May Horse History

 1 -  Today in 1883 Buffalo Bill, otherwise known as William F. Cody, debuted in his first Wild West Show.

 Also today, in 1955, jockey Willie Shoemaker rode the legendary colt Swaps to a win in the Kentucky Derby in Louisville. race win was worth $108,400. This was Willie's first Kentucky Derby win. He would win later on in 1959 aboard Tommy Lee and in 1965 on Lucky Debonair.

1943: Count Fleet won the "street car" Kentucky Derby, for which no tickets could be sold to out-of-town spectators due to wartime travel restrictions.

1948: H.A. "Jimmy" Jones, son of Ben A. Jones, stepped aside as the trainer of Citation, allowing his father to be named the colt's official trainer in the Kentucky Derby. Ben Jones was attempting to match the record of H.J. Thompson, who had trained four Derby winners. Citation did win, and Ben A. Jones subsequently won two additional derbies, in 1949 and 1952, to set the mark for most number of wins in the Run for the Roses -- six. Jimmy Jones was named as Citation's trainer in the Preakness and Belmont Stakes, however, giving the Jones family a Triple Crown sweep.

1971: The New York Off-Track Betting Corp. offered wagering pools on the Kentucky Derby, the first instance in which parimutuel wagering on the race took place outside the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Churchill Downs had refused to sell the rights to the race to OTB, but the pools were offered nonetheless, generating handle totaling $1,043,005

1976: Trainer Laz Barrera won three stakes in three different states: the Kentucky Derby with Bold Forbes; New York's Carter Handicap with Due Diligence and the Illinois Derby with Life's Hope.

1993: Paul Mellon became the second person in racing history of have bred and owned winners of the Kentucky Derby (Sea Hero, who won the 1993 Derby) and the Epsom Derby (Mill Reef, who won in 1971). John Galbreath was the first to have accomplished the Derby double, which he did with Proud Clarion (1967 Kentucky Derby) and Roberto (1972 Epsom Derby).

1999: Charismatic won the 125th Kentucky Derby at odds of 31-1, giving trainer D. Wayne Lukas his fourth Derby win and his owners, Bob and Beverly Lewis, their second Derby victor.

2001: Holy Bull, Paseana, Maskette, veteran jockey Earlie Fires, and trainers Richard Mandella and Tom Smith, trainer of the legendary Seabiscuit, were elected to Thoroughbred racing's Hall of Fame.

2 -  In 1964, Northern Dancer, with jockey Bill Hartack, won the Kentucky Derby. Hartack had been on quite a win streak, completing four major victories in six months. The racing legend was atop Iron Liege, Venetian Way, Decidedly and Northern Dancer (not all at the same time, of course). Hartack then rode Northern Dancer to a win in the Preakness Stakes in Maryland. Interesting fact for all ya'll: In 1964, another jockey had ridden Northern Dancer three times then suddenly switched to Hill Rose for the Run for the Roses in Louisville. He was Willie Shoemaker. 

In 1970,  the "First Lady of Horse Racing" (first to ride at a major track, first to win a major feature), Diane Crump, rode Fathom and made history as the first  woman jockey to ride in the Kentucky Derby. She finished in 12th place.

1904: Laska Durnell became the first woman to own a Kentucky Derby starter and winner when longshot Elwood took the 30th Run for the Roses. Elwood, the only Missouri-bred to win the Kentucky Derby, was also the first Derby winner to be bred by a woman, Mrs. J.B. Prather.

1934: Future Triple Crown winner War Admiral was foaled at Faraway Farm, Lexington, Ky.

1953: Native Dancer suffered his only defeat in 22 starts. He finished second in the Kentucky Derby as the 7-10 favorite, beaten a head by a 25-1 shot, Dark Star. Going into the Derby, Native Dancer had 11 consecutive wins.

1970: Diane Crump became the first female jockey to ride in the Kentucky Derby. Her mount, Fathom, finished 15th in a field of 17.

1981: The first simulcast of the Kentucky Derby took place, with three outlets -- Centennial Park, Longacres Racecourse and Yakima Meadows -- receiving the signal. Total simulcast wagering was $455,163. The Derby simulcast was suspended for the next two years, pending approval by Kentucky horsemen, and was reinstated in 1984

2000: Jockey Julie Krone became the first female elected to Thoroughbred racing's Hall of Fame.

 3 -  On this day in 1941, jockey Eddie Arcaro rode Whirlaway to the winner's circle in the Kentucky Derby. He was well on his way to winning racing's most prestigious event, the Triple Crown.

In 1986, horse racing legend Bill Shoemaker became the oldest jockey to win the the Kentucky Derby. Ol' Willie was on board Ferdinand for the win. Shoemaker was 54  years old. It had been 32 years since Shoemaker's first Derby victory way back in 1955.

 1969: Namesake of racing's annual awards, Eclipse made his first public appearance in a heat race at Epsom, England. The chestnut won his first trial easily, prompting gambler Dennis OÂ’Kelly to predict "Eclipse first, the rest nowhere" at the start of the second heat. O'Kelly's forecast was correct. Eclipse won the second four-mile race by nearly 1/4 mile.

1902: Jockey James Winkfield, the last African American rider to win the Kentucky Derby, won his second consecutive Derby aboard Alan-a-Dale.

1952: The first coast-to-coast, network-televised Kentucky Derby aired on CBS. Favorite Hill Gail won the Derby, giving his jockey Eddie Arcaro a record fifth victory in the Kentucky Derby, and his trainer, Ben A. Jones, the record for most number of wins (six). Arcaro's record was matched on this day in 1969 by jockey Bill Hartack. Jones' record has not been equaled.

1958: CBS used a "split screen" for its telecast of the Kentucky Derby, necessitated by the presence of the popular runner Silky Sullivan, who was famous for running far off the pace. Most of the screen was allotted to the main group of runners, with a small corner given over to Silky Sullivan. Although he was one of the favorites for the race, Silky failed to deliver his customary winning drive in the stretch and finished 12th, beaten 20 lengths by the victorious Tim Tam.

1969: Jockey Bill Hartack won his fifth Kentucky Derby aboard Majestic Prince, tying Eddie Arcaro's 1952 record. Majestic Prince was trained by Hall of Fame jockey John Longden, the only person to have trained and ridden a Kentucky Derby winner.

1980: Diana Firestone's Genuine Risk became the second filly to win the Kentucky Derby. Regret won it in 1915; Winning Colors, in 1988.

1986: Charlie Whittingham, at age 73, became the oldest trainer to win his first Kentucky Derby when he sent Ferdinand to victory. Ferdinand's rider, Bill Shoemaker, was the oldest jockey (54) to take the Run for the Roses. Whittingham topped himself in 1989, winning the Derby a second time (at age 76) with Sunday Silence.

 4 -  1899 - Manuel rushed to the finish line ahead of four others to win the  Kentucky Derby. 

1905 - Belmont Park race track opened on Long Island, New York. Race King and Sysonby finished in a dead heat in the day's feature race.

1957 - This was a tough day at the Kentucky Derby for Willie Shoemaker. He misjudged the finish line while aboard Gallant Man. In the winner's circle at Churchill  Downs was, instead, Iron Liege, ridden by jockey Bill Hartack. Gallant Man and Shoemaker did win the Belmont Stakes a few weeks later.

1985 - Spend A Buck posted the third fastest winning time in the Kentucky Derby by running the 1-1/4 mile track at Churchill Downs in 2 minutes and 1/8 second. Only Secretariat (1973) and Northern Dancer (1964) had been faster.

1905: Belmont Park opened for its first race meet

1957: Bill Shoemaker, aboard Gallant Man, misjudged the finish line for the Kentucky Derby and stood up in the irons prematurely. Gallant Man lost the race by a nose to Iron Liege. Round Table was third and Bold Ruler was fourth in this historic finish

1968: Dancer's Image became the first horse to be disqualified from the Kentucky Derby because post-race testing revealed an illegal medication. Forward Pass was declared the winner, giving Calumet Farm its eighth Derby winner, a record.

1996: Trainer D. Wayne Lukas set the record for most consecutive wins in Triple Crown races, six, when Grindstone won the Kentucky Derby. Lukas' winning streak began with the 1994 Preakness Stakes, which he won with Tabasco Cat.

 5 1934: Brookmeade Stable's Cavalcade won the Kentucky Derby, his third victory in a span of less than two weeks

1973: Secretariat became the first horse to complete the 1 ¼-mile course for the Kentucky Derby in less than two minutes when he won the 99th Run for the Roses in a record 1:59 2/5, which was 3/5-second faster than Northern Dancer's 1964 mark of 2:00, to set a track and stakes record that still holds. He ran each successive quarter-mile of the race faster than the previous one, with split times of :25 1/5, :24, :23 4/5, :23 2/5 and :23.

1990: Frances Genter, age 92, became the oldest winning owner in Derby history when Unbridled won the 116th renewal of the Run for the Roses.

2001: Monarchos came from far back to roll past the field and post a 4 3/4 length victory in the 127th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. Invisible Ink was second and Congaree was third. The 9-5 post time favorite, Point Given, finished fifth. Monarchos's winning time for the mile and a quarter race was 1:59 4/5, the second fastest Derby ever run, behind only Secretariat's 1973 mark of 1:59 2/5.

 6 1895: African American jockey James "Soup" Perkins guided the favorite Halma to a wire-to-wire victory in the 21st running of the Kentucky Derby. Perkins, who was 15, joined fellow African American jockey Alonzo Clayton as the youngest jockey to ride a Derby winner.

1896: African American jockey Willie Simms guided Ben Brush to victory in the 22nd Kentucky Derby, the first time the race was run at 1 1/4 miles. Two years later, Simms would win the Derby aboard Plaudit, giving him a perfect record in the Kentucky Derby: two wins in two attempts

1933: In the "fighting finish" to the Kentucky Derby -- before the advent of photo-finish cameras and video patrol -- jockey Don Meade, on Brokers Tip, and Herb Fisher, on Head Play, pushed, hit, tugged and jostled each other to the finish line at Churchill Downs. Brokers Tip was declared the winner, by a margin of two or three inches.

2000: Fusaichi Pegasus, a $4 million yearling purchase, became the first favorite to win the Kentucky Derby in 21 years with his convincing win over Aptitude. Spectacular Bid in 1979 was the previous favorite to win the "Run for the Roses."

 7 1938: The Kentucky Derby Glass made its debut. First used as a water glass for the track restaurant, the mint julep glass has been a part of the Derby tradition for more than 50 years.

1949: Calumet Farm's Ponder won the 75th Kentucky Derby, which was first telecast on a limited basis by local TV station WAVE.

1973: Secretariat was flown to Pimlico Racecourse to prepare for the Preakness Stakes after his record-breaking performance in the Kentucky Derby.

1983: Aboard Sunny's Halo, jockey Eddie Delahoussaye became the last rider to win consecutive Kentucky Derbies. Other riders to have won back-to-back Derbies are: Isaac Murphy, Ron Turcotte and James Winkfield

1988: Winning Colors, the first roan and the third filly to win the Kentucky Derby, provided trainer D. Wayne Lukas with his first Derby win in 13 attempts.

1992: Hall of Fame jockey Angel Cordero Jr. announced his retirement from race riding.

2001: Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas saddled his 4,000th career winner, scoring with Added Spice in the ninth race at Delaware Park. Lukas's mark put him behind only Dale Baird (8,479 wins), Jack Van Berg (6,300) and King Leatherbury (5,190).

2002: Seattle Slew, the last surviving Triple Crown winner, died at Hill 'N Dale Farm in Lexington, Ky., at age 28. Seattle Slew's death came on the 25th anniversary of his Kentucky Derby victory.

 8 1915 - Regret captured the Kentucky Derby. The horse was the only filly to win the Run for the Roses in Louisville, KY.

1939 - Clay Puett invented a device that is a common sight at thoroughbred race tracks around the world. The electric starting gate was used for the first time to start races at Hollywood Park in Inglewood, CA. The push of a button from a judges' stand at trackside automatically opened the gates. It was set on wheels so that it could be pulled off the race course quickly.

1901: David Garrick, owned by American Pierre Lorillard, won the Chester Cup in England, under the guidance of American jockey Danny Maher.

 1915: H.P. Whitney's Regret became the first filly to win the Kentucky Derby, 40 years after the race's inception in 1875

1937: Mary Hirsch, daughter of Max Hirsch, who had conditioned 1936 Kentucky Derby winner Bold Venture, became the first woman trainer to saddle a runner in the Kentucky Derby. The horse, No Sir, who was also owned by Miss Hirsch, finished 13th in a field of 20.

 9 1930 - For the first time, a starting gate was used to start a Triple Crown race. The gate was rolled into place at the Preakness at the Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, MD. Gallant Fox, the winner, had no problem with the new contraption.
Prior to that time, this horse race began from a standing start at the start/finish line with the drop of a flag.

1945: The wartime government ban on horse racing in the United States was lifted.

1982: Jockey Chris McCarron won his 3,000th career race, aboard Aggrandizement, in the ninth race at Hollywood Park.

 10 1905 - Three horses made up the field of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, KY. Agile was the winner. With only three horses -- win, place and show -- does that mean that everyone in attendance won something? 

1913 - Donerail won the Kentucky Derby on this day, making a very, very few in attendance very, very happy. Donerail was a 91-to-1 long shot! Can you tell who the people DIDN'T like?

1842: Fashion, representing the North, competed against Boston, representing the South, in a match race at Union Course. Described by contemporaries as the best race ever run in America, with $20,000 put up on each side, the match was won by Fashion before a crowd estimated between 50,000 and 70,000.

1910: George Woolf, namesake of a jockey's award given annually by Santa Anita Park, was born in Cardston, Alberta.

1919: Sir Barton won the Kentucky Derby after being winless in six tries. Four days later, on May 14, he won the Preakness Stakes, and on June 11, he became the first Triple Crown winner after capturing the Belmont Stakes.

2001: According to figures released by Nielsen Media Research, television ratings for the 2001 Kentucky Derby were 8.1 with a 21 share. The ratings represented a 40% increase over the 5.8 rating and 17 share earned by the 2000 Derby.

 11 1888: Trainer Robert Walden set the record for the most number of Preakness winners -- seven -- when he sent Refund to victory.

1892: African American jockey Alonzo Clayton, age 15, became the youngest rider to win the Kentucky Derby when he guided Azra to victory in the 18th running of the Derby.

1935: Trainer "Sunny Jim" Fitzsimmons sent a two-year-old colt, White Cockade, to victory in the Youthful Stakes at Jamaica, giving his 26-year-old owner, Ogden Phipps, his first stakes win ever.

 12 1917 - The first imported horse to win the Kentucky Derby was the English-bred colt, Omar Khayyam. He won $49,070 -- the top prize.

1976 - Sixteen-year-old, racing-jockey Steve Cauthen rode in his first race. He  finished far back in the pack at Churchill Downs in Louisville, KY. However, Cauthen got his first winner just five days later.

1909: The Preakness Stakes was held in Maryland after 16 runnings in New York. As part of the celebration that marked the return of the Preakness, the colors of the race's winner were painted onto the ornamental weathervane at Pimlico Racecourse for the first time.

1917: Omar Khayyam became the first foreign-bred horse to win the Kentucky Derby. He was bred in England.

1924: Nellie Morse became the fourth and last filly to win the Preakness Stakes. Other fillies to win the Preakness were Flocarline (1903); Whimsical (1906); and Rhine Maiden (1915).

1936: Jockey Ralph Neves was involved in a racing accident at Bay Meadows and erroneously pronounced dead. He was later revived at the morgue and he returned to the racetrack the same day. He was ordered to sit out the remainder of the racing card and so missed only a half-day of work because of his "death."

 1990: D. Wayne Lukas became the first trainer to top $100 million in purses when he sent Calumet Farm's Criminal Type to win the Pimlico Special at Pimlico Racecourse.

 13 1845: The Great Sectional Match, the North versus the South, was run at Union Course in New York. Fashion, representing the North, raced against the South's Peytona in a match race won by Peytona. Three years earlier, Fashion had defeated Boston, who represented the South, in another North-South rivalry.

1891: Kingman, the only African American-owned horse to win the Derby, did so with jockey Isaac Murphy in the irons. Kingman was owned and trained by African American Dudley Allen. The win gave jockey Isaac Murphy back-to-back Derby victories and made him the first jockey to win three Derbies.

1939: Louis Schaefer became the first person to have ridden and trained a Preakness Stakes winner after he saddled Challedon to victory. Schaefer won the 1929 Preakness as a jockey, riding Dr. Freeland. Schaefer's double was replicated by jockey-turned-trainer John Longden, who rode Count Fleet in the 1943 Preakness and trained Majestic Prince to win the race in 1969.

1973: Secretariat worked five furlongs in :57 2/5 at Pimlico Racecourse in preparation for the May 19 Preakness Stakes. He was eased after completing his workout distance, but still ran six furlongs in 1:10.

 14 1960 - Bally Ache, the winner of the Preakness Stakes in Baltimore, MD, was sold for $1,250,000. Wonder what he would have brought with a name change...

1989: E.P. Taylor, owner of Windfields Farms and breeder of Northern Dancer, died at age 88.

2000: Arlington Ipark in Arlington Heights, Ill., re-opened its gates to racing after being closed for two-years, welcoming a crowd of 35,273.

 15 1918: Two horses -- War Cloud and Jack Hare Jr. -- were declared the winner of the Preakness Stakes, not because of a dead heat, but because the race was run in two divisions.

1952: John Longden won his 4,000th victory, riding at Hollywood Park.

 1954: Nashua won his first race, running 4 1/2 furlongs over a straightaway at Belmont Park.

1993: Genuine Risk, the second of three fillies to have won the Kentucky Derby since it began in 1875, gave birth to her first foal after 13 years of failed attempts and miscarriages. The foal, a son of Rahy, was named Genuine Reward.

1999: Charismatic, winner of the 1999 Kentucky Derby, won the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Racecourse in front of a record crowd of 100,311.

 16 -  1884: Buchanan became the first maiden to win the Kentucky Derby. Only two other maiden horses have gone on to win the Run for the Roses: Sir Barton in 1919, and Brokers Tip in 1933.

1925: The first network radio broadcast of the Kentucky Derby aired from WHAS in Louisville.

 1979: Gary Stevens rode his first career winner, named Lil Star, trained by his father, Ron Stevens, at Les Bois Park.

1998: Bob Baffert became the first person to train Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winners in successive years. In 1997, Baffert won the Derby and Preakness with Silver Charm; the following year he won with Real Quiet.

1998: During Preakness Stakes Day at Pimlico Racecourse, a transformer went down at 1:00 p.m., causing a power failure in the grandstand. With temperatures in the 90s, the facility had no operating air-conditioning, lights, closed-circuit television, public address system, elevators, escalators or betting windows. A record crowd of 91,122 was on hand, and an estimated $1.5 million in on-track handle was lost.

 17 -  1875 - Oliver Lewis rode Aristides winning a purse of $2,850 in the first running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, KY. Aristides won the one and a half mile Run for the Roses in a time of 2 minutes, 37-3/4 seconds.

1875: America's oldest continuously held sporting event, the Kentucky Derby, was first run. The race was won by Aristides, who was ridden and trained by African Americans Oliver Lewis and Ansel Williamson, respectively. The day marked the opening of Churchill Downs; an estimated 10,000 spectators witnessed the first Derby.

1881: James Rowe Sr., then age 24, became the youngest trainer to saddle a Kentucky Derby winner after Hindoo took the 7th Derby for his owners, brothers Phil and Mike Dwyer, both notorious gamblers.

1915: Rhine Maiden, in winning the Preakness Stakes, produced the only Kentucky Derby-Preakness wins by fillies in the same year. The 1915 Derby was won by Regret, who did not compete in the Preakness.

1930: Two-year-old Equipoise gave owner C.V. Whitney his first stakes victory when he captured the Keene Memorial Stakes at Belmont Park at odds of 3-5

1947: Seabiscuit, owned by Charles S. Howard, succumbed to a heart attack at Ridgewood Ranch in Willits, Calif. He was 14.

1976: Sixteen-year-old Steve Cauthen rode his first winner, Thomas Bischoff-trained Red Pipe, in the eighth race at River Downs. By the end of his first year of apprenticeship, Cauthen had won 240 races from 1,170 mounts and $1.2 million in purses.

 18 1931 - Race jockey Eddie Arcaro rode his first race -- at Bainbridge, OH. He finished sixth. Later, Arcaro would become a racing legend, finishing first in over 4,100 races, including four Kentucky Derby wins. Arcaro won the Derby in 1941, 1945, 1948 and again in 1952. He rode Hill Gail, Hoop, Jr., Whirl-A-Way and Citation. Arcaro won the Triple Crown with Whirl-A-Way and Citation.

1957 - Jockey Eddie Arcaro rode Bold Ruler to the winner's circle in the Preakness Stakes in Maryland.

Today in 1875 the Kentucky Derby racetrack opened in Louisville, Kentucky.

 1935: The Seagram family won the Queen's Plate stakes (then called the King's Plate), a record 20th time. From 1891-1898, the Seagrams' horses won the Plate every year.

1957: Eddie Arcaro set the record for most number of Preakness Stakes wins by a jockey, six, when he rode Bold Ruler to victory for Wheatley Stable.

1968: Judy Johnson became the first female trainer to saddle a horse for the Preakness Stakes. Her horse, Sir Beau, finished seventh in a field of 10.

1968: Calumet Farm set the record for most number of wins in the Preakness Stakes by an owner, seven, when Forward Pass won the race by six lengths.

1985: Patricia Cooksey became the first female jockey to compete in the Preakness Stakes. Her mount, Tajawa, finished sixth in a field of 11.

1996: Jockey Pat Day won his third consecutive Preakness Stakes and his fifth Preakness overall, after riding Louis Quatorze to victory. The win, for trainer Nick Zito, snapped the Triple Crown race win-streak of trainer D. Wayne Lukas, which had run to six, beginning with the 1994 Preakness, won by Tabasco Cat.

1998: Trainer Aimee Hall saddled four winners from five starters at Suffolk Downs, with all of the winners being ridden by her husband, Jose Caraballo. The wins are believed to be the first involving a married couple as jockey and trainer.

2000: The NTRA and Breeders' Cup Ltd., was given preliminary approval for a consolidation plan under which all business, marketing and administrative duties of the two organizations would be combined.

 19 1973 - Secretariat won the second jewel of horse racing's Triple Crown by capturing the Preakness Stakes in Baltimore, MD. The famed horse later went on to win the Belmont Stakes in New York to earn the Triple Crown with jockey Ron Turcotte as the rider.

1961: Jockey Bill Shoemaker notched his 4,000th career win aboard Guaranteeya at Hollywood Park.

1964: Jockey Laffit Pincay Jr. won his first race, aboard Huelen, riding at Presidente Remon in Panama.

1973: Secretariat's winning performance in the Preakness Stakes was marred by a controversy over the timing of the race. The original teletimer time was 1:55 for the 1 3/16-mile race; Pimlico amended it to 1:54 2/5 two days later.

1999: Secretariat was honored as the 35th greatest athlete of the 20th Century by ESPN's SportsCentury, a series of programs profiling the top athletes of the past 100 years. Secretariat was the only non-human to make the top 50.

2001: Beaten Kentucky Derby favorite Point Given redeemed himself by winning the Preakness Stakes today by 2 1/4 lengths in a time of 1:55 2/5 for the mile and three-sixteenths. A P Valentine was second and Congaree finished third. Monarchos, the Kentucky Derby winner, finished a well-beaten sixth.

 20 1916: In an unprecedented sweep, Mandarin, Gala Water and Gala Day finished first, second and third, respectively, in the King's Plate at Woodbine for their owner, distiller Joseph Emm Seagram. Three days later, Mandarin and Gala Water again finished one-two, this time in the Breeders' Stakes.

1941: Seventeen days after his Kentucky Derby win and 10 days after his Preakness victory, Whirlaway raced against older horses for the first time. Carrying 108 pounds, Whirlaway defeated his four rivals in the Henry of Navarre Purse at Belmont Park.

1954: At odds of 13-1, Rex Ellsworth's two-year-old colt Swaps won his maiden race by three lengths at Hollywood Park

1973: Having won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, Secretariat shipped from Pimlico to New York in preparation for the Belmont Stakes, final jewel in the Triple Crown.

1977: Two-year-old John Henry won his first start ever, a four-furlong maiden race at Jefferson Downs, by a nose. When he was retired in 1984, the gelding had 39 wins, 15 seconds and nine thirds from 83 starts, seven Eclipse Awards and earnings of $6,597,947.

 21 1978: John Henry made his first start for Dotsam Stable, winning a $25,000 claiming race at Aqueduct.

1992: Jockey Gary Stevens hit his 3,000th winner in the fifth race at Hollywood Park, aboard Sharp Event.

 22 1974: Locust Hill Farm's Ruffian won her first start, a maiden race for two-year-old fillies, by 15 lengths at Belmont Park. Sent off at odds of 4-1, Ruffian completed the 5 1/2 furlongs in 1:03.

1974: Locust Hill Farm's Ruffian won her first start, a maiden race for two-year-old fillies, by 15 lengths at Belmont Park. Sent off at odds of 4-1, Ruffian completed the 5 1/2 furlongs in 1:03.

 23 1936: Rushaway, ridden by John Longden, won his second derby in as many days, taking the 1 1/4-mile Latonia Derby at Latonia in Covington, Ky. Rushaway had won the 1 1/8-mile Illinois Derby, run at Aurora, outside Chicago, the previous day.

1992: Jockey Jacinto Vasquez had his 5,000th career winner, aboard Susan Pixum, at Calder Racecourse.

1992: Angel Cordero Jr. made his first start as a trainer, with Puchinito, who finished fifth in the fifth race at Belmont Park.

 24 1905: Harry Payne Whitney's Tanya became the second (and last) filly to win the Belmont Stakes. Ruthless was the first filly to win the Belmont, in 1867. Whitney also won the Kentucky Derby with a filly, Regret, in 1915.

1977: At odds of 13-1, Louis and Patrice Wolfson's two-year-old colt Affirmed won his maiden race by 4 1/2 lengths at Belmont Park, ridden by jockey Bernie Gonzalez.

 25 1991: Jockey Steve Cauthen won his fourth European derby, the Derby Italiano, with Hailsham, trained by Clive Brittain. Cauthen has also won the Epsom Derby twice, the Irish Derby and the French Derby, in addition to his Kentucky Derby win with Affirmed.

1998: Jockey Eddie Maple announced his retirement at Belmont Park while accepting the 1998 Mike Venezia Award. Maple ended his career with 4,398 career victories and earnings of $105,318,593.

 26

1985 - Spend-A-Buck won the Jersey Derby by a neck and earned a record $2.6 million. The thoroughbred won an extra $2 million dollars for sweeping the Jersey Derby, the Garden State Stakes, the Cherry Hill Mile and the Kentucky Derby. Career earnings for the horse were $3,009,509.

1823: A $20,000 match race between American Eclipse (representing The North) and Henry (representing The South) was held at Union Course, Long Island. Eclipse won in two-of-three heats, after his original jockey, William Crafts, was replaced by Samuel Purdy before the second heat. The race, witnessed by 60,000 spectators, was the first to have been timed by split-second chronometers, which were imported for the event.

1873: A bay colt, Survivor, won the first Preakness Stakes by 10 lengths, the largest margin in the race's history.

1878: The entire field of Preakness Stakes horses -- three -- was owned by a single family, the brothers George and Pierre Lorillard. George's horses finished first and third.

 1882: Trainer Robert Walden won his fifth consecutive Preakness Stakes, with Vanguard. Walden won a total of seven Preaknesses, a record for a trainer.

1979: Jockey Chris McCarron, 24, won his 2,000th career race, aboard Stembok, in the second race at Hollywood Park.

1981: Bill Shoemaker became the first jockey in racing history to win 8,000 races when he rode War Allied to victory in the first race at Hollywood Park.

 28 - 1997: Visa USA and Triple Crown Productions announced that they had increased the bonus for winning the Triple Crown to a total of $5 million.

2000: Jockey Edgar Prado registered his 4,000th career victory aboard Thunder Breeze in the second race at Belmont Park.

 29 - 1995 - Actor Christopher Reeve was thrown head first while riding his horse in Virginia. Reeve was paralyzed, unable to walk or breathe on his own. Reeve, whose chiseled good looks mirrored those of the comic book character, Superman, and who starred as the mythical character on the big screen, literally brought the role of Superman to life as he made valiant efforts to recover from his injury and fight for other victims of paralyzing injuries. (Christopher Reeve died Oct 10, 2004.)

1897: Scottish Chieftain, owned by Marcus Daly, became the only Montana bred to win the Belmont Stakes.

1907: Colin began his undefeated career, breaking his maiden by two lengths at Belmont Park.

1946: Two-year-old fillies Chakoora and Uleta became the first Thoroughbreds to complete a transcontinental flight. They were flown from New York to Inglewood, Calif., by the American Air Express Corporation, for a 2,446-mile trip that lasted 20 hours due to adverse weather conditions.

 30 1903: Flocarline became the first filly to win the Preakness Stakes

1908: Jockey Joe Notter misjudged the finish of the Belmont Stakes and eased up on his mount, Colin, whose career record to that point was 13-for-13. Notter barely recovered from his mistake to hold off the drive of Fair Play, who came within a head of defeating Colin. When he retired, Colin's record stood at 15 wins in as many starts.

1936: Omaha, the Triple Crown winner of 1935, won the Queens Plate at Kempton Park, England, for owner William Woodward.

1941: Hollywood Park introduced the "vibrationless camera," developed by Hollywood cameraman Lorenzo del Ricio. Eight patrol judges with the cameras, which were attached to their binoculars, were stationed at intervals around the track. Jockey Nunzio Pariso was the camera’s first victim -- he was shown on film crowding a rival on the far turn

1969: Patricia Barton won her first career race, at Pikes Peak.

 31 1969: Racing returned to Pennsylvania when Liberty Bell racetrack opened, near Philadelphia. The state had not had legal racing since 1802 and became the 30th state to adopt parimutuel wagering.

2001: Jockey Pat Day became just the third jockey in history to win 8,000 races, hitting the milestone by winning the sixth race at Churchill Downs aboard Camden Park. Day joined Laffit Pincay Jr. and Bill Shoemaker in the 8,000 club.