1 -  On this day in 1890, the very first Roses Parade was presented in Pasadena, California. The parade was made up of horse-drawn carriages decorated lavishly in flowers.

In 1973, Black Jack, the funeral procession horse that performed in the funerals of Presidents Herbert Hoover, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson and General Douglas MacArthur, was semi-retired today.

1881: Pierre Lorillard's Iroquois became the first American-owned and -bred horse to win a European classic race when he won the Epsom Derby under one of England's greatest riders, Fred Archer. Iroquois won seven of nine starts as a three-year-old, including England's St. Leger Stakes.

1946: Assault became the seventh horse to win the Triple Crown, with a victory in the Belmont Stakes.

1973: In his final tuneup for the Belmont Stakes and the Triple Crown, Secretariat went six furlongs in 1:11 3/5, doing the first three furlongs in :35 2/5 and five furlongs in :59.

1978: In his first start ever on the turf, eventual four-time champion grass horse John Henry won a $35,000, 1 1/16-mile claiming race by 14 lengths at Belmont Park. John Henry was voted champion turf horse for the years 1980-81 and 1983-84.

1999: Mr. Prospector, the most influential sire of his generation, died in his stall at Claiborne Farm in Paris, Ky. He was 29.

 2 -  On this day in 1983, Kate Bosworth, the actress in The Horse Whisperer, was born.

1943: Trainer Hirsch Jacobs claimed two-year-old Stymie for $1,500. By the end of 1947, Stymie had become the world's leading money-winning Thoroughbred, with earnings of $816,060 and 22 stakes victories.

1947: After a six-year layoff, 13-year-old Honey Cloud won the second race at Aqueduct. His jockey, Clarence Minner, had not ridden in 10 years.

 3 -  1943: To further the war effort, the Navy took over Tanforan racetrack and used it as a training base.

 4 -  1674 - Horse racing became a nag to the good people of Massachusetts, because the sport was prohibited in the state.

1962 - The legendary sportscaster Clem McCarthy died. McCarthy was the first to announce the running of the Kentucky Derby back in 1928.

1870: Ed Brown became the first African-American jockey to win the Belmont Stakes, with Kingfisher.

1913: At odds of 100-1, Aboyeur became the first horse to win the Epsom Derby by an on-course disqualification after Craganour, who won by a head, was disqualified for bumping. During the race, a suffragette had rushed onto the track and pulled down the KingÂ’s horse, Anmer. The suffragette, Emily Davison, died of a fractured skull.

1884: James McLaughlin became the first jockey to ride three consecutive Belmont Stakes winners, when he rode Panique to victory. He previously won with George Kinney (1883) and Forester (1882). McLaughlin repeated his feat in 1886-88, with each of his wins aboard horses owned by the Dwyer brothers. McLaughlin's triple was matched by jockey Laffit Pincay Jr. in 1984.

1901: William C. Whitney's Volodyovski won the Epsom Derby, making him the second American owner (after Pierre Lorillard in 1881) to have won the race. Whitney leased the English-bred horse for the express purpose of winning at Epsom. Whitney's trainer, John Huggins, was the first American to train an Epsom Derby winner.

1937: War Admiral became the fourth winner of the Triple Crown, with a win in the Belmont Stakes.

1943: Count Fleet ended his racing career by winning the Belmont Stakes by 25 lengths. He was the sixth American Triple Crown winner. Count Fleet was such a heavy favorite for the race, going off at odds of 1-20, that no place or show wagering was allowed.

1969: Jockey Mary Bacon won her first race, at Finger Lakes. Among apprentices, she finished 23rd in the races-won category that year, with 55 victories in 396 starts and purses of $91,642. Bacon was the first female to join the list of leading apprentices.

1985: Steve Cauthen won the Epsom Derby aboard Slip Anchor and became the only American jockey to win both the English and Kentucky Derbies. Cauthen had previously ridden Affirmed to victory in the 1978 Kentucky Derby.

1993: Julie Krone became the first female rider to win a Triple Crown race when she won the Belmont Stakes with Colonial Affair.

1999: Charismatic lost his bid to become the 12th Triple Crown winner when he fractured his left front cannon bone and sesamoid while finishing third to Lemon Drop Kid in the Belmont Stakes.

1972: In preparation for his colt's July 4 racing debut, trainer Lucien Laurin put blinkers on two-year-old Secretariat for the first time. Secretariat responded by working a half-mile at Belmont Park in :47 3/5, the fastest time he had ever worked up to that date.

1987: Bet Twice became the first horse to receive a Triple Crown bonus after winning the Belmont Stakes over rival Alysheba. He earned $1 million in addition to the first-place money.

1992: Jockey Carl Gambardella won his 6,000th career victory, aboard Nip of Gin, at Rockingham Park.

1998: Real Quiet was denied the Triple Crown when Victory Gallop edged him at the wire in the Belmont Stakes before an audience of 80,162. The crowd was the second-largest in the track's history and just shy of the mark set in 1971 when Canonero II failed in his Triple Crown bid before 82,694 spectators. Total handle on the Belmont Day card was a record of $55,613,482.

1941: Whirlaway won the 73rd running of the Belmont Stakes and became the fifth horse to win the Triple Crown.

1947: Owner William Helis had three stakes wins in three different states. Rippey won the Carter Handicap at New York's Aqueduct; Jobstown won the Absecon Handicap at New Jersey's Atlantic City and Elpis won the New Castle Handicap at Delaware Park.

1980: Genuine Risk became the first filly to compete in all three Triple Crown races. She won the Kentucky Derby and finished second in both the Preakness and Belmont Stakes.

1986: Trainer Woody Stephens saddled Danzig Connection to win his fifth consecutive Belmont Stakes. Stephens won the previous races with Conquistador Cielo (1982), Caveat (1983), Swale (1984) and Creme Fraiche (1985).

1997: In his bid to become the 12th horse to win the Triple Crown, Silver Charm was outdueled during the stretch run of the Belmont Stakes by Touch Gold. Silver Charm held on for second and became the 13th horse to have lost the Triple Crown after winning the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. On-track attendance at Belmont was 70,682 -- third-highest in the track's history.

1935: Omaha, son of Triple Crown winner Gallant Fox, became the third winner of the Triple Crown with a win in the Belmont Stakes.

1985: Brushwood Stable's Creme Fraiche became the first gelding to win the Belmont Stakes.

 1991: Julie Krone became the first female rider to compete in the Belmont Stakes. Her mount, Subordinated Debt, finished ninth as the third-longest shot in the field. Also on that date, Mane Minister became the only horse to finish third in all three Triple Crown events.

 2002: A record Belmont Park crowd of 103,222 witnessed War Emblem fail in his bid to become Thoroughbred racingÂ’s 12th Triple Crown winner at the 134th Belmont Stakes. War Emblem finished eighth behind longshot Sarava, who paid $142,50 to win as the highest priced winner in Belmont Stakes history. Belmont Park's previous attendance record was 85,818, set in 1999 when Charismatic finished third in attempting a Triple Crown sweep.

1888: James McLaughlin set the record for most number of wins by a jockey in the Belmont Stakes, six, when he rode Sir Dixon to a 12-length victory. McLaughlin's record was matched by Eddie Arcaro in 1955.

1887: Only two horses competed in the Belmont Stakes. It was the smallest field in the race's history, which again had only two starters in 1888, 1892, 1910, and 1920, the year Man o' War won the Belmont by 20 lengths.

1945: Hoop Jr. won the Kentucky Derby, which was run one month after a national wartime government ban on racing was lifted.

1973: Secretariat won the Belmont Stakes by 31 lengths -- the longest winning margin in the raceÂ’s history -- while setting a track record of 2:24, which has not been surpassed. The time was 2 3/5 seconds faster than the mark set by Gallant Man in 1957. Secretariat's victory made him the ninth Triple Crown winner and first since Citation had swept the Derby, Preakness and Belmont in 1948.

1979: Spectacular Bid lost his chance for the Triple Crown in the Belmont Stakes, finishing third to winner Coastal. Trainer Bud Delp alleged that the colt had sustained a foot injury after stepping on a safety pin the morning of the race.

1984: Riding Swale in a wire-to-wire victory, Laffit Pincay Jr. won his third consecutive Belmont Stakes, becoming the only rider in this century to accomplish that feat. Pincay rode Caveat to victory in 1983 and Conquistador Cielo in 1982; all three of his mounts were trained by Woody Stephens. Jockey James McLaughlin also rode three consecutive Belmont winners, once from 1882-84, and again from 1886-88. Swale's Belmont was also the first in which a female trainer saddled a horse for the race. Sarah Lundy sent Minstrel Star to a last-place finish.

2001: Preakness Stakes winner Point Given won the Belmont Stakes by a whopping 12 ¼ lengths, besting eight rivals in a time of 2:26 2/5 for a mile and a half, the fourth fastest time in Belmont Stakes history. A P Valentine finished second as he did in the Preakness and Kentucky Derby winner Monarchos came home third. Point Given became the 45th horse to capture two legs of horseracing's Triple Crown and the 17th to take just the Preakness and Belmont Stakes.

1938 - Hollywood Park race track opened for thoroughbreds and, later, harness racing. The track is still in operation in Inglewood, CA.

1890: The Preakness Stakes was run outside Baltimore, at Morris Park in New York, under the auspices of the New York Jockey Club. Suspended for three years, the race was next run at the Brooklyn Jockey ClubÂ’s Gravesend Course, 1894-1908.

1938: Hollywood Park opened in Inglewood, Calif. In its inaugural year, Hollywood Park attracted such racing stars as Lawrin, who had given jockey Eddie Arcaro his first Kentucky Derby victory, as well as Ligaroti and Seabiscuit, whose rivalry later reached its pitch in a match race contested at Del Mar on Aug. 12, 1938.

1944: The only triple dead heat for first in a stakes race occurred at Aqueduct Racetrack in the Carter Handicap. The three winners were Brownie, Bossuet and Wait a Bit.

1953: Trainer Charlie Whittingham, at age 40, saddled his first stakes winner when Porterhouse, ridden by Bill Boland, won the National Stallion Stakes at Belmont Park. Porterhouse was later named champion two-year-old of 1953.

1972: Laffit Pincay Jr. won his 2,000th victory while riding at Hollywood Park.

1978: Steve Cauthen, at age 18, became the youngest jockey ever to win the Triple Crown when his mount, Affirmed, won the Belmont Stakes. Also on that day, Alydar became the only horse to finish second in all three Triple Crown races. Affirmed was the 11th winner of the Triple Crown.

2000: The 132nd Belmont Stakes drew a crowd of 67,810, making it the fourth largest in the racetrack's history and the largest Belmont Stakes crowd ever when a Triple Crown was not at stake. The race was won by longshot Commendable, giving trainer D. Wayne Lukas his record 13th win in a Triple Crown race.

1898: Willie Simms became the only African American jockey to win the Preakness Stakes when he rode Sly Fox to victory. With this win, Simms became the only African American jockey to have won all three Triple Crown races. His other Triple Crown wins took place in the Kentucky Derby (1896, 1898) and Belmont Stakes (1893, 1894).

1921: Grey Lag, under Earl Sande, won the first Belmont Stakes ever to be run counter-clockwise. Previous Belmonts had been run clockwise over a fish-hook course that included part of the training track and the main dirt oval.

1955: Jockey Eddie Arcaro tied James McLaughlin's record of six Belmont Stakes wins when he rode Nashua to victory

1966: Jockey Angel Cordero Jr. recorded his first American stakes victory, taking the Christiana Stakes aboard two-year-old Hermogenes at Delaware Park.

1973: Triple Crown winner Secretariat simultaneously made the covers of Time, Newsweek and Sports Illustrated.

1977: Upon winning the Belmont Stakes, Seattle Slew became the tenth Triple Crown winner and the first Triple Crown winner to remain undefeated, with a career record of nine-for-nine.

2001: Final ratings for NBCÂ’s coverage of the Belmont Stakes were a 4.5 rating and 13 share, a 61% increase over last yearÂ’s rating of 2.8 and 9 share. The average rating for all three Triple Crown races was a 6.1 and 17 share, a 49% increase over last year's combined average of 4.1 and 12, according to Neilsen Media Research. The final combined ratings also were the highest since 1992. The Belmont Stakes Day also attracted a record on-track betting handle of $10,581,093.

1926: The August Belmont family first presented their permanent commemorative Tiffany trophy to the winner of the Belmont Stakes. The silver trophy was created in 1869 in recognition of Fenian's win in the Belmont.

1948: After riding Citation to victory in the Belmont, jockey Eddie Arcaro became the only rider in history to have won two Triple Crowns. His previous Triple Crown was with Whirlaway, in 1941. In wining the Belmont, Citation became the eighth Triple Crown winner.

1960: Jockey Angel Cordero Jr. rode his first race at El Comandante in Puerto Rico.

1982,: Jockey Mike Smith rode his first winner, Future Man, in a $2,000 claiming race at Santa Fe.

 1913: James Rowe, who had won back-to-back Belmonts in 1872-3 as a jockey, set the record for most number of Belmont Stakes wins by a trainer, eight, when he sent Prince Eugene to victory.

1961: Ben A. Jones, who trained a record six Kentucky Derby winners, died.

1992: Angel Cordero Jr. won his first race in two tries as a trainer, with Puchinito, in the fourth race at Belmont Park.

1999: Silver Charm, winner of the 1997 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes and the 1998 Dubai World Cup, retired after finishing fourth in the Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs. Silver Charm retired with earnings of $6,944,369 (third-highest of all time) and won 12 of 24 starts.

1967: Jockey Craig Perret, age 16, won his first career race at Arlington Park. Despite starting well into the season, Perret finished the year third among the nation's apprentice riders in races won (with 114) and led all apprentices in the earnings category, with $610,003.

1972: In preparation for his July 4 debut, Secretariat worked five furlongs from the starting gate in 1:00 1/5.

1977: Future rivals Affirmed and Alydar met for the first time, in the Youthful Stakes at Belmont Park. Affirmed triumphed over Alydar, who finished fifth, and went on to win four of their six races together in 1977.

 16 - Today in 1973, Secretariat became horse racing's first Triple Crown winner in twenty five years, the last being Citation, by winning the Belmont Stakes.

1943: With a shortage of male workers due to the war, Garden State Park announced it would employ female mutuels clerks.

 17 -  1912: A record parimutuel payoff on a straight $2 wager was set when Wishing Ring, sent off at odds of 941-1, paid $1,885.50 to win at Latonia. The mark was only surpassed in 1989, when Power to Geaux paid $2,922 for a $2 wager made at AKsarben on a race that was simulcast from Fair Grounds.

1967: Buckpasser's 15-race winning streak ended when he finished third to stablemate Poker in the Bowling Green Handicap at Aqueduct, his only attempt at turf racing. Buckpasser carried 135 pounds while Poker was assigned 112.

2001: Jockey Russell Baze closed out the 2001 Bay Meadows meet by winning the track's riding title for an amazing 25th time.

1880: Sheepshead Bay racecourse opened for a six-day meet. The track was the original site of the Suburban, Futurity and Realization Stakes, which eventually were transferred to Belmont Park.

1942: Count Fleet won his first race, at Aqueduct Racetrack.

1973: Officials of Arlington Park invited Secretariat to compete in a specially created race, the $125,000 Arlington Invitational Stakes.

1992: Charlie Whittingham became the second trainer in history, behind D. Wayne Lukas, to top $100 million in purse earnings when he sent Little by Little to a second-place finish in the sixth race at Hollywood Park.

1998: The NTRA All-Star Jockey Championship from Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Tex., was nationally televised for the first time on ESPN2. Shane Sellers won the 12-jockey competition.

1908: With his final victory in the Tidal Stakes at Sheepshead Bay, Colin retired undefeated after 15 starts. No major American racehorse approached this record until 1988, when Personal Ensign retired with a perfect 13-for-13 career.

1924: Exterminator, winner of the 1918 Kentucky Derby, concluded his seven-year racing career. Exterminator raced until he was nine, winning 50 of his 100 starts. He seldom carried less than 130 pounds in handicap races. Like other geldings Kelso, Forego, and John Henry, Exterminator improved with age, enjoying his greatest success when he was seven.

1947: Assault won the Brooklyn Handicap and dethroned Whirlaway as the then money-winning champion of the world. The victory boosted his earnings to $576,670.

1975: S. Kaye Bell became the first woman to train the winner of a $100,000 stakes race when she sent Mr. Lucky Phoenix to win the Michigan Mile and One-Eighth Handicap at Detroit Racecourse.

1935: Seabiscuit won his first race, at Narragansett Park.

1956 - The thoroughbred Swaps ran the 1-1/16 mile track at Hollywood Park, Inglewood, CA, in a blistering 1 minute, 39 seconds, setting a world record for thoroughbred race horses.

2002: Hall of Fame Jockey Chris McCarron ended his 28-year riding caring after piloting Came Home to an easy win in the Grade III Affirmed Handicap at Hollywood Park. McCarron finished his career with 7,141 victories and his horses earned purses of $264,351,579.

1893: The field for the American Derby at Washington Park was held at the post for an hour and 40 minutes, the longest pre-race delay in history. Boundless, with "Snapper" Garrison aboard, won the $49,500 race, which was witnessed by a crowd of 48,000. Garrison and three other riders were each fined $250 for bad conduct at the start.

1972: In the fastest workout of the day for six furlongs, Secretariat went the distance in 1:12 4/5 at Belmont over a sloppy track. He would make his debut 10 days later, in a July 4 race for maiden runners at Aqueduct.

1973: Charlie Whittingham swept the top three spots in the Hollywood Gold Cup Invitational Handicap when his trainees Kennedy Road, Quack and Cougar II finished first, second and third, respectively.

1977: Alydar, at odds of 2.10-1, broke his maiden by 6 3/4 lengths at Belmont Park.

1979: Affirmed, ridden by Laffit Pincay Jr., became the first horse to top $2 million in earnings after he won the Hollywood Gold Cup.

 1990: Criminal Type became the first horse to win consecutive $1 million races after capturing the Hollywood Gold Cup. He had previously won the $1 million Pimlico Special on May 12.

John Kimmel, a Thoroughbred racing horse trainer, was born on this day in 1954.

1999: Hall of Fame jockey Laffit Pincay, Jr. was the winner of the NTRA All-Star Jockey Challenge at Lone Star Park.

2000: Kentucky Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus was syndicated by Coolmore Stud for a reported $70 million.

1938: Nearco ended his career a perfect 14-for-14 by winning the Grand Prix de Paris at Longchamp.

1986: Jockey Sandy Hawley won his 5,000th career race, aboard Mighty Massa, at Canterbury Downs

1992: Jockey Dave Gall became the eighth rider in history to ride 6,000 winners when he rode Nana's Nice Boy to victory at Fairmount Park.

1994: Jockey Chris McCarron rode his 6,000th career winner, Andestine, in the Milady Handicap at Hollywood Park. He was the 11th rider to reach 6,000 and the third-youngest, behind Bill Shoemaker and Laffit Pincay Jr.

2000: Hall of Fame trainer Lucien Laurin, conditioner of 1973 Triple Crown winner Secretariat, died at the age of 88.

2001: The NTRA and Breeders' Cup announced that the Breeders' Cup would now be known as the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships. It was also announced that Bessemer Trust Company had signed on as title sponsor of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile.

1860: The Queen's Plate, the oldest continuously run stakes race in North America, was first run. Don Juan was the winner, after winning two of the three heats that comprised the event.

1932: Calumet Farm recorded its first victory in a Thoroughbred race with two-year-old Warren Jr., who won by a nose at Arlington Park to earn $850.

1986: Jockey Kent Desormeaux rode in his first race ever, finishing third aboard a $2,500 claimer named Ducknest Coal Mine, at odds of 35-1, in the second race at Evangeline Downs.

1989: Arlington International Racecourse opened in Arlington Heights, Ill. It had been rebuilt after a fire destroyed the old facility, July 31, 1985.

1968: Gamely, Princessnesian and Desert Law--all owned by William Haggin Perry and trained by Jim Maloney--finished 1, 1A and 1B, respectively, in the Vanity Handicap at Hollywood Park.

1969: Jockey Ray Sibille won his first career race, at Evangeline Downs.

1983: Jockey Angel Cordero Jr. won his 5,000th career race, aboard Another Rodger, in the ninth race at Belmont Park. He was the fourth rider in history, behind John Longden, Bill Shoemaker and Laffit Pincay Jr., to hit that mark.

1978: Spectacular Bid won his first race, at Pimlico, by 3 1/4 lengths.

1990: Retired jockey Bill Shoemaker won his first race as a trainer, sending two-year-old filly Tempest Cloud to her maiden victory at Hollywood Park.

1991: One year after his first victory as a trainer, Bill Shoemaker recorded his first Grade I win, with Alcando in the Beverly Hills Handicap at Hollywood Park.