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Ismael Valenzuela
Ismael "Milo" Valenzuela (December 25, 1934, in McNary, Texas – September 2, 2009, in Arcadia, California) was a Thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame jockey. He was one of 22 children born to parents who had immigrated to the United States. Shortly after Valenzuela's birth, the family returned to their native Mexico. At age 14, Valenzuela came back to the United States where he began working with quarter horses, then launched his career as a jockey at a racetrack in Tucson, Arizona. He eventually began riding in California and came to national prominence as a jockey competing for the American Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing. Leading up to the 1958 Kentucky Derby, the California horse Silky Sullivan received much publicity for his habit of coming from very far behind to win races. It was the first time television played a major role in the publicizing of a racehorse, and after Valenzuela won the Derby on board Tim Tam, the next day he was flown to New York City to make a ... [...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] |
George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award
The George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award has been presented by Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California, annually since 1950 to the thoroughbred horse racing jockey in North America who demonstrates high standards of personal and professional conduct both on and off the racetrack. The award was created through donations from the racing public after the death of Hall of Fame jockey George Woolf. The one-time-only award is voted on by members of the Jockeys' Guild who chose from among their peers nominated by Guild regional managers. The trophy that goes along with the award is a one-foot-high replica of the life-size statue of George Woolf that, along with a bronze sculpture of his favorite mount, Seabiscuit, has a place of honor in the Santa Anita Paddock Gardens. Past winners: |
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] |
Kentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds at a distance of at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry and fillies . It is dubbed "The Run for the Roses", stemming from the blanket of roses draped over the winner. It is also known in the United States as "The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports" or "The Fastest Two Minutes in Sports" because of its approximate duration. It is the first leg of the American Triple Crown, followed by the Preakness Stakes, and then the Belmont Stakes. Of the three Triple Crown races, the Kentucky Derby has the distinction of having been run uninterrupted since its inaugural race in 1875. The race was rescheduled to September 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Preakness and Belmont Stakes races had taken hiatuses in 1891–18 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Classic Races
In the United States, the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, commonly known as the Triple Crown, is a series of horse races for three-year-old Thoroughbreds, consisting of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes. The three races were inaugurated in different years, the last being the Kentucky Derby in 1875. The Triple Crown Trophy, commissioned in 1950 but awarded to all previous winners as well as those after 1950, is awarded to a horse who wins all three races and is thereafter designated as a Triple Crown winner. The races are traditionally run in May and early June of each year, although global events have resulted in schedule adjustments, such as in 1945 and 2020. The first winner of all three Triple Crown races was Sir Barton in 1919. Some journalists began using the term ''Triple Crown'' to refer to the three races as early as 1923, but it was not until Gallant Fox won the three events in 1930 that Charles Hatton of the ''Daily Racing Form'' put the ... [...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] |
American Derby
The American Derby is a Thoroughbred horse race in the United States run annually at Arlington Park in Arlington Heights, Illinois. The inaugural American Derby was held at Chicago's old Washington Park Race Track on the city's South Side and raced there until 1905, when the facility was closed following the state's ban on gambling and horse racing and the track was demolished. 1893's American Derby was the 2nd richest race in the U.S. during the 19th century.Reiss, Steven A., ''Horse Racing'', Eds. Grossman, James R., Keating, Ann Durkin, and Reiff, Janice L., 2004 ''The Encyclopedia of Chicago'', pp. 390-1. The University of Chicago Press, There was no racing in Chicago in 1895, 1896, 1897, 1899, and again in 1905 and 1906. The effect would be that the American Derby was not run from 1905 through 1925, except for 1916 when it was hosted by the Hawthorne Race Course in Stickney, Illinois. Revived in 1926, it evolved to become one of the important events of the American racing s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blue Grass Stakes
The Blue Grass Stakes, currently the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes due to sponsorship by the Toyota Motor Corporation, is a horse race for 3-year-old Thoroughbreds held annually in April at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Kentucky. The race is run at miles on the dirt and currently offers a purse of $1,000,000. The Blue Grass Stakes was a Grade I event from 1974 (when grading was first introduced) through 1989 and again from 1999 to 2016. It was a Grade II event from 2017-2021, and returned to a Grade I in 2022. It was named for the Bluegrass region of Kentucky, characterized by grass having bluish-green culms, which is known as the "heart" of the thoroughbred racing industry. First run at the Kentucky Association track in Lexington in 1911, the Blue Grass has, from its inception, served as an important prep for the Kentucky Derby. At the Lexington Association track, the Blue Grass was staged from 1911 through 1914 and from 1919 through 1926. The race was revived at Keeneland in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canadian International Stakes
The Canadian International Stakes is a Grade I stakes race for thoroughbred racehorses three years of age and up on Turf. It is held annually in October at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The current purse is Since its creation in 1938, the race has undergone many changes including the conditions, track surface, distance, location, and name. The first renewal was run as the Long Branch Championship, held at the Long Branch Racetrack in Etobicoke. and was restricted to Canadian-bred three-year-olds. In 1939, it was renamed the Canadian International Stakes and was restricted to Canadian-owned horses. In 1940, the race was opened to horses of all ages, though the owner still had to be a Canadian resident. In 1954, the eligibility was revised to ages three and up with no residence restriction. The race name was modified slightly from 1966 to 1980 when it was known as the Canadian International Championship Stakes. From 1981 through to 1995 the race was known as the Ro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stymie Stakes
The Stymie Stakes is an American race for Thoroughbred horses at Aqueduct Racetrack. Usually raced in late February or early March, it is open to horses age four and older. It is run on dirt over a distance of one mile and offers a purse of $150,000. The race was named in honor of Stymie, the handicap champion of 1945. A $1,500 claimer, he was inducted into the United States Racing Hall of Fame in 1975. Making 131 career starts, Stymie won 35, placed in 33, and came in third 28 times. At the time, his earnings of $918,485 set a record. In the Blood-Horse magazine List of the Top 100 Racehorses of the 20th Century Stymie is listed as #41. Originally a handicap race for horses age three and older, the Stymie was a Grade 3 event from 1973 through 2002 after which it became a Listed race. It was hosted by Belmont Park from inception in 1956 to 1961, and again between 1968 and 1975. Historic notes The great Kelso won the Stymie Handicap in 1962 then in 1965 won it again in what ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
