Sixteen years ago, horse racing was at one of its periodic upticks in national exposure as fans were drawn to the exploits of an unbeaten star racemare based in Southern California, and by the time the 27th Breeders’ Cup World Championships arrived at Churchill Downs, excitement was at a fever pitch.
Is it talent; the raw ability that gives an athlete the ability to excel in their sport? Is it accomplishments; the record of achievements that their talent enables them to compile? Or is it something else entirely; an innate desire to perform as well as possible and give your all every time you compete?
Led by defending winner Notable Speech and standout U.S. horse Deterministic, Saturday’s $1 million Woodbine Mile promises to be an outstanding race. First run in 1988, the Woodbine Mile is one of the premier events for turf horses in North America. It was not always run on the grass, however.
How many men in the history of horse racing can claim to have bred the greatest colt and the greatest filly of their time?
Before you answer “no one” in the assumption that such a feat just isn’t possible, allow us to introduce you to August Belmont II, whose contributions to the sport were so vast that he was one of the inaugural “Pillars of the Turf” inductees into the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame.
