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Abstract
An American boxing champion that became a congressman, a lawyer who made a fortune on Wall Street, the grandfather of Winston Churchill and a horseman combined to stage the first national meeting nearly 144 years ago.
It was held as an experiment. Well, the
experiment, four days at Saratoga
Raceway that began Aug. 3, 1863, was a
huge success. So much so that the
quartet decided to expand the following
year and move across the street to
construct a bigger track to accommodate
larger crowds.
They called it Saratoga Race Course, located
in the resort of Saratoga
Springs where the first thoroughbred race
in this country was held in 1847.
The principle players were:
William R. Travers, a lawyer named president
of the Saratoga Association,
who was such a force in racing that the
oldest major American thoroughbred
race bears his name.
John “Old Smoke” Morrissey,
former bare-knuckle champ, gambler and
a
soon-to-be lawmaker on state and national
levels that once was a New York
gang member in the 1850s.
Leonard Walter Jerome, flamboyant entrepreneur,
father of Churchill’s mother
and another successful stock speculator
known as “the King of Wall Street.”
John R. Hunter, whose horses ran on both
sides of the Atlantic and co-owned
the first winner of the Travers with Travers
in 1864 named Kentucky.
The Saratoga meeting originally consisted
of four weeks, but subsequently
was lengthened another week and finally
became a six-week meeting that now
ends on Labor Day.
Saratoga Springs, located in upstate New
York, was known as The Spa for the
mineral springs in the area. And it later
became known as the Graveyard of
Favorites as well as the Graveyard of Champions.
Some champions that tasted defeat at the
hands of unheralded opponents
included Man ’o War, Gallant Fox
and Secretariat.
Big Red’s only loss in 21 races
came in 1919 in a sprint on a muddy track
to
the aptly named Upset, ’73 Triple
Crown champion Secretariat was surprised
by Onion in the Whitney Stakes and another
Triple Crown winner, Gallant Fox,
was defeated by 100-1 shot Jim Dandy in
the ’30 Travers.
The Jim Dandy later became a stakes race,
established in ’64 as an
appropriate prep for the Travers.
The 36-day meeting that opens July 25
features significant purse increases
of more than 13 ½ percent, the New
York Racing Association announced. That’s
up from an already industry leading daily
average exceeding $678,800 to an
expected $771, 535.
Open allowance races at 1 1/8 miles jump
$17,000 to $68,000 and purses for
open maiden sprints climb $15,000 to $62,000.
Overnight stakes rise $10,000
to $75,000.
There will be 47 stakes, included 33 graded
races. And 15 stakes are Grade 1
events. In addition, there are seven multi-stakes
days, including the
track’s richest two afternoons.
On July 28, the 80th running of $750,000
Whitney heads four stakes worth
more than $1.7 million. On Aug. 25, the
138th Travers, worth $1 million, is
the headliner on a four stakes card of
more than $1.5 million.
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