A Trophy Programmed for Greatness
I have been writing for Secretariat.com for six years after being Senior Correspondent at The Blood-Horse for over 20 years. I have never gotten more satisfaction and enjoyment writing than I have since joining a website dedicated not only to the horse of our lifetime and being part of his legacy, but also to the history of the sport. Since its inception in 2002, Secretariat.com’s mission has been “to celebrate Thoroughbred racing’s past by remembering its heroes and enhancing the awareness of the sport by educating today’s fans and sparking new ones.” Along with learning about Secretariat’s exercise saddle being part of the recent announcement of The Racing Memorabilia Auction to be held by Cross Gate Gallery in Lexington, Kentucky on December 3, I have been privy to an advance list of the auction’s many extraordinary items. In this column, I am focusing on one particular offering demonstrating that even the seemingly less spectacular items can generate great excitement and have momentous historical significance hidden in its contents. I have never had so much fun researching and writing a column for this website that continues to live up to the impact left by its namesake. ~ Steve Haskin
A Trophy Programmed for Greatness
By Steve Haskin
This past weekend they ran the Hopeful Stakes for 2-year-olds at Saratoga for the 123rd time. It took only one year after its inauguration in 1903 for the new race to make an impact on the sport when the filly Tanya won and then went on to capture the Belmont Stakes. Ten years later it was won by another filly, Regret, who would become the first female to win the Kentucky Derby. Through its rich history it has been won by Triple Crown winners Secretariat, Affirmed, and Whirlaway, and Hall of Famers Nashua, Native Dancer, Buckpasser, and Foolish Pleasure, just name a few.
But there was one year when the Hopeful literally altered the course of racing history, and now a major part of that history will be auctioned in The Racing Memorabilia Auction hosted by Cross Gate Gallery. This column is a look back at that Hopeful, with hours of research that uncovered some of the most amazing facts and coincidences I have ever discovered in nearly six decades.
Among the many extraordinary items being auctioned in December is a simple, yet elegant sterling silver teapot from the personal collection of Braulio Baeza that was presented to him as the winning jockey’s trophy for the 1967 Hopeful Stakes, and is accompanied by the official winner’s circle photo and the program from that day. But as we know in life, first appearances are not always everything they seem. And as we are about to demonstrate, this trophy and especially the program exude more history than many of the auction’s more illustrious items; a history that goes far beyond that year’s Hopeful.
Let us begin by going back to August 26, 1967. It is the final weekend of what has already been a memorable four-week Saratoga meet. No one knew it at the time, but the previous two Saturday stakes showcased future Hall of Famers. First it was Gamely, winning the Alabama Stakes, equaling the stakes record. Then a week later, Damascus, decimated his opponents in the Travers Stakes by an astounding 22 lengths, equaling the track record. Then came the final weekend featuring the Hopeful Stakes.
A look at that day’s program did not reveal any big names, nor would it produce any champions. The 8-5 favorite in the featured sixth race, the Hopeful, was a Monmouth Park shipper named Subpet, trained by Jimmy Croll and ridden by Ray Broussard, who was coming off a victory in the Sapling Stakes. The fifth race on the card was an allowance race for 2-year-old fillies, and following the feature, the seventh race was a 1 1/16-mile allowance on the grass for 3-year-olds and up, with the Hirsch Jacobs entry of Reason to Hail and Understanding the 5-2 morning line favorite.
In the end, those three seemingly mundane races would lead to five Kentucky Derby winners and a Derby runner-up; three Preakness winners and three Preakness runners-up; a Belmont winner and five Belmont runners-up; two Travers winners and two Travers runners-up; and two Horses of the Year, five Hall of Famers, and the winners of nine Eclipse Awards.
To start off with a bang in random order, the Hopeful winner What a Pleasure would sire 2-year-old champion Foolish Pleasure, winner of the Kentucky and runner-up in the Preakness and Belmont; and 2-year-old champion Honest Pleasure, winner of the Travers in track-record time and runner-up in the Kentucky Derby. Honest Pleasure also was beaten a head by the great Forego in that historic 1976 Marlboro Cup, with the champ just getting up under a staggering 137 pounds, Both Foolish Pleasure and Honest Pleasure would also combine to win major Kentucky Derby preps Florida Derby, Flamingo (twice), Blue Grass, and Wood Memorial. In addition, What a Pleasure became the broodmare sire of Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winners Gilded Time and Tasso.
Forward Pass, who finished fourth in the Hopeful at 33-1, would go on to win the Kentucky Derby (on the disqualification of Dancer’s Image) and Preakness and finish second in the Belmont and Travers. He also won the Florida Derby, Blue Grass Stakes, and American Derby. Forward Pass became the eighth and final Calumet Farm homebred to win the Kentucky Derby, and still is the only Kentucky Derby winner whose dam was a Kentucky Oaks winner.
And from a pure historical standpoint, saving the best for last, Exclusive Native, the third-place finisher in the Hopeful and winner of the following year’s Arlington Classic, is best known as the sire of 1978 Triple Crown winner and two-time Horse of the Year Affirmed. But what makes this program all the more remarkable is that in the previous race, an allowance for 2-year-old fillies, the favorite and second-place finisher was Calumet Farm’s Sweet Tooth, who would become the dam of Alydar.
The fifth and sixth race interior pages of the Aug. 26, 1967 Hopeful Stakes program.
This means that in two consecutive races you had, respectively, the dam and sire of arguably the two most famous rivals in the history of the sport, who would do battle 10 times, combining to win the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, Belmont, Travers, Santa Anita Handicap, Jockey Club Gold Cup, Woodward, Whitney, Santa Anita Derby, Hollywood Gold Cup, Flamingo, Florida Derby, Champagne, and many other stakes. It reached a point in 1978 when it seemed Affirmed and Alydar were a single entity. Their names rolled off the tongue, with people having difficulty saying one without the other.
As if that were not enough, Exclusive Native would also sire Genuine Risk, winner of the Kentucky Derby, only the second filly ever to capture the roses, and also was runner-up in the Preakness and Belmont. In addition, Exclusive Native would lead the general sire list in America in 1978 and ’79.
In the breeding shed, Affirmed went on to be a productive sire and an excellent broodmare sire, with his daughters producing English Oaks and Irish Derby winner Balanchine; Breeders’ Cup Classic and Dubai World Cup winner Pleasantly Perfect; and multiple Grade 1 winner Harlan’s Holiday, sire of super stud Into Mischief. And one can only scratch the surface discussing Alydar’s influence as a sire and broodmare sire, so we will just mention his sons Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Alysheba; Belmont and Travers winner Easy Goer; Kentucky Derby winner Strike the Gold; and Horse of the Year Criminal Type, who won four consecutive Grade 1 stakes at four different racetracks at four different distances.
So in some ways you can say Affirmed and Alydar, who were so close they even shared the same biography, were actually closely connected by this priceless program 10 years before they ever faced each other.
Others in the ’67 Hopeful field were eighth-place finisher at 37-1 Wise Exchange, who would win the Flamingo and Fountain of Youth Stakes and place in three major Derby preps; seventh-place finisher Beau Marker, winner of the then prestigious Massachusetts Handicap; the aforementioned favorite and fifth-place finisher Subpet, who would win or place in 14 stakes; ninth-place finisher Pappa Steve, who would win six stakes and finish second in six stakes; sixth-place finisher Skookum, who won or placed in seven stakes; and runner-up Royal Trace, who would win the the Assault Handicap and Long Branch Stakes.
From the nine starters, ironically, the only one who did not go on to win another stakes was the winner What a Pleasure. However, he led the general sire list in America in 1975 and ’76. This means in the five-year-period from 1975 to 1979, the first- and third-place finishers of the ’67 Hopeful were honored as the leading sire in America four times.
And not to short-change that fifth race for 2-year-old fillies that gave us Sweet Tooth, the winner and second choice, C.V. Whitney’s Silver Coin, went on to produce the 1977 Florida Derby winner, Coined Silver, meaning that with Alydar winning the 1978 running, the first two finishers of that allowance race would produce back-to-back winners of one of the most important Kentucky Derby preps in the country.
The seventh race on the card, an allowance on grass for year-olds and up also has its own share of history.
Understanding, who finished seventh, would sire Wishing Well, the dam of Sunday Silence, winner of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness and runner-up in the Belmont Stakes. We won’t even attempt to name any of the 171 stakes winners sired by Sunday Silence and the hundreds more sired by his sons and daughters. And we won’t bother to mention how he single-handedly changed the face of racing and breeding in Japan and helped turn it into a global powerhouse.
Another horse who must be mentioned from that race is Understanding’s stablemate Reason to Hail. If you want to see one of the most persistent horses of all time, a product of Hirsch Jacobs’ philosophy of running a horse because you don’t make money working them, it is this son of Jacobs’ homebred Hail to Reason.
It is doubtful a horse has ever been in over his head more often than Reason to Hail. One week before the alllowance race he finished second to Damascus in the Travers. Prior to that, he finished second to Dr. Fager in the Rockingham Special, third to Dr. Fager and Damascus in the Gotham, third to Dr. Fager in the Withers, third to In Reality in the Florida Derby, third to In Reality in the Fountain of Youth, fourth in the Kentucky Derby right behind third-place finisher Damascus, and fourth behind Dr. Fager and In Reality in the New Hampshire Sweepstakes. Sadly, after starting 37 times at ages 2 and 3, an average of 18 starts a year, he suffered a fatal injury in the Discovery Handicap.
The winner of the seventh race, Pass the Brandy, trained by Elliott Burch at the time, wound up racing 135 times. The runner-up, Gary G., owned by Lou Wolfson’s Harbor View Farm of Affirmed fame, had won the Remsen Stakes at 2 and wound up racing 101 times, retiring at the age of 9. The horse in the field who made the fewest starts, Road at Sea, won three stakes in New Jersey for owner-breeder Barbara Guggenheim Obre, retiring with eight wins in 16 starts and wound up siring Puerto Rico’s Triple Crown winner Hurley Road.
And if you want iconic names, the winning jockeys of the above mentioned three races were Manny Ycaza, Braulio Baeza, who is providing the Hopeful trophy to the auction, and Ron Turcotte. And the winning owners were C.V. Whitney, Wheatley Stable, and Rokeby Stable.
Because Braulio Baeza’s Hopeful trophy and especially the accompanying program inspired this column, we have to provide an additional small piece of racing history to come out of the program by going to the first race on the card, a 2-year-old maiden race for colts at six furlongs. Baeza’s mount in that race for his clients — trainer Eddie Neloy and owner Ogden Phipps — was a colt named Jaunty, who, in a dramatic change of pace, went from a six-furlong maiden race to winning the prestigious New York Turf Writers Hurdle, a 2 3/8-mile race won by steeplechase greats, Flatterer, Zaccio Soothsayer, Life’s Illusion, and Happy Intellectual. He would then finish third in the biggest and richest steeplechase race of the year, the Colonial Cup.
It must also be stated in the name of history that Jaunty was a half-brother to Poker, the conqueror of stablemate Buckpasser in the 1967 Bowling Green Handicap and later the broodmare sire of Hall of Famers Seattle Slew and Silver Charm. Jaunty also was a half-brother to Intriguing, the dam of Hall of Famer Numbered Account; and a half-brother to Boucher, winner of the St. Leger, the final leg of the English Triple Crown. So Jaunty in many different ways would have numerous ties to major races and major superstars in both steeplechase and flat racing.
And these were only four of the eight races on that card. We will conclude with a further light-hearted look at the program. In that first race was a 2-year-old colt named Rich Strike, whose namesake would win the Kentucky Derby 55 years later at odds of 80-1. And in the eighth race, a seven-furlong allowance race on grass, was a Rokeby Stable mare named Shirley Heights. 11 years later, a champion colt with the same name would win the English Derby. In a final twist, that Derby-winner Shirley Heights was a son of Mill Reef, owned and bred by none other than Rokeby Stable, the owner of the first Shirley Heights.
The history of this program still lives on as recently as this past Saturday, and in the very same race, the Hopeful Stakes. This year’s impressive winner, The Good Life, is by Life is Good, who traces back to the ’67 Hopeful winner What a Pleasure through his son, the aforementioned Honest Pleasure. Life is Good also traces back to the third-place finisher of the ’67 Hopeful Exclusive Native through his son Affirmed.
This was racing in 1967, when we knew all the horses, from claimers to allowance horses to stakes horses, and each program usually revealed a number of fascinating stories. But now nearly 60 years later, it is safe to say that very few, if any, programs are able to provide such a wide-open window into racing’s past as this one from August 26, 1967, when a number of seemingly insignificant names would go on to rewrite the history books.
So if that program isn’t enough to get you immersed in the amazing history of the 1967 Hopeful Stakes and racing itself, just think, you also get a beautiful teapot to go with it!
Photos courtesy of NYRA and The Racing Memorabilia Auction.
Racing historian, author, and award-winning retired journalist for the Daily Racing Form and The Blood-Horse, Steve Haskin was inducted into the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame’s Media Roll of Honor in 2016. Known for his racing knowledge and insightful prose, he has been an exclusive contributor to Secretariat.com since 2020.
Hi Steve and all.
Better late than never reading this!
I recognized so many of the names.
Patiently awaiting my teapot, LOL.
Steve,
Finally got around to reading this column and as always it did not disappoint. You always find a way to give us…. The Rest of the Story !!!.
Very interesting read and just when you thought you read it all you come up with another background story to add to it.
Love it . Hope you had a great weekend and looking forward to this weeks column.
Our American hope turf horses (Liam’s Map’s boys) have had a tough couple of weekends, running into some excellent European shippers. Here’s hoping they’ll bounce back for championships!
I am with you Katy ,,, let hope they both bounce back with a stronger race ahead.
Deterministic ran into a very strong competitor and Burnham Square … well I think the heat just got to him in his race Again hoping for a better performance in their next races.
Belmont opens on Friday, and they run the JCGC Friday??… I’ve a hunch Baeza might actually decide to leave there WITH the field, this time, and give Forever Young a race!……
I’m annoyed that a stakes race of this importance (to me) is being run on a Friday, especially after all the talk about “keeping the product in front of the public.” Casual/budding fans don’t expect races like this to be on Friday afternoons.
If I was a horseman, I don’t think I’d like for my high level horse to be the guinea pig testing the new surface.
It’s certainly an oddity….I think it’s the same old dirt surface… they’ve trained over it all year …
I think the reason for the Friday start is they have the whole afternoon to themselves with a national TV (FOX) audience and no competition from college football. Also with Baeza if he is a real player ( i have my doubts) this should be the race he can prove it.
We may well have seen some future racing and breeding influences like those in Steve’s column running today at Churchill, Woodbine, and even Gulfstream Park. While Salahudin was very professional, I was blown away by Coach Pope, who ran his mile going away by 12 lengths against some beautifully bred maidens. He ran almost a full second faster than the Street Sense winner.
Coach Pope’s breeding is superb too: not only is he a son of Tapit, his sixth dam is Home By Dark, the mother of Dark Mirage. If this Kenny McPeek-trained colt makes some noise on the Triple Crown trail next year, maybe Steve will have reason to write his long-awaited post on that ill-fated champion filly.
❤️ I like saying the name “Coach Pope.”
I think the auction lot should be amended to include a copy of your piece, Steve! Fantastic read. After reading the comments, I started to wonder when stakes programs stopped being miniature oracles for the future of the breed. Also, I personally liked stable entries.
Lastly, thanks for including Jaunty! I’ll look for records and photos of him next time we are visiting the Steeplechase Museum in Camden. He was also 2nd in the Hitchcock Hurdle Stakes, which survives today as a steeplechase in Aiken, SC, home of beautiful Hitchcock Woods. What I wouldn’t give to see a horse with a pedigree like Jaunty’s in the flesh: tail females through four generations are all designated Reine de Course mares, with his 4th dam being La Troienne herself. He was by a Byerley Turk sireline stallion who went back to Ksar (Gen. 3), and you have Phalaris, Man O’ War, and Blenheim in Gen 4, with some illustrious sons represented closer up! To modern eyes, his gelding could only look like an embarrassment of riches.
I’ve always meant to visit Camden and Aiken. Sounds like real horse country without the bustle of Lexington.
Todd, we are not far from Camden, and I am up there doing horse-related stuff frequently. I think because it has always been within driving distance and I think of it as a hands-on horse hub, I’ve never thought about how to visit Camden as someone looking to hit the high points coming from out of town without planning to be there WITH a horse.
I’ll take a stab at it, though! If I was going to visit, I would try to come in November for the Colonial Cup. The race was on hiatus for several years, and I think the 2026 running will be about its 3rd year back. Colonial Cup >>> Carolina Cup all day, IMO: unless you love watching drunk college kids, Colonial is the one for a serious person who wants to see a race that is meaningful for year-end awards. No parimutuel wagering in SC, though.
Everyday things I like in Camden: The Tack Room (which puts most other tack shops I’ve been in to shame), and nearby Requestrian consignment shop (benefits the local animal shelter, and you can find some neat TB halters with pedigree plates there). The parks are nice, especially those commemorating the Revolutionary War history in the area (spoiler alert: the British were brutally victorious at the Battle of Camden). I love Hunter’s Trace, the hay dealer. The SC Equine Park is great if you like shows or clinics. My kid especially loves The National Steeplechase Museum, and begs to stop there every time we are up that way. Lake Wateree is nearby if horses aren’t a draw, and there are some antique and junk shops.
There are several good local places to eat around town. It isn’t far from Rembert and the locally-famous Mill Pond Steakhouse, but we usually opt for some of the divey local spots in nearby Lugoff, such as the House of Pizza or San Jose’s. We are often running late, so we also sometimes hit Rush’s, which is a SC-specific, local fast food “chain.” RIP to Camden’s Reynolds BBQ 😢, which was my fave.
Camden is starting to have a lot more traffic, although not nearly like driving around Lexington. Definitely a higher stress atmosphere pulling a horse trailer around there than it was ten years ago! However, drivers there have always had a specific quirk to watch out for that we call “driving on Camden time.” It’s characterized by turning out in front of oncoming drivers (bonus for doing it to someone hauling a trailer), then poking along for half a block or less, only to stop fully in the road in preparation to finally complete a right turn. So do watch for that if you come!
Thanks, Katy, for taking the time to rspond. I’ll keep all that in mind if i’m down that way.
Today’s breeding industry is really disturbing. Tacitus, off to a good start as a sire, has been sold and shipped to Korea. He had already been shuttled to Chile for two southern hemisphere seasons. Owners and trainers hide behind “what’s best for the horse” when they don’t run them (the last two Preaknesses, for example), but it’s always about the dollars. I doubt it’s in the best interest of Tacitus to be shuttled then sent halfway around the world, but the investors got paid.
Accompanied by the news of Daredevil’s untimely death in Turkey, the Tacitus news was particularly discouraging. Boy, did they jump the gun giving up on Daredevil so soon. I will be pulling for him to be a breed shaper, even posthumously! I’m glad that Shedaresthedevil stayed stateside when she sold, although Ms. Pope has terrible luck breeding the fabulous race mares she buys.
I agree, Katy. Where’s the patience? Aren’t horsepeople supposed to be patient? Besides, I read that Tacitus was in the top 10 of second-crop sires, hardly a flop at stud. I don’t get it. Not every stallion will be a Gun Runner or an Into Mischief, and not every breeder can afford to breed to those sires, anyway.
arlingtonfan, it’s almost like the breeding industry is following every other sector of American commerce. While the mom-and-pop shops (smaller, more regional breeders) suffer and die out, we are left with only the big box stores to shop from. There is less competition – and for our thoroughbreds, it leads to less genetic diversity in a breed where the gene pool is already pretty limited. It is definitely compounded by the “I want it now!” and “what have you done for me lately?” mentalities meeting.
A friend just adopted an off-the-track TB by a son of Into Mischief. After just a few seasons, Spendthrift sold the site, Can The Man, to Brazil, where he died at age 12. Like Todd said, “best for the horse” has an empty ring to it when you analyze a horse’s career backwards.
That is a shame about Can The Man. I think you’re right that the larger culture is impacting breeders’ decisions, with unfortunate results.
Wow ! You made it really easy for whoever wins the bid for the 1967 Hopeful program and its trophy to say that they now own the mementos from the very origins of some special Thoroughbred royal bloodlines.
It is even more meaningful with the involvement of Hall of Fame Jockey Braulio Baeza (Buckpasser rider) who was at the peak of his career that year.
I wonder about how many other coincidences and curiosities there are to be discovered by searching horse racing history.
For instance, by just seeing the pedigree of What a Pleasure one can discover that his dam (Grey Flight) and the dam of his sire Bold Ruler (Miss Disco) faced each other in two Stakes in 1948.
In the Volante Handicap Grey Flight finished 2nd and Miss Disco finished 3rd.
Then Grey Fligth won the Flying Heels Handicap against colts while Miss Disco finished 3rd again. Grey Fligth was the favorite despite being the only 3-year-old in that contest.
In that 1967 Hopeful number one Subpet was a son of Petare who was one of the greatest imported horse during the golden era of racing in Venezuela. Also, Wise Exchange, Skookum, Pappa Steve, and Subpet sired (imported in utero) numerous Stakes winners in Venezuela.
There you go… more history with South American flavors ingrained in that important Racing Memorabilia Auction on December 3rd.
I saw Tiznow, in the 2000 Pacific Classic….he ran a strong race, for 2nd …then he went out to Louisiana and ran even stronger, then (they ran them, then) back to Santa Anita, against his brother Budroyale (good solid older horse) and Captain Steve, a real nice horse trained by a young Bob….he fended him off, in the last furlong, I said no one will beat him, in the Breeders Cup—-bit then I bet on Giants Causeway, and I realized at the quarter pole Tiznow wasn’t getting beat! That was, in my opinion the strongest dirt field ever assembled….
The next year, I wasn’t going to leave Tiz off my win wager list, I made seven $10 win bets,💨and watched race after race my tickets becoming worthless pieces of paper…it was a dark and rainy day, in Corvallis, Oregon….and it seemed like every Breeders Cup race was being won by horses from middle eastern connections….then Sackee passes Tiznow, who by then was a shell of his 2000 form….and then……you just saw it, he refused to lose….he was slower…he was tiring…but he dug in….and he won it, for America….Cee’s big baby….with the hidden bloodlines…. I’d love to visit him….age twenty-nine….. I’ll be rooting for his kin Sweet Azteca,
A real enjoyable and nostalgic read, and a real eye opener concerning how much those horses ran. I think that’s how we came to follow and love them. Maybe they ran a little too much; those owners and trainers would be ruled off today. Too bad there isn’t some middle ground, where the best horses race more often and for more years, without abandoning today’s sensibilities and the apparent limitations of modern horses. It’s always enjoyable to read about days before my own awareness kicked inl
What a great piece, Steve! You can’t make this stuff up! I enjoyed it thoroughly, and I’m shaking my head in amazement at the amount of research this must have taken.
Thanks Beth. It was a lot of research, but I can’t remember having as much on a column. I was discovering things just like the readers are.
Great read, thanks Steve. Interesting comments from your followers also. One of your followers mentioned Sunday Silence, one of my all-time favorites. I still haven’t recovered from hearing about him being sold to another country for twelve million dollars all those years ago. Every year while I’m watching the Kentucky Derby, I wonder if this is the year that a Sunday silence offspring from another country wins our greatest race. I thought this might be the year when the seven hose from Japan was leading in the stretch. I’m torn about it, part of me wants it to always be an American horse that wins but a smaller part of me welcomes the idea of it becoming a truly world wide championship race. I believe we just might get a little taste of it when Forever Young who I’m assuming is an offspring of Sunday Silence and is inarguably the best international racehorse, wins The Jockey Club Gold Cup. I’ll be rooting for one of our horses but I’m preparing myself for defeat.
Sunday Silence is the paternal great-grandsire of Forever Young.
I just loved this!
Hi Steve and fellow readers,
I am sorry for hijacking the thread of this posting, but I wanted to alert all of you that there is a horse (Highwayman) racing in this Saturday’s St. Leger Stakes at Doncaster whose owner’s silks look identical to those of Meadow Stable.
I have seen videos of previous starts by Highwayman and it is so cool and brings back so many wonderful memories seeing a copy of those silks today.
All that is missing is the checkerboard blinkers.
greg (Fan of Damascus) . . . and the incredible racing decade that was the 70s
So many highlights in this fantastic article but my favorite is the 1967 Rich Strike if he only knew the crazy story of the 2022 Rich Strike ! Thanks Steve for all you do !
Love all the connections to so many accomplished horses. One day in 2019 I was looking at my Derby program from 2000, and Honest Lady was in one of the other stakes races. Coincidentally, in the Derby field that year was her great-grandson, Tacitus.
There ya go. That is why those programs are so special.
Steve, you’ve transformed a potentially mundane story — promoting a memorabilia auction three months away — into an astounding piece on some of the greatest horses that still live on in our imaginations, whose stories more or less began on that day.
I began my first subscription to the Blood-Horse in 1967, and I swear I “knew” every horse you mentioned in this column from pouring over the issues. It would be interesting to look at other cards at Belmont, Saratoga, or Santa Anita over the years and look for a few more coincidences like these.
BTW, I used to collect silver and I can attest that the Baeza teapot is a VERY nice piece. Thank you for this deep dive into a slice of racing history.
Beautifully said Ms B. There is something about those old programs that brings you back there. I believe there are fascinating nuggets in all of them.
What a phenomenal piece and thank you for this amazing history – I would never have realized the downstream of this race card!
Thank you Marcie. Glad you enjoyed it.
An amazing article. The part that astounded me the most was the field for the Hopeful. Imagine having What A Pleasure, Forward Pass, Exclusive Native, Wise Exchange, and the others in the same race and not having any idea of the greatness you were looking at. It puts a whole new perspective on two-year-old races. I remember that Hopeful well. I was cheering for What A Pleasure and I was very happy to see him win. But I certainly didn’t know what he was beating. Thank you for bringing this to our attention. I hope Braulio Baeza’s memorabilia from this race find a good home with someone who understands and appreciates what he is getting.
I was mostly focusing on the Hopeful field, but with Exclusive Native in the field and seeing Sweet Tooth in the race before in a 2yo allowance race really blew my mind. That was as wild a coincidence as I can remember. It basically was the foundation for arguably the greatest rivalry in racing history.
I thank the six of you who have commented so far and very happy you enjoyed the column and its historical significance. I loved unlocking all of them, many of which were totally unexpected. As you can see, these types of columns dont get as much response as columns dealing with more current events. But the fact that some stiil appreciate it and get excited over fascinating connections that shape history is rewarding. I know I get excited and enjoy the search for whatever gems that are uncovered.
Steve you have achieved a new pinnacle with this piece and thank you for your diligent research. History was a factor which led me to love this sport. Especially when I 1st asked the question Why is this race named that. Then the tale was told to me and I listened. Your timing for this piece is rather interesting to me. Whether it be random chaos or synchronicity the fact is I NEED A NEW TEA POT!
Awesome column: It took me back to when I was just getting interested in the sport. I still have many old programs from Santa Anita, Hollywood Park, and Del Mar: I don’t think any of them could tell a story like the one you just wrote…If I tried, it would probably be a garbled mess of ‘tales of losing tickets’!
What a terrific column Steve. Thank you so much. You are probably the only person who loves research as much as myself, the retired archivist. We should call you the living, walking encyclopedia of horse racing.
What an article. Now I want to go through all my old programs from the late 70’s and early 80’s to see if I can come up with anything close to that program. have so many questions about this article which is so amazing. Great work Steve. I don’t know how you do it. Thanks again.
I LOVE when you go back to the late 60s/early 70s. LOVE IT. I was new to racing, but to me it was it’s golden time. Every horse seemed special. Every race. Maybe it is like that for everyone, the first years being so special. I don’t know.
Thank you!
How amazing that you got the idea to write this article. It’s great! I love seeing where all these influential horses started out! The future dams of ALYDAR and SUNDAY SILENCE running on the same card as the future fantastic sires WHAT A PLEASURE and EXCLUSIVE NATIVE! From a racing perspective, as well as from a breeding standpoint, these are some of the finest horses to ever grace the American Stud Book.