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+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ |IFrame: I1 | |----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | April Horse History | | | |1. - 1940: New York legalized parimutuel wagering and outlawed book-makers at the | | | |state's racetracks. | | | | | | | |1998: The National Thoroughbred Racing Association officially launched operations | | | |with the opening of its office in Lexington, Ky. | | | | | | | | 2 - 1938: Future Triple Crown winner Whirlaway was foaled at Calumet Farm, | | | |Lexington, Ky. | | | | | | | | 3 - In 1860 - Pony Express mail service began -- in St. Joseph, Missouri. The | | | |first Pony Express rider was heading for California. The next day, another rider | | | |left Sacramento, California heading east for Missouri. Each rider had a 75 to 100 | | | |mile run before a switch was made with another rider. The switch was made at one of | | | |190 way stations along the route; each way station being about ten to fifteen miles | | | |apart. The Pony Express riders delivered the mail within ten days (similar to our | | | |current snail-mail) for postage paid of $5 per ounce. This style of mail service | | | |became antiquated within a short two years, being put out to pasture by the advent | | | |of the overland telegraph. | | | | | | | |1866 - Rudolph Eickemeyer and G. Osterheld of Yonkers, New York patented a blocking | | | |and shaping machine for hats. Which reminds us, do you know why cowboy hats are | | | |turned up at the sides? -- So three cowboys can ride in a pickup truck | | | | | | | |1962 - Race jockey Eddie Arcaro retired with a career record of 15,327 victories for| | | |total winnings of $12,265,455. Arcaro was the first jockey to win 3,000 races and | | | |the first to ride five Kentucky Derby winners. In the Derby, Arcaro rode these | | | |mounts to the Winner's Circle: Lawrin, Whirl-a-Way, Hoop Jr., Citation and Hill | | | |Gail. | | | | | | | |1962: At the age of 46, jockey Eddie Arcaro announced his retirement. He retired | | | |with 4,779 victories, including two Triple Crowns, won with Whirlaway and Citation. | | | | | | | | 4 - | | | | | | | | 5 | | | | | | | | 6 1954: Two future champions, Bold Ruler and Round Table, were foaled at Claiborne | | | |Farm, Paris, Ky. April 7, 1973: In his second start as a 3-year-old, Secretariat won| | | |the Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct as the 1-10 favorite. His time of 1:33 2-5 for the | | | |mile equaled the track record for that distance. | | | | | | | | 7 1979: Jockey Steve Cauthen made his first race in England a winning one, with | | | |Marquee Universal (IRE) at Salisbury. | | | | | | | | 8 1939 - Godshall Ranch, Apple Valley, California was the site of the first | | | |Intercollegiate Rodeo. The students who competed came from just about every major | | | |college and university campus in the western United States. The young cowboys and | | | |cowgirls competed under the guidance of world champion professional cowboys. The | | | |competition was such a success and drew so much attention that it sparked the | | | |creation of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association now headquartered in | | | |Walla Walla, Washington.>1963 - Steve Brooks became only the fifth race jockey to | | | |ride 4,000 career winners.> 1971: New York City Off-Track Betting opened for | | | |business. Two branches were available to accept wagers: the Grand Central Terminal | | | |in Manhattan and an outlet in Queens. Total handle, including telephone betting, was| | | |$66,091. > On April 8, 1991, this famous jockey's life took a turn for the worse | | | |when he was left paralyzed from the neck down after an auto accident.> 2001: | | | |'Seabiscuit: An American Legend', by Laura Hillenbrand, took over the top spot on | | | |the New York Times bestseller list for nonfiction after just three weeks in the | | | |nation's bookstores. | | | | | | | | 9 1962: Jockey Ron Turcotte rode his first winner, at Fort Erie Racetrack. | | | | | | | | 10 1969: I Double Dareya was ridden to victory by jockey Gilbert Hernandez at | | | |Golden Gate Fields. Hernandez also happened to be the horseA's owner and trainer, | | | |giving him a triple win. | | | | | | | | 11 1945: Future Triple Crown champion Citation was foaled at Calumet Farm, | | | |Lexington, Ky. | | | | | | | | 12 1985 - Federal inspectors declared that four animals of the Ringling Brothers | | | |and Barnum & Bailey Circus were not unicorns, as the circus said, but goats with | | | |horns which had been surgically implanted. The circus was ordered to quit | | | |advertising the fake unicorns as anything else but goats. We assure you that no | | | |animals are harmed in the production of "Those Were the Days" and we use only | | | |first-rate, genuine unicorns. | | | | | | | |1948: After winning seven consecutive races, Citation lost the Chesapeake Trial | | | |Stakes by a length to Saggy, but rebounded to post 16 consecutive victories, | | | |including the Triple Crown. | | | | | | | |1969: Jockey Sandra Schleiffers, one of the first female riders in America and a | | | |former member of the Sisters of St. Francis convent in Clinton, Iowa, won her first | | | |career race at Turf Paradise. Schleiffers subsequently became the first woman to be | | | |admitted to the Jockeys' Guild. | | | | | | | | 13 1872: The Louisiana Jockey Club held its inaugural meet at Fair Grounds. The | | | |first race, a two-mile hurdle, was won by Templo. | | | | | | | | 14 1936: The first Maryland race result ever decided by a photo- finish camera took| | | |place at Havre de Grace in the second race, in which a 7- 1 shot, Alit, was declared| | | |the winner. | | | | | | | | 15 1940: With the start of the racing season at Jamaica, New York became the last | | | |major racing state to adopt electronic parimutuel wagering, thus eliminating | | | |on-track bookmaking. | | | | | | | | 1941: In preparation for the May 3 Kentucky Derby, Whirlaway worked 1 1/8 miles in | | | |1:52 at Keeneland. | | | | | | | |1943: With many of the countryA's young men joining in the war effort, women | | | |exercise riders were first employed at Pimlico Racecourse. | | | | | | | | 16 - 1995: At age 25, Kent Desormeaux became the youngest jockey to reach the | | | |3,000-wins mark when he rode Maisonaire to victory at Santa Anita Park. | | | | | | | | 17 - 1972: Future champion filly Ruffian was foaled at Claiborne Farm, Paris, Ky. | | |IFrame: I2| |IFrame: I3| | | 18 1775 - At about 10 p.m., three men took to their horses to ride from Boston to | | | |Concord, MA to warn the citizens of the approaching British army. The famous poem, | | | |"Paul Revere's Ride", by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, glorified the Bostonian as the | | | |lone rider. He was, in fact, accompanied by William Dawes and Samuel Prescott. Only | | | |Prescott made it all the way to Concord. Revere was nabbed by a British cavalry | | | |patrol near Lexington, MA (Dawes and Prescott escaped). We're not sure what happened| | | |to Dawes but Revere was released and returned to Lexington -- without his horse. | | | |There was lots of running/riding around that night, but suffice to say, when British| | | |forces arrived in Lexington, they found the minutemen waiting for them. | | | | | | | |1970: The New York State Legislature passed a bill enabling off- track betting. | | | | | | | | 19 1952: Native Dancer won his first race, at Jamaica racetrack. | | | | | | | |1969: Bill Veeck, promoter and president of Suffolk Downs, staged a $10,000 race | | | |featuring all female jockeys, then a novelty in racing. Called the Lady Godiva | | | |Stakes, the event attracted such riders as Diane Crump, Tuesdee Testa and Robyn | | | |Smith. It was Penny Ann Early, however, who won the race -- her first career | | | |victory. The previous year, Early had attempted to ride at Churchill Downs, but the | | | |male jockeys boycotted and the race was canceled. | | | | | | | | 2000: Jockey Pat Day guided first time starter Unbridled Time to victory in the | | | |second race at Keeneland, giving the 46-year-old a record 717 victories at the | | | |Lexington, Ky. track. | | | | | | | | 20 - 1949 - Willie Shoemaker won his first race as a jockey aboard Shafter V at | | | |Golden Gate Fields in Albany, CA, not far from San Francisco. | | | | | | | |1999: Trainer Charlie Whittingham died in Pasadena, Calif., of complications from | | | |leukemia. He was 86. | | | | | | | | 21 1923: Eight-year-old Exterminator won his 34th stakes victory, the Philadelphia | | | |Handicap at Havre de Grace, setting an American record. | | | | | | | |1973: In a surprising defeat, Secretariat finished third to stablemate Angle Light | | | |and runner-up Sham in the Wood Memorial Stakes at Aqueduct, his last start before | | | |sweeping the Triple Crown. The following day, Secretariat was found to have had an | | | |abscess in his mouth, which may have caused him discomfort while racing. | | | | | | | |1998: Tim Smith was named Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer of the National | | | |Thoroughbred Racing Association. | | | | | | | | 22 1947: Citation won his first race by A 1/2-length, at Havre de Grace | | | | | | | |1970: Governor Nelson Rockefeller signed into law a bill allowing off-track betting | | | |in New York. | | | | | | | |1976: After winning the Florida Derby at odds of 1-20, Honest Pleasure ran in the | | | |Blue Grass Stakes as the 1-10 favorite. Only win wagering was allowed on the | | | |seven-horse field. Honest Pleasure won, creating a minus win pool of $41,876.20 | | | | | | | |2002: Ogden Phipps, philanthropist and Thoroughbred owner and breeder, died at age | | | |93 after a short illness. Winner of an Eclipse Award as outstanding owner and | | | |breeder in 1988 and again as outstanding owner in 1989, Phipps won nearly every | | | |major stakes race on the East Coast as an owner or breeder. 23 1948 - Johnny Longden| | | |became the first race jockey to ride 3,000 career winners as he set the mark at Bay | | | |Meadows in San Mateo, CA. | | | | | | | |1943: Judy Johnson was granted a license to ride in steeplechase races in Maryland, | | | |making her one of the earliest female jockeys. | | | | | | | |1973: Secretariat and his stablemate Angle Light were flown to Louisville, Ky., to | | | |prepare for the Kentucky Derby. | | | | | | | |1977: Seattle Slew won the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct Racetrack, his sixth | | | |consecutive win and his third win of the season. The race was his final prep for the| | | |May 7 Kentucky Derby. | | | | | | | | 24 | | | | | | | | 25 | | | | | | | | 26 1853: En route to becoming England's first Triple Crown winner, West Australian | | | |won the 2,000 Guineas, the first of three races that comprise England's Triple | | | |Crown. | | | | | | | |1916: The first Triple Crown winner, Sir Barton, was foaled at Hamburg Place, | | | |Lexington, Ky. | | | | | | | | 27 1973: At Churchill Downs, Secretariat worked six furlongs in 1:12 3/5 in | | | |preparation for the May 5 Kentucky Derby. | | | | | | | | 1999: Trainer D. Wayne Lukas was elected to the National Thoroughbred Racing Hall | | | |of Fame. | | | | | | | | 28 - 2001: Jockey Chris McCarron became the seventh American jockey to win 7,000 | | | |races, guiding Spinelessjellyfish to a neck victory in the Khaled Stakes at | | | |Hollywood Park in Inglewood, Calif. McCarron joined Laffit Pincay Jr., Bill | | | |Shoemaker, Pat Day, David Gall, Russell Baze and Angel Cordero Jr. in the 7,000 | | | |club. | | | | | | | | 29 - 1976: The State of Connecticut opened its own betting parlors in 11 | | | |communities. | | | | | | | | 30 1941: Jockey Eddie Arcaro rode four winners out of five mounts at Jamaica | | | |racetrack before leaving for Churchill Downs to ride Whirlaway in the Kentucky | | | |Derby. | | | | | | | |1989: Bill Shoemaker won his 1,000th stakes race, guiding Charlie | | | |Whittingham-trained Peace to victory in the Premiere Handicap at Hollywood Park. | | | | | | | |2002: Two-time Horse of the Year Cigar and champion filly Serena's Song were elected| | | |to the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility. | | | |Also named to the Hll were trainer Bud Delp, jockey Jack Westrope and champion Noor.| | | |IFrame: I4 | | | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | +----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+