ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - It was an Arlington Million and a half.
The first Million, in 1981, was pure melodrama, with John Henry getting up in the final stride to score by a nose over The Bart after his cause had appeared hopeless. There have been numerous thrilling renewals in the interim, but none had the impact of Saturday's 20th running, when Prince Khalid Abdullah's Beat Hollow, the 7-10 favorite, prevailed by a head over an old rival, Sarafan.
DEL MAR, Calif. - It was a strange sight to behold. The ultimate warrior, helpless as a rag doll. Sunday Silence, the uncrowned Horse of the Year, was lying flat on his back, three legs folded and one upraised, sedated and prepped for surgery.
An air tube was snaked between his clenched teeth. His feet were padded with hospital booties. The knee of his raised right foreleg was scrubbed and shaved, awaiting arthroscopic penetration by the delicate tools of Dr. Greg Ferraro.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - The Jockey Club's annual Round Table on Matters Pertaining to Racing will convene here Sunday for the 50th year. It's an admirable streak for the granddaddy of racing symposia, but the conference has become only one in a series of such meetings throughout the year, reflecting the industry's fractured nature and its lack of a definitive venue or mechanism for addressing the sport's problems and opportunities.
The Round Table is one of at least six such industry gatherings:
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - In the late 1940's, Milton Menasco, the prominent turf artist of the day, took his oils and canvas to Belmont Park and caught a remarkable moment in racing history. He set up his equipment at the barn of Ben and Jimmy Jones, who were preparing the Calumet Stable horses for their next campaign.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - You's glorious victory in the Test Stakes here and her other Grade 1 scores this season in the Acorn Mile, the Santa Anita Oaks, and the Las Virgenes will make her a solid favorite under Jerry Bailey in Saturday's $750,000 Alabama Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/4 miles.
But the role of favorite in the historic Alabama, first run in 1877, has been one of racing's most perilous assignments. Heavy favorites have taken their lumps with stunning regularity, and through the years, the stories of these upsets have become legend.
TUCSON, Ariz. - A racing legend died in Maine last Friday, and an era died with him.
Tom Shehan fought the full championship distance, battling 12 rounds of cancer surgery before losing a split decision. He was 91, the last of the pre-television racing writers. In all those years he never forgot a face, a friend, a fact, a figure, or a fine story, and he delighted in spinning fascinating and funny yarns.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - The Test Stakes was memorable but Saturday's $500,000 Sword Dancer Invitational was unforgettable.
In the seven-furlong Test, You and Carson Hollow dueled through the stretch, with You prevailing by a nose in a thriller that surely was going to be the competitive highlight of an outstanding meeting.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Azeri was dragging her trainer around the Del Mar walking ring Thursday morning, getting her first look at the amphitheater paddock, when an innocent bystander put 2 and 2 together and wondered out loud: "Is that Dublino?"
An honest mistake. The stable of Laura de Seroux is based at the San Luis Rey Downs training center, some 40 miles northeast of Del Mar. Right now, her shed row looks like the cast from "Xena: Warrior Princess," without the surgical enhancements.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Should America's most important races be subject to greater scrutiny for improper medication than the sport's daily fare?
That thorny question is making the rounds at Saratoga these days as the industry's major players and organizations have descended on the town for this past week's yearling sales and the upcoming "Industry Week" of board meetings and conferences.