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Exceller
Exceller (May 12, 1973 – April 7, 1997) is widely considered one of the best horses to race in the United States not to win a year-end championship. Despite his exemplary achievements as a racehorse, and his unique accomplishment in being the only horse to ever defeat two U.S. Triple Crown winners in the same race (and only the second ever to do so in his career), Exceller is now remembered more for the tragic manner of his death and the horse rescue movement it helped inspire. Background Exceller was foaled on May 12, 1973 in Kentucky. Bred by Mrs. Charles W. Engelhard, he was sold as a yearling for approximately $27,000 to Nelson Bunker Hunt. Hunt's advisors figured that a son of European champion stayer Vaguely Noble with long and upright pasterns, would be better suited to European racing and sent him to France. European racing career Trained at first by François Mathet, who had been the trainer for François Dupré, and later by Maurice Zilber, Exceller didn't accompli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
François Mathet
François Mathet ( at Vesoul – at Neuvy-le-Barrois) trained racehorses, specialising in flat racing. In France he is well-remembered for being one of the best equestrian trainers in the country's history. Early life Mathet was the son of an army lieutenant. In 1934, Mathet (as an amateur rider) won four of the best French titles. He was conscripted into the French Army in 1942, where he became an apprentice to Maurice d'Okhuysen at Maisons-Laffitte, still riding as an amateur jockey. Career In 1944, after a fall, he stopped riding horses and concentrated on horse training. In 1947 he was the trainer for François Dupré's stable. He took a long time to mend, but came back to win his first Group 1 race in 1948 with Bel Amour (horse) in the Prix d'Ispahan, going on to even better wins with Tantième and Relko. He entered both into the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, both in 1950 and 1951, and Relko into the Epsom Derby in 1963. In 1964 he took over from Alec Hea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hollywood Gold Cup
The Hollywood Gold Cup Stakes is a Grade I American thoroughbred horse race for horses age three and older over a distance of miles on the dirt held at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California in May. The race currently offers a purse of $400,000. History Early beginnings The race inaugurated in 1938 at Hollywood Park Racetrack in Inglewood, California as the Hollywood Gold Cup. Hollywood Park Racetrack opened its doors on June 10, 1938, and Seabiscuit, under jockey George Woolf, won the $50,000 added race's inaugural running on July 16. The race was not run in 1942 or 1943, due to Hollywood Park being closed and used as an airplane parts storage depot during World War II. Post World War II In 1949, the Hollywood Gold Cup, as well as the entire 1949 meeting, was held at Santa Anita Park, due to a devastating fire at Hollywood Park on the night of May 5, 1949. Solidarity won the 1949 running on July 16. The Hollywood Park grandstand was rebuilt and the facility reopened in t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jockey Club Gold Cup
The Jockey Club Gold Cup, established in 1919, is a thoroughbred flat race open to horses of either gender three-years-old and up. It has traditionally been the main event of the fall meeting at Belmont Park, just as the Belmont Stakes is of the spring meeting and the Travers Stakes is of the summer meeting at Saratoga. The past winners of the Gold Cup are a veritable who's who of award-winning Hall of Fame horses, including Easy Goer, Man o' War, Cigar, Skip Away, Curlin, Slew o' Gold, John Henry, Affirmed, Forego, Shuvee, Damascus, Buckpasser, Kelso, Sword Dancer, Nashua, Citation, Whirlaway and War Admiral. Despite the current $1,250,000 purse and Grade 1 status, the stature of the race has suffered somewhat in recent years thanks to the emergence of the Breeders' Cup Classic held not long afterward, as well as a change in distance to miles in 1990, reducing its distinctiveness. Part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge series, the winner of the Jockey Club Gold Cup automatically ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
San Juan Capistrano Handicap
The San Juan Capistrano Stakes is a Grade III American thoroughbred horse race for horses age three and older over a distance of run on the turf track held at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California in June. The event currently offers a purse of $100,000. It is one of the longest Graded grass race in America. History The event was inaugurated on 9 March 1935, when Head Play defeated Top Row and Ladysman on a muddy track by 2 lengths in a time of 1:51 before a crowd of 45,000 on the closing day of Santa Anita meeting. In 1937 an even greater crowd came to witness Seabiscuit set a new track record for the miles winning by 7 lengths. The event in 1940 only it was limited to three-year-olds and for three-year-olds and older in all other years prior to 1968. From its inception through 1953, the race was contested on dirt, then in 1954 it was converted to a turf event. The San Juan Capistrano is run around four turns, and begins at the top of Santa Anita's downhill chute, normally ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prix Royal-Oak
The Prix Royal-Oak is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 3,100 metres (about 1 mile and 7½ furlongs), and it is scheduled to take place each year in late October. It is France's equivalent of the St. Leger Stakes, a famous race in England. History The event was established in 1861, and it was initially called the Grand Prix du Prince Impérial. It was originally restricted to three-year-olds, and was part of a series of races based on the English Classic system. Its original distance was 3,200 metres. The race was renamed the Prix Royal-Oak and shortened to 3,000 metres in 1869. It was named after Royal Oak (foaled 1823), a key stallion in the establishment of thoroughbred breeding in France. Due to the Franco-Prussian War, the race was not run in 1870 and 1871. The Prix Royal-Oak was abandoned throughout World War I, with no running from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maurice Zilber
Maurice Zilber (c. 1920 – 21 December 2008) was a French thoroughbred horse trainer born and raised in Cairo, Egypt to a Turkish mother and a French- Hungarian father. He trained horses in Egypt from 1946 to 1962, and then moved to France where he worked for another 43 years. Based at the Chantilly Racecourse in France, Maurice Zilber conditioned horses for some of the leading owners such as Serge Fradkoff, Daniel Wildenstein, Nelson Bunker Hunt and in later years, Prince Khalid Abdullah. His horses competed across Europe and in 1976 he accomplished the rare feat of training the winner of both the English Derby and the French Derby. Maurice Zilber also regularly brought horses to North America to compete in major grass races such as the Canadian International Championship Stakes at Woodbine Racetrack in Canada and the Washington, D.C. International Stakes at Laurel Park Racecourse in the United States. Zilber won the Canadian International a record-tying three times and the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charlie Whittingham
Charles Edward Whittingham (April 13, 1913 – April 20, 1999) was an American Thoroughbred race horse trainer who is one of the most acclaimed trainers in U.S. racing history. Early career Born in Chula Vista, California, Whittingham began working around race horses at a young age and was eventually taken on as an assistant by Hall of Fame trainer Horatio Luro. During World War II, his career was interrupted by service with the United States Marine Corps. At war's end, he returned as an assistant trainer until 1950, when he set up his own stable to take on the training of horses for various owners. He got his big break when Liz Whitney Tippett hired him to condition her Llangollen Farm Stable racing stable. On June 10, 1953, the then forty-year-old Whittingham saddled his first stakes winner when Liz Person's Porterhouse won the National Stallion Stakes. The colt would go on to earn that year's U.S. Two-year-old colt honors. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grand Prix De Saint-Cloud
The Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged four years or older. It is run at Saint-Cloud over a distance of 2,400 metres (about 1½ miles), and it is scheduled to take place each year in late June or early July. History The event was established in 1904, and it was originally called the Prix du Président de la République. It was initially contested at Maisons-Laffitte over 2,500 metres by horses aged three or older. It was abandoned throughout World War I, with no running from 1915 to 1918. It resumed at Saint-Cloud in 1919. The race was cancelled once during World War II, in 1940. Its original title was discarded in 1941, following the end of the French Third Republic. The newly named Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud was run at Longchamp (1941–42), Maisons-Laffitte (1943, 1945) and Le Tremblay (1944) before returning to Saint-Cloud in 1946. The present system of race grading was introduc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vaguely Noble
Vaguely Noble (1965–1989) was an Irish-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who competed in the United Kingdom and France. The colt is best known as the winner of the 1968 Group One Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe when he defeated the best horses from England, France, Ireland and Italy. He was later a leading sire in Great Britain & Ireland and a Leading broodmare sire in GB & Ireland. Vaguely Noble is one of the highest-rated horses ever to run in Europe. Background Major Lionel B. Holliday bred Vaguely Noble who was foaled in 1965. Vaguely Noble was by Vienna (GB) who won six races and £27,970 before he was exported to France and then to Japan.Pryor, Peter, ''The Classic Connection'', Cortney Publications, Luton, 1979 His dam was the Lancashire Oaks winner, Noble Lassie (GB) was by Nearco (ITY) from Belle Sauvage by Big Game. Noble Lassie was the dam of several other horses, but Vaguely Noble was her only graded stakes winner. Vaguely Noble was inbred to Hyperion in the third and four ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Minstrel
The Minstrel (11 March 1974 – 3 September 1990) was a Canadian-bred, Irish-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. Bred in Ontario, he was sold as a yearling and exported to Europe, where he was campaigned in Ireland and the United Kingdom. As a two-year-old The Minstrel was unbeaten in three races, including the Dewhurst Stakes, but lost two of his first three starts in 1977. He was then moved up in distance and won his remaining three races: the Epsom Derby, the Irish Derby and the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes. These performances led to The Minstrel becoming horse of the year in the UK and later being inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame. The Minstrel spent his stud career in the United States, where he had considerable success as a sire of winners. Background The Minstrel was a "stocky" chestnut colt with a white blaze, four white stockings and a gentle disposition, foaled at E. P. Taylor's Windfields Farm in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sunset Handicap
The Sunset Handicap was an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually during the third week of July at Hollywood Park Racetrack in inglewood, California. The Grade III event is open to horses, age three and up, willing to race one and one-half miles on turf. With the closure of Hollywood Park at the end of 2013 the Sunset Handicap ceased to exist. Inaugurated in 1938 as the Aloha Handicap, in 1940 it was renamed the Sunset Handicap. It was raced on dirt until 1967. Since inception it has been contested at various distances: * 9 furlongs : 1938, 1950 * 12 furlongs : 1939, 1940, 1967–1968, 1973–present * 13 furlongs : 1941, 1946–1949, 1951–1966 * 16 furlongs : 1969-1972 In 1975, the Sunset Handicap was run in two divisions. On December 2, 2009, this Grade II stakes race was downgraded to a Grade III by the American Graded Stakes Committee. Historical notes * In 1976, trainer Charles Whittingham saddled the first three finishers. Records Speed record: (at current dist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hollywood Invitational Turf Handicap
The Charles Whittingham Stakes is a Grade II American Thoroughbred horse race for horses age three years old and older over a distance of miles on the turf held annually in late May at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California, USA. The event currently carries a purse of $225,000. History The event was inaugurated in 1969 as the Hollywood Invitational Handicap over a distance of miles on the turf. The event was run at a distance of a miles from 1969 to 1987 and recently 2015. From 1989 until 1998, the race was named the Hollywood Turf Handicap. In 1999 the event was renamed to Charles Whittingham Handicap and in 2003 to Charles Whittingham Memorial Handicap in honor of the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame trainer Charlie Whittingham ''(1913–1999)'' who saddled many memorable winners at Hollywood Park and whose seven victories in the Hollywood Invitational Turf Handicap race was the most for any trainer. It had been equaled since. In 2014 when Hollywood Park Racetrack clos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
