|
News and notes from around the Thoroughbred racing world, compiled by Thoroughbred Racing Communications, Inc. (TRC) (212.371.5911..)  LEWISES TO RECEIVE ECLIPSE AWARD Robert and Beverly Lewis, who own 1997 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Silver Charm, were named to receive an Eclipse Award of Merit, Friday, Dec. 26. The couple, who celebrated their 50th anniversary last August, also owned Serena's Song and co-owned Timber Country, both champions. They won 'The Big Sport of Turfdom Award' from the Turf Publicists of America in 1995 and founded the Robert and Beverly Lewis Cancer Care Center in Pomona, Calif. The Lewises will receive their award at the Eclipse Awards dinner, Feb. 10, at the Westin Mission Hills Resort near Palm Springs, Calif. SANTA ANITA DRAWS RECORD CROWD Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner Silver Charm and ideal weather led to a record handle, Friday, Dec. 26, as Santa Anita Park, in Arcadia, Calif., opened its winter-spring met. An on-track crowd of 39,480, 28 percent better than last year, watched Lord Grillo upset Silver Charm in the Malibu Stakes. The on-track crowd wagered $5,469,453 while the nationwide figure of $18,091,169 marked the highest opening-day handle in the track's history. LAUREL TO HONOR EDGAR PRADO Jockey Edgar Prado, who will finish 1997 as the winningest jockey in the country, with more than 530 wins, will be honored at Laurel Park, in Laurel, Md., Jan. 1. All concession items other than alcohol and tobacco products will be half-off while 'Prado Power' buttons will be distributed. Prado will sign autographs from 11-11:45 a.m. and a Prado Power contest will be held. The rider's chosen charity, the University of Maryland Children's Center, will be the recipient of a donation from the track. COUNTRY STAR GEORGE STRAIT'S COLT RUNS SECOND Affirmed and Ready, a two-year-old colt owned in part by country music star George Strait, was second in the Sugar Bowl Handicap at the Fair Grounds, in New Orleans, La., Dec. 29. The colt, whose ownership is listed as Oceanfront Property, a group comprised of Strait, his wife Norma and manager Erv Woolsey, has won twice with a second and a third in four career starts. The partnership name is derived from one of Strait's hit songs. VIETNAM TO START RACING? Vietnam has given the go-ahead for a new racetrack in the southern province of Dong Nai, a local government official said on Wednesday, Dec. 24. Vietnam currently has one course in Phu Tho, outside of Ho Chi Minh City, where 14-year-old jockeys race ponies in a few races per week. The official Vietnam News daily also reported that the government had approved a permit to the city of Hanoi to build a racetrack in the capital. Both approvals were granted on an experimental basis, the paper said, and activities will be strictly monitored by the Ministry of Culture and Information.
Jan. 1, 1975: Secretariat was represented by his first Thoroughbred foal, a filly named Miss Secretariat, born in Kentucky to the mare My Card. Jan. 2, 1945: As World War II approached its finish, racing throughout the U.S. was banned indefinitely at the request of James F. Byrnes, War Mobilization Director. While Thoroughbreds could not be transported in the U.S. for racing purposes, the Office of Defense Transportation subsequently approved the shipment of racehorses to tracks that were more than 300 miles beyond U.S. borders. The ban was not lifted until May, causing the rescheduling of the Triple Crown races. Jan. 4, 1946: Canadian-born jockey George Woolf, known as 'The Iceman' for his coolness in the saddle, died after falling head first from his mount, Please Me, during a race at Santa Anita Park the previous day. He was 35. During his career (1928-1946) Woolf had 3,784 mounts, 721 wins, 589 seconds and 468 thirds, with earnings of $2,856,125. Since 1950, Santa Anita Park has annually presented the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award to a rider who demonstrates high standards of personal and professional conduct, on and off the racetrack. Jan. 5, 1944: A bill permitting off-track betting was introduced in the New York State Assembly. Over the next several decades, a series of bills would be introduced in favor of OTB, which finally gained legal sanction in New York in 1970. Jan. 5, 1980: Spectacular Bid began his undefeated four-year-old season, winning the Malibu Stakes by five lengths at Santa Anita. The gray colt finished his 1980 campaign a perfect nine-for-nine. |
