At the start of autumn in 1983, All Along was not remotely a candidate for any type of year-end award in North American Thoroughbred racing or her native France. She had not won a race all year.
Martin J. “Matt” Winn rarely took no for an answer.
In 1902, the Churchill Downs racing facility was in serious financial trouble and in danger of closing. Winn assembled a group of local investors, bought the track, and the right to the name the Kentucky Derby.
Max Hirsch was a titan in the sport. He won the 1934 Travers Stakes with Observant. He trained Bold Venture, winner of the 1936 Kentucky Derby and Preakness. He was well on his way to a Hall of Fame career.
The late Allen Jerkens trained Beau Purple when he upset the mighty Kelso three times in the 1960s. He saddled Onion when he shocked Secretariat in the Whitney Invitational in 1973 and got the best of “Big Red” once more that year with Prove Out in the Woodward Stakes.
Yet, when Jerkens was asked to name the top horse he conditioned, he immediately responded with Sky Beauty. “She’s in front of all of them,” he told the Daily Racing Form, adding, “She was sheer class.”
