Stakes races like the Belmont or the Woodward stand as tributes to those who make significant contributions to horse racing, their names reflective of what those Pillars of the Turf have given the sport.
It’s hard to believe that 21 years have passed since the magical run of Smarty Jones captured the attention of not just racing fans, but sports fans around the world in the spring of 2004.
On opening day of the 1954 Del Mar meet, a young rider named Bill Shoemaker was less than a month from turning 23 years old. Though still in the early chapter of what would become a storied career, the native Texan found himself the engineer of the most dominant run by any jockey that had ever competed at the seaside track.
Of all the horses that have made their mark at Saratoga over the course of the racetrack’s 150-plus years of horse racing, one horse became synonymous with the historic upstate New York venue more than any other.
There was excitement and uncertainty entering the inaugural Breeders’ Cup in 1984, but the initial championship had exceeded the hype even before it came to an unforgettable conclusion when three tenacious racehorses rumbled toward the Breeders’ Cup Classic finish line unwilling to give an inch.
