TRC THOROUGHBRED NOTEBOOK
July 6, 1995
News and notes from around the Thoroughbred racing world,
compiled by Thoroughbred Racing Communications, Inc. (TRC).
- DUBAI WORLD CUP TO BE THE WORLD'S RICHEST RACE
- The Emirates Racing Association of Dubai has announced the creation of the Dubai World
- Cup, an international race which will be
run March 27, 1996 on the sand track at the Nad al Sheba
Racecourse in Dubai. The race will feature a purse of $4 million,
with a winner's purse of $2.4 million, making the 1 1-4 mile event the
world's richest race.
- A field of 14 horses, ages four and up, will be selected from those nominated to the race.
- Nominations are due Oct. 9 at a fee of
$5,000 or a late fee of $10,000 on Jan. 2. A starters fee of $30,000
will be charged. The selection of runners will be made by an
international panel of handicappers and racing secretaries.
Nominations will be sought from North and South America, Dubai,
Europe, Oceania and Asia.
- 'This is a magnificent boost to the concept of international racing,' said Tristram
- Ricketts, chief executive of the British Horse Racing
Board. 'The opportunity to see some of the best older horses from
all parts of the world competing for huge prize money is
mouthwatering. I congratulate the ruling family of Dubai on their
very generous commitment to racing.'
- The runners and reserves will be announced in mid-January to give the connections of all
- horses an opportunity to train them in Dubai
one month prior to the event. The cost of shipping the horses to the
race, as well as all expenses for the connections for each runner will
be paid by the Dubai Racing Club.
- Post time for the Dubai World Cup is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Dubai time, maximizing the
- potential for the race to be televised worldwide.
- ARLINGTON INTERNATIONAL'S 'FREQUENT FLYER' CLUB
- In addition to good racing and a beautiful facility, regular patrons at Arlington
- International Racecourse in Arlington Heights, Ill., now
have another reason to go to the track. The 'A Club,' similar to
airlines' frequent flyer clubs, rewards fans with prizes and special
promotions unavailable to the general public, such as private
handicapping sessions and trips to the announcer's booth. 'We've
gotten a lot of attention in the local press,' said Allen Gutterman,
Arlington's new marketing director. 'Some of these gifts are really
priceless.'
- Priceless, indeed. One of the prizes allows an A Club member to make a winner's circle
- presentation. Others include a backstretch
tour, clubhouse box or a cellular telephone. Tickets to Chicago
White Sox games and Six Flags Great America amusement park
are also part of the prize package.
- Prizes may be redeemed after only four visits to the track and no prize (except two 1996
- season passes) requires more than 15 trips
to Arlington. To date, more than 8,000 fans have signed up,
including 4,522 in the first four days.
- CHURCHILL DONATION TO AID COMPULSIVE GAMBLERS
- Churchill Downs has allocated $11,500 to the Indiana Council on Compulsive Gambling. The
- Indiana Council on Compulsive
Gambling was established in June of 1994 to disseminate
information to the general public and professionals in addiction care
about compulsive gambling as a disease. Churchill operates the
Fort Wayne Sports Spectrum in Indiana, which opened this past
April.
- 'As a new member of the community, we plan to so our part to help make Fort Wayne and
- Indiana an even better place to live,' said
Tom Meeker, Churchill's president and CEO. 'We hope this
donation will lead to better lives for some of the citizens here.'
- The Fort Wayne facility offers parimutuel wagering on horse racing from Indiana's Hoosier
- Park in Anderson and Churchill's races from
Louisville, Ky. as well as races from other tracks around the country.
- IRISH DERBY VICTOR GIVES WINNING PURSE TO CHARITY
- Winged Love, winner of Sunday's Budweiser Irish Derby earned more than $547,000 in
- prize money. The three-year-old colt's
owner, Sheikh Mohammed al Maktoum donated the entire purse to
several local charities, including the St. Vincent de Paul Hospice.
- ST. PATRICK'S DAY AT MONMOUTH
- Sunday, July 9 is St. Patrick's Day at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J. All patrons who
- wear green to the track will receive free
grandstand admission or half-price clubhouse admission. Festivities
will include Irish music and food and the chance to win a trip for two
to the Emerald Isle. The event is sponsored by Guinness Import
Company.
- 'SUNDAY MORNING' TO PROFILE HOMEISTER JULY 9
- CBS News' 'Sunday Morning' show, hosted by Charles Osgood, will profile jockey
- Rosemary Homeister Jr. when it airs Sunday, July 9
on CBS affiliates throughout the country. The segment will include
footage and interviews with Homeister and her mother as well as
footage of her belated acceptance of the 1992 Eclipse Award as the
nation's leading apprentice rider, which took place in Washington,
D.C. in January. 'Sunday Morning,' which won Eclipse Awards for
national television achievement in 1991 and 1993, airs from 9:00-
10:30 a.m. EDT in the New York metropolitan area.
- On Sunday, July 16, 'Sunday Morning' will rerun a feature that originally aired Feb. 26, on
- a colt named Ops Smile. The colt was
bred, owned and named by Jim Ryan, the Maryland philanthropist
who works closely with the Norfolk, Va.-based Operation Smile
organization, which funds corrective facial surgery for children
throughout the world. Both segments were produced by Bud
Lamoreaux.
- THE JOCKEY CLUB FOAL BOOK AVAILABLE
- The Jockey Club's 'Foals of 1993' book, an addendum to the American Stud Book, is now
- available. The cost of the 'Foal Book'
is $100. Resident of the U.S. will be charged $5 shipping and
handling. Canadian residents will be charged $10 for shipping and
handling. Checks or money orders should be made payable to The
Jockey Club Information Systems, Inc. and sent to: 821 Corporate
Drive, Lexington, Ky 40503. Kentucky residents please add six
percent sales tax.
- CHURCHILL ENDS SUCCESSFUL SPRING MEET
- Churchill Downs, Louisville, Ky., concluded its 121st Spring Meet July 4 by establishing
- records in average daily purse distribution and
total handle. For the meet, average daily purses rose to a record
$333,000 surpassing the previous high of $314,397 from the Fall
1994 meet. Total wagering was a record $241,065,648 an increase
of 14 percent over last year's handle. On-track attendance also
rose, totaling 731,731 as compared to last year's 729,782.
- TELEVISED RACES
- July 8 Round Table Stakes, Arlington; Coaching Club American Oaks, Belmont; Long
- Branch Breeders' Cup Handicap, Monmouth,
5:30-6 p.m. (EDT), ESPN2
- RACING TO HISTORY
- July 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. Ruffian was humanely
destroyed the following day.
- July 6, 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.
- July 10, 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.
- July 12, 1971: Bold Ruler, sire of 82 stakes winners, including
Secretariat, died at Claiborne Farm.
- July 13, 1986: Jockey Kent Desormeaux rode his first winner, a
three-year-old filly named Miss Tavern, in the fifth race at
Evangeline Downs.
- July 14, 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.
- July 15, 1966: Dr. Fager won his first race by seven lengths at
Aqueduct racetrack. He was sent off at odds of 10-1.
- July 15, 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.
- July 15, 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.
- WEEKEND STAKES
SATURDAY
- Coaching Club American Oaks, 3yo fillies, $250,000, 1 1-4 Miles, Grade I, Belmont
- It will be Serena's Song -- and five others -- in the final leg of New York's Triple
- Tiara series. Acorn winner Cat's Cradle is injured while
Serena's Song won the Mother Goose. The D. Wayne Lukas trainee has been untouchable against fillies since a narrow loss to champion
Flanders in last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. The main competition may come from Rogues Walk, trained by Hall of Fame
jockey Angel Cordero Jr. She has won six of her seven career starts. Others in the field are: Golden Bri, second in the Mother
Goose; Change Fora Dollar; Very True; and Forested.
- Long Beach Branch Breeders' Cup Stakes, 3yo, $75,000, 1 1-16 Miles, Monmouth
- A field of five is scheduled to compete, led by Kentucky Derby runners Suave Prospect and
- Pyramid Peak. Suave Prospect was
second in three consecutive graded stakes before a disappointing
11th-place finish in the Kentucky Derby. He was subsequently
fourth in the May 28 Peter Pan Stakes and has been rested since.
Pyramid Peak won the Grade II Flamingo Stakes before a 17th-
place finish in the Kentucky Derby. He finished second in the
Alabama Derby but was disqualified to fourth. Others entered are:
Cherokee Dazzler, winner of four of his last five races, all last year;
Northern Ensign, first and second in allowance company in his last
two; and Mighty Magee, a dead-heat winner in the Sir Barton Stakes
at Pimlico, May 20.
- Landaluce Stakes, 2yo fillies, $100,000, 6F, Grade II, Hollywood
- Ontario Damsel Stakes, 3yo fillies, $75,000, 6 1-2 Furlongs Turf, Grade IIIC, Woodbine
- Round Table Stakes, 3yo, $125,000, 1 1-8 Miles, Grade III, Arlington
SUNDAY
- Queen's Plate, 3yo, $400,000, 1 1-4 Miles, Grade IC, Woodbine
- The oldest continuosly run stakes race in North America has its 136th running. First run
- in 1860, the favored entry will be trainer
Dan Vella's three-pronged entry of Freedom Fleet, All Firmed Up
and Canada's top two-year-old filly of 1994, Honk Tonk Tune, who
will try to become the first of her sex to win the Queen's Plate since
1991 winner Dance Smartly.
- Hollywood Oaks, 3yo fillies, $200,000, 1 1-8 Miles, G. I, Hollywood
- Nearctic Handicap, 3&up;, $125,000, 6F Turf, Grade IC, Woodbine New York H., 3&up;
- (f&m;), $100,000, 1 1-4 Miles Turf, G. II, Belmont
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