debut on July 4, Secretariat won his first race,
under jockey Paul Feliciano. The six-length victory occurred
at Aqueduct.
1987: Jack Van Berg became the first
trainer to win 5,000 races when he sent Art's Chandelle, a
$10,000 claimer, to victory at Arlington Park.
1999: The National Thoroughbred Racing
Association (NTRA) confirmed that it had completed its
purchase of the horseracing assets of Winner Communications
via its newly formed subsidiary, NTRA Investments LLC.
2000: Three-year-old filly Hallowed
Dreams kept her record perfect and tied Cigar's and
Citation's record of 16 consecutive wins by taking the Dixie
Miss Stakes at Louisiana Downs. |
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16 -
1998: Breeders' Cup Limited announced
that a new $1 million turf race for fillies and mares would
be added to Breeders' Cup Championship Day beginning in
1999. The race would be called the Breeders' Cup Filly and
Mare Turf and would be run at 1 ¼ miles. |
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17 -
1975: Jockey Laffit Pincay Jr.
notched his 3,000th career victory, aboard Lexington Lark at
Hollywood Park.
1994: Former jockey Angel Cordero Jr. had his first stakes
victory as a trainer when he sent Holy Mountain to win the
Lexington Stakes at Belmont Park. Cordero was officiating on
behalf of Holy Mountain's regular trainer, Bob Klesaris, who
was serving a suspension. |
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18 -
1942: Garden State Park officially
opened. A crowd of 31,682 welcomed the return of racing to
New Jersey after a 49-year absence.
1989: The last Northern Dancer foal to be
sold at public auction, later named Northern Park, was
purchased by Zenya Yoshida for $2.8 million. In 30 starts
over four years in France, Northern Park compiled a 4-7-4
record.
1993: Jockey Gary Stevens topped $100
million in purse earnings after winning the seventh race at
Hollywood Park aboard Don't Presume (GB). |
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19 -
1951 - Famous thoroughbred race horse Citation retired from
racing.
2000: Allen Paulson, owner and breeder
of Cigar, died in La Jolla, Calif. after a long battle with
cancer. He was 78. |
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20 -
1951: Six-year-old Citation, the first
Thoroughbred to earn $1 million, was retired.
1974: Carl Rosen's Chris Evert trounced
Miss Musket by 50 lengths in the world's richest match race,
a $350,000 winner-take-all contest at Hollywood Park.
1988: John Galbreath, founder of Darby
Dan Farm, died at age 90. He was the first person to have
owned and bred winners of the Kentucky Derby (Chateaugay and
Proud Clarion) and the Epsom Derby (Roberto). |
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21 -
1985 - Race horse John Henry retired. The thoroughbred was
originally purchased for $1,100. The 1984 Horse of the Year
had career winnings of $6.5 million. John Henry won 39 of 83
races and was 10 years old when he retired.
1989: Jockey Chris McCarron notched
his 5,000th winner, riding I Sure Hope So to victory in the
fifth race at Hollywood Park. |
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22 -
1999: Dale Baird, the winningest trainer
in history, recorded his 8,000th victory at Mountaineer Race
Track in Chester, W.V., sending out Midsummer Scene to take
the 6th race. |
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23 -
1947: Early Edition, Hunter's Sun and
Brown Jewel, all offspring of the sire Hunter's Moon IV,
finished 1-2-3, respectively, in a race at Hollywood Park
1985: A bay colt, Seattle Dancer, son of
Nijinsky II and the mare My Charmer, sold to Robert Sangster
for $13.1 million--the record price for a Thoroughbred.
Seattle Dancer, a half brother to 1977 Triple Crown winner
Seattle Slew, raced five times as a three-year-old to earn
less than $150,000 from two wins, one second and one third
before he was retired. The previous record for a horse sold
at auction was $10.2 million, paid by Sheikh Mohammed al
Maktoum in 1983 for Snaafi Dancer, who never raced. |
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24 -
Julie Krone was born
today in 1963. She was the only woman to ride winning
horse in a Triple Crown race when she captured Belmont
Stakes aboard Colonial Affair in 1993; retired in 1999 as
all-time winningest female jockey with over 3,000 wins; in
2000 became the first female jockey elected to thoroughbred
racing's hall of fame. |
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25 - |
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26 -
1962: Jockey Angel Cordero Jr. rode his
first winner in the U.S., Counterate, at Aqueduct Racetrack.
1973: The New York Racing
Association and the Philip Morris Corporation announced the
inaugural Marlboro Cup, a race to feature Secretariat and
his stablemate, Riva Ridge, that would be run Sept. 15 at
Belmont Park. |
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27 -
1973 - Secretariat broke two records while practicing at
Saratoga Springs, NY. The legendary horse covered a mile in
a speedy 1 minute, 34 seconds and ran a 1-1/8 mile distance
in 1 minute, 47-4/5 seconds. |
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28 -
1951: Citation, then the world's leading
money-winning Thoroughbred, was paraded before a crowd of
28,000 at Arlington Park in his last public appearance at a
track before being retired to stud.
1987: Jockey Angel Cordero Jr. won his
6,000th victory in the Colleen Stakes at Monmouth Park
aboard Lost Kitty. He was the fourth rider in racing history
to accomplish that feat. |
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29 -
1953: Jockey Walter Blum rode his first
career winner at Saratoga Racecourse.
1972: In preparation for a July 31 race
at Saratoga, Secretariat went three furlongs in :35.
1973: Jockey Pat Day rode his first
career winner, Forblunged, in a $2,000 claiming race at
Prescott Downs, Prescott, Ariz. His mount earned $347--the
winner's share of the $631 purse.
1995: Jockey Russell Baze won his
5,000th career victory, aboard Cyrus Says, in the sixth race
at Sonoma County Fair. He was the 15th rider to reach that
plateau. |
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30 -
1870: Monmouth Park opened with a five
day race meet. |
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31 -
1972: Secretariat, ridden for the first
time by Ron Turcotte, won his second victory in three
starts, on opening day at Saratoga Racecourse. The pair were
sent off at odds of 2-5. |
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