all in Racing

Plenty has changed in the 45 years since the legendary John Henry nipped The Bart in the first and most memorable edition of the Arlington Million. Surviving numerous obstacles, the 1 1/4-mile race remains one of the most prestigious events run on American turf.

The records keep falling for Southern California-based 8-year-old star gelding Gold Phoenix. He won the Grade 2 Eddie Read Stakes July 26 by a nose to become the first horse in Del Mar’s 99-year history to win six stakes races at the famed seaside track.

Memories of Arlington International Racecourse will be revived on Saturday when the famed racetrack’s premier turf stakes will be contested at Colonial Downs. For fillies and mares, there’s the Beverly D. Stakes, which is named for longtime Arlington owner Richard Duchossois’s wife, Beverly. As usual some of the year’s top turf females will be on hand for another competitive renewal of the 1 3/16-mile stakes.

The Secretariat Stakes typically draws many of the best 3-year-old turf horses in the U.S., and this year’s edition drew a field of nine sophomores for the 1 1/16-mile test.

Adam Kluger, the man who runs Run Fast Racing, wanted to give Lil Yachty the thrill of watching a horse the rap star was invested in win a race at a place such as Del Mar during the summer of 2025. Easy as pie, right? All Kluger had to do was buy a horse for $30,000, drop him into a $10,000 claimer, and smile for the camera, even though losing him would be a sure thing.

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