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2008 Breeders' Cup Classic
The 2008 Breeders' Cup Classic was the 25th running of the Breeders' Cup Classic, part of the 2008 Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships program. It was run on October 25, 2008 at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California over a synthetic dirt surface. Defending Horse of the Year Curlin was the odds-on favourite after winning several major races including the Dubai World Cup. However, he did not handle the track well and finished fourth, behind the American-bred but English-trained longshot Raven's Pass. The Classic is run at a distance of one mile and one-quarter (approximately 2000 m) with a purse of $5,000,000. It is normally run on a dirt surface but in 2008 was run over synthetic dirt. It is run under weight-for-age conditions, with entrants carrying the following weights: *Northern Hemisphere three-year-olds: 122 lb *Southern Hemisphere three-year-olds: 117 lb *Four-year-olds and up: 126 lb Contenders Curlin won the 2007 Breeders' Cup Classic on his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Track Surface
The track surface of a horse racing track refers to the material of which the track is made. There are three types of track surfaces used in modern horse racing. These are: *Turf, the most common track surface in Europe *Dirt, the most common track surface in the US *Artificial or Synthetic, the collective term for a number of proprietary man-made surfaces in use at a number of locations around the world. The style of racing differs between surfaces, with dirt races tending to have the fastest pace, while turf racing often comes down to a sprint in the stretch. Races on artificial surfaces tend to play out somewhere in between. Anecdotally, American bettors consider dirt racing to be more predictable, which makes it a more popular medium for betting purposes. Weather conditions affect the speed of the different surfaces too, and grading systems have been developed to indicate the track condition (known as the "going" in the UK and Ireland). Turf surfaces are the most affected by ch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Man O' War Stakes
The Man o' War Stakes is a Grade I American thoroughbred horse race for horses aged four-years-old and older. It is run over a distance of one and three-eighth miles on turf and is scheduled annually for early May at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. The current purse is $700,000. History The event is named in honor of U.S. Racing Hall of Fame Champion Man o' War who was selected as No. 1 in the Blood-Horse magazine List of the Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century. The inaugural running of the event was on 24 October 1959 at the newly reopened Aqueduct Racetrack as the Man o' War Handicap over a distance of miles. The event attracted 23 entrants thus enabling NYRA to run the event as two split divisions with a record total purse of $225,100. The event attracted some of the finest long distance turf horses including British bred Tudor Era who was first past the post in the 1958 Washington D.C. International at Laurel but was disqualified. Tudor Era would win the Sec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Horse Length
A horse length, or simply length, is a unit of measurement for the length of a horse from nose to tail, approximately . Use in horse racing The length is commonly used in Thoroughbred horse racing, where it describes the distance between horses in a race. Horses may be described as winning by several lengths, as in the notable example of Secretariat, who won the 1973 Belmont Stakes by 31 lengths. In 2013, the New York Racing Association placed a blue-and-white checkered pole at Belmont Park to mark that winning margin; using Equibase's official measurement of a length——the pole was placed from the finish line. More often, winning distances are merely a fraction of a length, such as half a length. In British horse racing, the distances between horses are calculated by converting the time between them into lengths by a scale of lengths-per-second. The actual number of lengths-per-second varies according to the type of race and the going conditions. For example, in a flat turf ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frankie Dettori
Lanfranco Dettori (; born 15 December 1970), better known as Frankie Dettori, is an Italian horse racing jockey based in the United Kingdom. Dettori has been British flat racing Champion Jockey three times and has ridden the winners of more than 500 Group races. This includes 20 winners of the English classics. His most celebrated achievement was riding all seven winners on British Champions' Day at Ascot Racecourse in 1996. He is the son of the Sardinian jockey Gianfranco Dettori, who was a prolific winner in Italy. He was described by the late Lester Piggott as the best jockey currently riding. Since the end of 2012, Dettori has been operating as a freelance, having split with Godolphin Racing, for whom he was stable jockey and had most of his big race victories. On 5 December 2012, he was suspended from riding for six months after being found guilty of taking a prohibited substance, believed to be cocaine. Career Born in Milan, Italy, Dettori's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jimmy Fortune (jockey)
James Joseph Fortune (born 14 June 1972) is a retired Irish thoroughbred jockey who in a 30-year career won over 1,800 races, including 16 Group 1s, and 1 British Classic, the 2007 St Leger. Career Fortune was apprenticed to Mike O'Neill and Luca Cumani. He was first licensed in 1987 and his first win came on 29 July 1988 at Thirsk riding Hitchenstown for Eric Alston. It was O'Neill who brought Fortune over to Britain, and his first major victory was on O'Neill's Joveworth at 50/1 in the 1989 Ayr Gold Cup, while still an apprentice, claiming 5lb. In 1990 he became Champion Apprentice with 47 wins. Later, Fortune became jockey for David Barron, then took a retainer with Jack Ramsden after Kieren Fallon left. This led to him becoming the retained jockey for Robert Sangster in 1998, when Peter Chapple-Hyam was his trainer. His first Group 1 win was on Commander Collins in that season's Racing Post Trophy. Following that, he rode for Paul Cole. For seven years he was associate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Racing Post
''Racing Post'' is a British daily horse racing, greyhound racing and sports betting publisher which is published in print and digital formats. It is printed in tabloid format from Monday to Sunday. , it has an average daily circulation of 60,629 copies. History Launched on 15 April 1987, the ''Racing Post'' is a daily national print and digital publisher specializing British horseracing industry and horse racing, greyhound racing and sports betting. The paper was founded by UAE (United Arab Emirates) Prime Minister and Sheikh of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, a racehorse owner, and edited by Graham Rock, who was replaced by Michael Harris in 1988. In 1998, Sheikh Mohammed sold the license for the paper to Trinity Mirror, owners of '' The Sporting Life'', for £1; Sheikh Mohammed still retains ownership of the paper's name, and Trinity Mirror donated £10 million to four horseracing charities as a condition of the transfer. In 2007, Trinity Mirror sold ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henrythenavigator
Henrythenavigator (foaled February 28, 2005) is an American-bred and Irish-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. He won the 2000 Guineas, the Irish 2,000 Guineas, the St. James's Palace Stakes and the Sussex Stakes in 2008. After he finished second in the Breeders' Cup Classic it was announced that Henrythenavigator would retire to Ashford Stud, Kentucky (Coolmore's farm in Kentucky), to stand at stud beginning the 2009 season. For the 2010 season, he shuttled between Ashford Stud and Coolmore's Australian farm; he now shuttles between Coolmore's Ireland and Australia farms. He is named after the Portuguese prince Henry the Navigator. Stud record Henrythenavigator attracted a number of top-class mares in his first season. They included: Vertigineux, the dam of Zenyatta; Rags To Riches, winner of the Belmont Stakes; Peeping Fawn, winner of the Irish Oaks; and, Mien, dam of Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown. As a breeding stallion he was not a conspicuous success and was eventually exp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Duke Of Marmalade
Duke of Marmalade (12 March 2004 – 5 November 2021) was an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He is best known for winning five consecutive Group One races in 2008, for which he was named European Champion Older Horse. Upon retirement at the end of the 2008 racing season he stood as a stallion for Coolmore Stud, being moved between stud farms in Ireland and Australia (a practice known as shuttling). In July 2014 he was sold and relocated to Drakenstein Stud in South Africa. Duke of Marmalade was owned during his racing career by Sue Magnier and Michael Tabor, winning his first two races as a two-year-old in June 2006. He did not win again until the spring of his four-year-old season, almost twenty-two months later. During this winless period he was sometimes regarded as little more than a pacemaker for more celebrated stable companions such as Dylan Thomas. In his final year of racing he recorded wins in the Prix Ganay, the Tattersalls Gold Cup, the Prince of Wales's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Santa Anita Derby
The Santa Anita Derby is an American Grade 1 thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds run each April at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. It is currently run at a distance of miles on the dirt and carries a purse of $400,000. It is one of the final prep races on the official Road to the Kentucky Derby. History Inaugurated in 1935, the Santa Anita Derby has long been considered the most important West Coast stepping-stone to the Kentucky Derby. Since 2013, it has been part of the official Road to the Kentucky Derby, offering the winner 100 points and thus assuring a position in the starting gate. Since its inception, ten Santa Anita Derby winners have gone on to win the Kentucky Derby (shown in bold in the Winners section below), plus seven horses who lost at Santa Anita went on to triumph in Kentucky. In 1988, Winning Colors became the first and to date only filly to win both Derbies. Santa Anita Derby winners have also been successful in other Triple Crown races, wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colonel John
Colonel John (foaled March 4, 2005 in Kentucky) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2008 Santa Anita Derby and Travers Stakes. Background Bred and raced by WinStar Farm, Colonel John was sired by Tiznow, the 2000 U.S. Horse of the Year and a two-time winner of the Breeders' Cup Classic. His dam is Sweet Damsel, a daughter of Turkoman, the 1986 American Champion Older Male Horse, who was a son of U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee Alydar. Colonel John was trained by Eoin Harty. Colonel John is named for a service member who helped Bill Casner and his wife after their daughter was killed in the 2002 Bali bombings, and not after the paternal grandfather on 7th Heaven. Racing career In 2008, Colonel John won the Sham Stakes and the Grade I Santa Anita Derby. His performances in these races made him an early favorite for the 2008 U.S. Triple Crown series, despite his racing experience consisting of only races on Cushion Track synthetic dirt. Ultimately, Colonel Joh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Haskell Invitational Stakes
The Haskell Stakes is a Grade I American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds run over a distance of miles on the dirt held annually in July at Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport, New Jersey. The event is a signature event at Monmouth Park during their summer racing season and a major race for three-year-olds in between the U.S. Triple Crown series and the Breeders' Cup. The event currently offers a purse of US$1,000,000 and awards one of the most prestigious trophies in U.S. thoroughbred racing in the Haskell Trophy. History The inaugural running of the event was on 3 August 1968, closing day of the Monmouth Park summer meeting, as the Monmouth Invitational Handicap with a field of eleven horses. The event was won by 33-1 longshot Balustrade ridden by Canadian jockey Eric Walsh in a time of 1:50 flat with the favorite Iron Ruler finishing fourth. In 1973 when The American Graded Stakes Committee was founded by the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association with t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Preakness Stakes
The Preakness Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held on Armed Forces Day which is also the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs () on dirt. Colts and geldings carry ; fillies . It is the second jewel of the Triple Crown, held two weeks after the Kentucky Derby and three weeks before the Belmont Stakes. First run in 1873, the Preakness Stakes was named by a former Maryland governor after the colt who won the first Dinner Party Stakes at Pimlico. The race has been termed "The Run for the Black-Eyed Susans" because a blanket of Maryland's state flower is placed across the withers of the winning colt or filly. Attendance at the Preakness Stakes ranks second in North America among equestrian events, surpassed only by the Kentucky Derby. History Two years before the Kentucky Derby was run for the first time, Pimlico introduced its new stakes race for three-year-olds, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
