RACING TO HISTORY
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Sept. 29, 1973: With Meadow Stable’s Riva Ridge scratched because of rainy weather, his stablemate Secretariat was left to compete in the 1 ¹/₂-mile Woodward Stakes at Belmont Park. Prove Out, trained by Allen Jerkens, beat the 3-10 favorite Secretariat, who faded after 1 ¹/₄ miles to finish second by 4 ¹/₂ lengths. Another Jerkens trainee, Onion, had defeated Secretariat in the Whitney Stakes on Aug. 4 at Saratoga.                        

Sept. 30, 1898: Jockey Tod Sloan rode five consecutive winners at England’s Newmarket racecourse.

Sept. 30, 1922: After a six-year hiatus, racing returned to Chicago with the reopening of Hawthorne Park. The popular gelding Exterminator, winner of the 1918 Kentucky Derby and the then-second-leading money winner of all time, made a special appearance, racing solo against the track-record time of 2:04 3-5 for 1 1-4 miles.  He completed the distance in 2:10.

Sept. 30, 1969: Jockey Kathy Kusner won her first career race, at Pocono Downs. Kusner, a former rider with the U.S. Equestrian Team, had sued to obtain a jockey’s license in Maryland in 1968. She won her case but was subsequently sidelined by a broken leg suffered in a training accident.

Sept. 30, 1981: Jockey Laffit Pincay Jr. had his 5,000^th career win, aboard Wander in the seventh race at Santa Anita Park.

Sept. 30, 1990: Bill Shoemaker had his first graded stakes win as a trainer when Baldomero (IRE) won the Grade III Golden Harvest Handicap at Louisiana Downs.

Oct. 2, 1943: Belmont Park hosted “Back the Attack” day in support of the war effort. Admission was by purchase of $25 or $100 war bonds. Approximately $25 million was raised.

Oct. 2, 1981: At age 17, Behavin Jerry, the oldest Thoroughbred in racing competition, set the record for most career starts by a Thoroughbred, 307. Behavin Jerry began his career as a two-year-old in 1966 and raced every year thereafter through 1978. He took two years off, 1979-80, and returned to racing at age 17 in 1981.  

Oct. 2, 2010: Six-year-old mare Zenyatta ran her record to a perfect 19-for-19 by winning the Lady’s Secret Stakes at Oak Tree at Hollywood Park. The 19^th straight win tied Zenyatta with Peppers Pride, a filly who ran up her streak against restricted, New Mexico-bred competition from 2005-2008.

Oct. 3, 1942: With a victory in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, Whirlaway, ridden by George Woolf, became the first Thoroughbred to amass more than $500,000 in lifetime earnings.

Oct. 4, 1762: Nineteen members of England’s Jockey Club announced an agreement at Newmarket to register their racing colors for purposes of distinguishing runners among a field of horses. The Duke of Devonshire chose “straw,” and the color, still registered for the family, is the oldest continuously used color in racing.

Oct. 4, 1970: Nijinsky II’s 11-race winning streak came to an end when he ran second to Sassafras in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

Oct. 4, 1972: Secretariat worked a mile in 1:37 in preparation for the Oct. 14 Champagne Stakes.

Oct. 4, 1980: Less than an hour before post time, Spectacular Bid was scratched from the Jockey Club Gold Cup, the race that was to have been his last. Trainer Bud Delp claimed that “Bid” had a slight leg injury, but refused to allow a veterinarian to examine the horse and insisted he be retired. Despite this ignoble end to his career, Spectacular Bid’s 1980 racing season was perfect: he won each of his nine starts, all of them stakes, and was subsequently voted Horse of the Year.

Oct. 4, 1989: Secretariat, 1973 Triple Crown champion, was euthanized at Claiborne Farm, Paris, Ky., after suffering a severe case of laminitis. He was 19.

Oct. 4, 2003: Trainer Bobby Frankel saddled Sightseek to victory in the Beldame Stakes at Belmont Park. For Frankel, it was his 23^rd Grade I stakes winner of the year, breaking D. Wayne Lukas’ record of 22 set in 1987. 

Oct. 4, 2003: Thanks to Belmont Park victories aboard Sightseek in the Beldame Stakes and Birdstone in the Champagne Stakes, jockey Jerry Bailey surpassed his own single season record for North American purse earnings--$19,271,814--set in 2002.

Oct. 4, 2008: Undefeated five-year-old mare, Peppers Pride, became the first modern North American-based Thoroughbred to win 17 consecutive races when she captured an optional claiming race at Zia Park in Hobbs, N.M.

Oct. 5, 1933: Jockey Gordon Richards concluded a 12-race winning streak that had begun on Oct. 3 when he won the last race at Nottingham, followed by a six-for-six day at Chepstow on Oct. 4 and five wins at Chepstow on Oct. 5.

Oct. 5, 1953: Twenty-one years after he retired from riding, 54-year-old Earl Sande, ‘the Handy Guy,’ returned to the saddle, finishing third on Honest Bread at Belmont Park.

Oct. 5, 1973: In his final workout for his first grass race, the Man o’ War Stakes, Secretariat went five furlongs on the turf in :56 ⁴/₅ at Belmont Park.

Oct. 5, 1983: Jockey Jorge Velasquez won his 5,000th career race, riding Banquet Scene to victory in the fourth race at Belmont Park.

Oct. 6, 1949: Col. Matt J. Winn, credited with making the Kentucky Derby the greatest horse race in America, died at the age of 88. He witnessed all of the first 75 Derbies.

Oct. 6, 1979: In their only race together, champions Affirmed and Spectacular Bid met in the Jockey Club Gold Cup. Odds-on favorite Affirmed, ridden by Laffit Pincay Jr., won by 3-4 of a length and became the first horse ever to earn more than $1 million in a single racing season. Affirmed was later voted Horse of the Year off this convincing victory over Spectacular Bid, who was named champion three-year-old.

Oct. 6, 1989: Parimutuel racing returned to Texas with a meet held at G. Rollie White Downs. Racing had been banned in the state since 1937.

Oct. 7, 1956: In his final start of his career, four-year-old Ribot won the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe for the second consecutive year and retired a perfect 16-for-16.

Oct. 7, 2001: Jockey Jerry Bailey became the first jockey in history to surpass $20 million in purses in a single year, eclipsing his own single-season record of $19,465,376 set back in 1996.

Oct. 8, 1973: Secretariat made his grass-racing debut in the Man o’ War Stakes at Belmont Park, winning the 1 1-2-mile race by five lengths in a time of 2:24 4-5.  He overran the finish line by another furlong, running 1 5-8 miles in a world-record-equaling time of 2:37 4-5.

Oct. 8, 2007: Two-time Horse of the Year and seven-time Eclipse Award winner John Henry was euthanized at the Kentucky Horse Park at age 32.

Oct. 9, 2008: jockey Patrick Valenzuela gained the 4,000th win of his career when he guided Burst of Light to victory in the 2^nd race at Louisiana Downs.

Oct. 10, 1974: With female riders still a novelty, Lincoln Downs staged a $5,000 match race between jockeys Denise Boudrot and Mike Lapensee. The race, dubbed the ‘contest of the sexes,’ was won by Boudrot. In a rematch one week later, in which the riders switched their mounts from their previous encounter, Boudrot again prevailed.

Oct. 10, 2009: Champion older-mare Zenyatta equaled Personal Ensign’s mark of 13 wins without a loss when she won the Lady’s Secret Stakes at Oak Tree at Santa Anita.

Oct. 10, 2010: Charming Fella, a 10-year-old gelding, made his career debut in a maiden claiming race at Turf Paradise and won – on 10/10/10.

Oct. 11, 1924: A crowd of 60,000 assembled at Latonia to watch the third and final International race, for which a French colt, Epinard, was the headliner. Epinard, who had finished second in his two previous Internationals, did so again, losing as the even-money favorite to Sarazen.

Oct. 12, 1920: In the final race of his career, three-year-old Man o’ War defeated 1919 Triple Crown winner Sir Barton in a match race, the Kenilworth Park Gold Cup, at Kenilworth Park. Sent off at odds of 1-20, Man o’ War won by seven lengths in his 14^th consecutive victory.

Oct. 12, 1966: Damascus, owned by Edith W. Bancroft, broke his maiden at Aqueduct Racetrack, winning by eight lengths.

Oct. 12, 2003: Bill Shoemaker, Hall of Fame jockey who won 8,833 races including four Kentucky Derbys, died at age 72.

WEEKEND STAKES RACES (unrestricted stakes in N.A. worth $75,000 and up)
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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30
Senator Ken Maddy Stakes, 3&up (f&m), $100,000, Grade III, 6 1-2F (T), Santa Anita Park
David M. Vance Sprint Stakes, 3&up, $100,000, 6F, Remington Park

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1
Jockey Club Gold Cup Invitational, 3&up, $750,000, Grade I, 1 1-4M, Belmont Park
Cotillion Stakes, 3yo fillies, $750,000, Grade II, 1 1-8M, Parx Racing
Flower Bowl Invitational, 3&up (f&m), $500,000, Grade I, 1 1-4M (T), Belmont Park
Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational, 3&up, $500,000, Grade I, 1 1-2M (T), Belmont Park
Indiana Derby, 3yo, $500,000, Grade II, 1 1-16M, Hoosier Park
Beldame Invitational, 3&up (f&m), $350,000, Grade I, 1 1-8M, Belmont Park
Vosburgh Invitational, 3&up, $350,000, Grade I, 6F, Belmont Park
Goodwood Stakes, 3&up, $250,000, Grade I, 1 1-8M, Santa Anita Park
Lady’s Secret Stakes, 3&up (f&m), $250,000, Grade I, 1 1-16M, Santa Anita Park
Norfolk Stakes, 2yo, $250,000, Grade I, 1 1-16M, Santa Anita Park
Yellow Ribbon Stakes, 3&up (f&m), $250,000, Grade I, 1 1-4M (T), Santa Anita Park
Indiana Oaks, 3yo fillies, $200,000, Grade II, 1 1-16M, Hoosier Park
Kelso Handicap, 3&up, $200,000, Grade II, 1M, Belmont Park
Brandywine Stakes, 2yo fillies, $150,000, 7F, Parx Racing
Birdonthewire Stakes, 2yo, $100,000, 6F, Calder
Cassidy Stakes, 2yo fillies, $100,000, 6F, Calder
Fitz Dixon Jr. Memorial Juvenile Stakes, 2yo, $100,000, 6 1-2F, Presque Isle Downs
H.B.P.A. Stakes, 3&up (f&m), $100,000, 1M 70 yds., Presque Isle Downs
Mari Hulman George Stakes, 3&up (f&m), $100,000, 1 1-16M, Hoosier Park
Michael G. Schaefer Memorial Mile Stakes, 3&up, $100,000, 1M, Hoosier Park
Presque Isle Debutante, 2yo fillies, $100,000, 6F, Presque Isle Downs
Garden State Stakes, 2yo, $85,000, 1M 70 yds., Monmouth Park
Ascot Graduation Stakes, 2yo, $75,000, 1 1-16M, Hastings Park
Blue Hen Stakes, 2yo fillies, $75,000, 1M 70 yds., Delaware Park
Fantasy Stakes, 2yo, $75,000, 1 1-16M, Hastings Park

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 2
Oak Leaf Stakes, 2yo fillies, $250,000, Grade I, 1 1-16M, Santa Anita Park
Clement L. Hirsch Turf Championship, 3&up, $150,000, Grade II, 1 1-4M (T), Santa Anita Park
Nashua Stakes, 2yo, $150,000, Grade II, 6F, Belmont Park
Durham Cup Stakes, 3&up, $150,000, Grade III, 1 1-8M, Woodbine
Miss Grillo Stakes, 2yo fillies, $100,000, Grade III, 1 1-16M (T), Belmont Park
Pilgrim Stakes, 2yo, $100,000, Grade III, 1 1-16M (T), Belmont Park
Tempted Stakes, 2yo fillies, $100,000, Grade III, 6F, Belmont Park
Ballerina Stakes, 3&up (f&m), $100,000, Grade III, 1 1-8M, Hastings Park
British Columbia Premier’s Handicap, 3&up, $100,000, Grade III, 1 3-8M, Hastings Park
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