The Arlington-Washington Breeders' Cup Lassie Stakes is an American
Thoroughbred horse race
Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter known as National Hunt racing in ...
held annually in mid September at
Arlington Park Racetrack in
Arlington Heights, Illinois
Arlington Heights is a village in Cook County, Illinois, Cook County Illinois, United States. A northwestern Chicago metropolitan area, suburb of Chicago, it lies about northwest of the city's downtown. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ...
. Raced on
Polytrack
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 trac ...
synthetic dirt over a distance of seven furlongs, it is open to Two-Year-Old Fillies and currently offers a purse of $75,000. It was a
Grade III race through 2012, but was a listed stakes in 2013.
Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association
Inaugurated in 1929 as the Arlington Lassie Stakes, in 1963 it was renamed the Arlington-Washington Lassie Stakes and in 2005 was given the Breeders' Cup designation.
Since inception, the race has been contested at various distances:
* 1929–1931 : 5.5 furlongs
* 1932–1961 & 1972–1979 : 6 furlongs
* 1962–1969 : 6.5 furlongs
* 1980–1984 & 1986–1987 : 7 furlongs
* 1985 : 6.5 furlongs (at Hawthorne Race Course
Hawthorne Race Course is a racetrack for horse racing in Stickney, Illinois, near Chicago.
The oldest continually run family-owned racetrack in North America, in 2009 the Horseplayers Association of North America introduced a rating system for ...
)
* 1986–2013 : 1 mile
* 2014 to present : 7 furlongs
The race was not run in 1970, 1971, 1988, 1995, 1998 and 1999.
Records
Time record: (at one mile distance)
* 1:35.93 – Original Spin (2005)
Largest winning margin:
* 12 lengths – Eliza
ELIZA is an early natural language processing computer program developed from 1964 to 1967 at MIT by Joseph Weizenbaum. Created to explore communication between humans and machines, ELIZA simulated conversation by using a pattern matching and ...
(1992)
Most wins by an owner:
* 4 – Calumet Farm
Calumet Farm is a Thoroughbred breeding and training farm established in 1924 in Lexington, Kentucky, United States by William Monroe Wright, founding owner of the Calumet Baking Powder Company. Calumet is located in the heart of the Bluegrass ...
(1937, 1943, 1947, 1949)
Most wins by a jockey
A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used ...
:
* 5 – Steve Brooks (1949, 1952, 1954, 1959, 1960)
Most wins by a trainer:
* 2 – Ben A. Jones (1938, 1943)
* 2 – Howard Wells (1942, 1950)
* 2 – J. Hodgins (1946, 1952)
* 2 – Horace A. Jones (1947, 1949)
* 2 – Harry Trotsek
Harry E. Trotsek (April 18, 1912 – February 5, 1997) was an American Hall of Fame trainer and owner of Thoroughbred racehorses. He trained 96 stakes race winners including Champions Hasty Road, Moccasin, Oil Capitol, and Stan, and led all Nor ...
(1951, 1953)
* 2 – Moody Jolley
Moody S. Jolley (March 23, 1910 – February 4, 1976) was an American Thoroughbred horse race, thoroughbred horse racing owner, breeder and horse trainer, trainer. His son, LeRoy Jolley, LeRoy, trained Ridan and other horses owned by the family.
...
(1954, 1959)
* 2 – Joe Pierce Jr. (1969, 1972)
* 2 – Woody Stephens
Woody Stephens (September 1, 1913 – August 22, 1998) was an American Thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame trainer.
Biography
Born Woodford Cefis Stephens in Stanton, Kentucky, he had a younger brother named William Ward Stephens who also b ...
(1983, 1984)
* 2 – Michael L. Reavis (1994, 2010)
Winners
References
{{Reflist
1929 establishments in Illinois
Horse races in Illinois
Arlington Park
Flat horse races for two-year-old fillies
Recurring sporting events established in 1929