In 2007, we took a trip down to various parts of Kentucky. I was 12 years old and, of course, thrilled to be there, as a young racing fan. We went to Keeneland in the morning, took a tour of Three Chimneys - where I got to meet my favorite horse of all time, Smarty Jones - and finally, we traveled up to Louisville for a day at the races at Churchill Downs. It just happened to be the day of a big stakes race.
For all the other races, we stayed in our seats. However, I wanted to see the stakes runners up close, so we went to the paddock rail to watch the goings-on there. How thrilling it was! To be merely feet away from riders like Rafael Bejarano and Julien Leparoux! I was in the presence of celebrities, and my heart pounded at the thought.
My pick to win the race was Brilliant, a beautiful white-faced colt in the colors of Live Oak Plantation. My brother, a big Star Wars fan at the time, selected Obi Wan Kenobi, naturally. I took a picture of each of the horses and then, when they headed back to the track, went back to my seat to watch the race.
We took a video of it, but that file has since been lost in the shuffle. However, YouTube, being the great resource it is, has a recording of that race, called by the late, great Luke Kruytbosch.
They broke from the gate and the #1 horse, Remarkable News, immediately shot to the lead on the hedge. For an instant it looked as if Brilliant would take second, but a wall of horses on his outside rushed up, led by Tiganello, who would settle in just behind the leader. Remarkable News led the field through easy fractions of 24 in change, 47 and change, 1:11 and change...he was saving his energy for the stretch drive!
As they hit the stretch, his jockey gave him the go-ahead, and with a fresh burst of energy, Remarkable News was able to hold off the late run of Brilliant in the stretch, winning by a couple of lengths in a nice time of 1:34.74. The winner was piloted by Ramon Dominguez; little did I know that six years later, the champion jockey would retire. Remarkable News would go on to be fourth in the Woodbine Mile and then seventh in that soggy Breeders' Cup Mile won by the gray Kip Deville.
The Firecracker Handicap is by far the biggest race I've had the pleasure to see in person. Though I will see bigger in the future, Remarkable News' wire to wire win will always have a special place in my heart as the first.
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| 2007 Firecracker Handicap winner Remarkable News, with Ramon Dominguez up |
For someone just 12 years old at the time, THAT was a huge deal I'm sure. While the FIrecracker is far from the most important race on the calendar, it is yet a race that does have some significance overall.
ReplyDeleteI can probably equate back to the 1970s when I was spoiled by all the top horses of the day who were running in my backyard growing up in New York, that included Forego (who was in the same crop as Secretariat but stuck around to when I first followed the sport in 1974 and beyond), Foolish Please and others. To me, the greatest race of all time was the 1976 Marlboro Cup that had Forego having to tote 137 pounds against the best the Sport of Kings had at the time. The race can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMJjiWXCM3s
(The video of this race is from the old WOR-TV (Channel 9 in New York) racing shows and had then-NYRA track announcer Dave Johnson calling the race).
And since it's July 4, Here's Forego winning The Brooklyn Handicap at Belmont Park on July 4, 1975, setting the then-track record of 1:59 4/5 for 1 1/4 Miles: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wI5Qia0jGd4
(Note: At that time, 1 1/4 Mile races at Belmont were around one turn out of the chute, that ended after the training track (which they had to cross in such races) had its surface changed to accommodate winter racing in New York in 1977).