July 11, 1997: Breeders’ Cup Ltd. announced that supplemental entry fees would be added to the purses of Breeders’ Cup Championship Day events.
July 12, 1971: Bold Ruler, sire of 82 stakes winners, including Secretariat, died at Claiborne Farm. July 13, 1986: Jockey Kent Desormeaux rode his first winner, a three-year-old filly named Miss Tavern, in the fifth race at Evangeline Downs.
July 13, 1996: Cigar tied Citation’s record of 16 consecutive victories, winning the Citation Challenge at Arlington International Racecourse.
July 14, 1951: In his last race, Calumet Farm’s six-year-old Citation won the Hollywood Gold Cup by four lengths, and became racing’s first millionaire horse.
July 14, 1999: Television Games Network (TVG) made its official debut with horse racing programming available to 1.1 million C-band satellite homes though Superstar/Netlink Group, the nation’s largest satellite programming provider.
July 15, 1966: Dr. Fager won his first race by seven lengths at Aqueduct racetrack. He was sent off at odds of 10-1. July 15, 1972: After finishing fourth in his racing debut on July 4, Secretariat won his first race, under jockey Paul Feliciano. The six-length victory occurred at Aqueduct.
July 15, 1987: Jack Van Berg became the first trainer to win 5,000 races when he sent Art’s Chandelle, a $10,000 claimer, to victory at Arlington Park.
July 15, 2000: Three-year-old filly Hallowed Dreams kept her record perfect and tied Cigar’s and Citation’s record of 16 consecutive wins by taking the Dixie Miss Stakes at Louisiana Downs.
July 16, 1998: Breeders’ Cup Limited announced that a new $1 million turf race for fillies and mares would be added to Breeders’ Cup Championship Day beginning in 1999. The race would be called the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf and would be run at 1 1/4 miles.
July 17, 1975: Jockey Laffit Pincay Jr. notched his 3,000th career victory, aboard Lexington Lark at Hollywood Park. July 17, 1994: Former jockey Angel Cordero Jr. had his first stakes victory as a trainer when he sent Holy Mountain to win the Lexington Stakes at Belmont Park. Cordero was officiating on behalf of Holy Mountain’s regular trainer, Bob Klesaris, who was serving a suspension.
July 18, 1942: Garden State Park officially opened. A crowd of 31,682 welcomed the return of racing to New Jersey after a 49-year absence.
July 18, 1989: The last Northern Dancer foal to be sold at public auction, later named Northern Park, was purchased by Zenya Yoshida for $2.8 million. In 30 starts over four years in France, Northern Park compiled a 4-7-4 record.
July 18, 1993: Jockey Gary Stevens topped $100 million in purse earnings after winning the seventh race at Hollywood Park aboard Don’t Presume (GB).
July 19, 2000: Allen Paulson, owner and breeder of Cigar, died in La Jolla, Calif. after a long battle with cancer. He was 78.
July 20, 1951: Six-year-old Citation, the first Thoroughbred to earn $1 million, was retired.
July 20, 1974: Carl Rosen’s Chris Evert trounced Miss Musket by 50 lengths in the world’s richest match race, a $350,000 winner-take-all contest at Hollywood Park.
July 20, 1988: John Galbreath, founder of Darby Dan Farm, died at age 90. He was the first person to have owned and bred winners of the Kentucky Derby (Chateaugay and Proud Clarion) and the Epsom Derby (Roberto).
July 21, 1989: Jockey Chris McCarron notched his 5,000th winner, riding I Sure Hope So to victory in the fifth race at Hollywood Park.
July 22, 1999: Dale Baird, the winningest trainer in history, recorded his 8,000th victory at Mountaineer Race Track in Chester, W.V., sending out Midsummer Scene to take the 6th race.
July 23, 1947: Early Edition, Hunter’s Sun and Brown Jewel, all offspring of the sire Hunter’s Moon IV, finished 1-2-3, respectively, in a race at Hollywood Park
July 23, 1985: A bay colt, Seattle Dancer, son of Nijinsky II and the mare My Charmer, sold to Robert Sangster for $13.1 million-the record price for a Thoroughbred. Seattle Dancer, a half brother to 1977 Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew, raced five times as a three-year-old to earn less than $150,000 from two wins, one second and one third before he was retired. The previous record for a horse sold at auction was $10.2 million, paid by Sheikh Mohammed al Maktoum in 1983 for Snaafi Dancer, who never raced.
