Allen E. Paulson and his family are no doubt best known in Thoroughbred racing for owning the great champion Cigar, one of the sport’s most brilliant males.
There is at least one racing term that immediately inspires respect, and even awe, from people with deep involvement in the racing industry and from those with little knowledge of the sport – the Triple Crown.
Some might say that Charlie Whittingham was the best and most famous trainer California has ever known.
As true as that might be, Whittingham deserves to be viewed in a context much greater than even a state as large as California.
Though synonymous with the Golden State, Whittingham was unquestionably one of greatest trainers in the long and glorious history of Thoroughbred racing anywhere in the United States.
Meadow Star surely enjoyed a stellar racing career.
She won her first nine starts. Eight of them were stakes and four were Grade 1s.
She was a decisive winner by five lengths in the 1990 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies and the undefeated filly was a unanimous choice as the year’s champion 2-year-old female.
At 3, she was tested against colts in the Grade 1 Wood Memorial Stakes, in which she finished fourth and suffered her first defeat. Returned to distaff competition after that setback, she romped by six lengths in the Grade 1 Acorn Stakes.
Some racehorses peak at an early age, flashing brilliance right from the start. Others require more time to reach their best form, maturing slowly over the course of several years.
