Found some old programs...
 

I started looking at some old programs today.
Thur. Mar 31 1977-AQU INNER
Featured race a H'Cap for F/M
1. Northern Heiress, eventual 6x winner dam of 2 SW's
2. Shawi, winner of the Affectionately, bed O' Roses and Rare Treat
3. Worthyana eventual 7x winner and dam of 2 stakes winners
4. Sweet Bernice, 10x winner, multiple stakes places
5. Abystar, 8x winner
6. Illiterate, 10x winner includig Affectionately and Interborough, dam of BCC winner Alphabet Soup

Kind of a cool race to find I saw back in my misspent youth. If my notes are correct, Illiterate won under Steve Cauthen as the 122lb highweight.

Wasn't Abystar a Rosoff/Zito horse?

Yes, she was.

How about this one:
June 24 1977
Race 4 5 1/2f MSW 2yo
1. Historically
2. Calligraphy
3. Tegay
4. Morning Frolic
5. Assago
6. Believe It
7. For Your Pleasure
8. Junction
9. Alydar
10. Sauce Boat

Race 8 NW3x F/M
1. Dottie's Doll
2. Tampa's Dream
3. Infernal Vernal
4. Fun Forever
5. Dr. Mary Lou
6. Leave Me Alone
7. Yehonatan
8. Imogene
(2,8 SCR)
The 7th featured Sail to Rome who had been a SW at 2.

Had my grandmother's funeral not been the next day I'd have seen the likes of Resolver, Grecian Banner, in the 3rd. Squander, (taking on Illiterate and Abystar) in the 4th and a good sprint in the 7th with Clout, Piamem, Fabled Monarch and American History. The feature was the NY H'cap. This time Sweet Bernice was on grass against some good grass mares of the day. Nijana, Javamine (dam of Java Gold) Welsh Pearl, Glowing Tribute(dam of Sea Hero, Hero's Honor, Wild Applause), Fleet Victress (winner) and Mississippi Mud, among others.

Funny how you look back at a Friday in June at Belmont 30+ years later and find something you didn't know was there at the time.

Really cool stuff to have!

I've started keeping a lot of programs, ticket stubs, photos etc., but somehow I don't think I'll ever look back and see the equivalent of Alydar in a MSW.

Or even Believe It or Sauce Boat.

Them too!

I did see the epic battle of Hello Broadway and Imperial Council. Surely that is going to be worth something in 30 years.

Boy, it sure seemed like it might have been more meaningful.

Here's how pathetic ( and narcissistic ) I am....that Alydar maiden race was ( shockingly ) a key race. Calligraphy ( who I believe was a Greentree horse....as my first thought was Woody but he trained Believe It ) returned on a day I was at Belmont. In those days Harvey Pack used to interview handicappers between races on Saturdays on TV, and I made my debut picking Calligraphy. He ran second to a firster who I think was named Cloud Forest.

For Your Pleasure, Morning Frolic, Believe It, Sauce Boat, Junction and Alydar were all SW's. Historically was a SP winner.

Calligraphy was Mill House (by Art and Letters) and Woody did train him. He and Believe It were uncoupled.

Cool thing to me was how many outstanding mares I saw and who they eventually produced.

You debuted on October 1, 1977! The racing isn't as good now, but at least we have better technology to quickly and freely learn:

Calligraphy
http://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbH...563&registry=T

Cloud Forest
http://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbH...862&registry=T

Sweet Bernice , daughter of Speak John . And Sauce Boat, sire of Barbicue Sauce ( dam of Tabasco Cat). . Makes me think of Ham Sandwich.

Maybe Cloud Forest was Greentree.

Mac Diarmida finished third in that maiden race.

Sauce Boat won the Arlington-Washingto Futurity and was third or fourth in Alydar's Champagne victory over Affirmed.

God racing was great back then.

John Imbriale brought in an old OTB entry sheet from Belmont in 1977 the other day. There were some great names on it. But none bigger than the horse that won the finale.....Lebon.

None as influential to the breed as Mississippi Mud, dam of Dixieland Band.

Hold on to those programs, if for nothing else than to be able to look back and reminisce when in the future someone on a message board talks about their old programs and you suddenly realize you threw all of yours away:(

Or a flood in your storage room ruined them.

A tragedy.

Now that's truly sad.

Pristine copies of the first few Marlboro Cups....Onion's Whitney over Secretariat. It makes me want to cry thinking about it.

I remember looking at the program one day at the track, I think Del Mar.

I saw a 2yo debuting that had my birthday. Since he was by Nijinsky, I went over to look him over in the walking ring and thought something like, wow, what a magnificent looking horse. I thought about keeping the program, but since I was only 18 years old or so, I had no use for sentiment. It was Ferdinand, and the race turned out to be a pretty good field, if I remember correctly.

Wish I'd have kept the Snow Chief msw program, Melairs last start, Swear, Akinemod and Lakeways programs.

Oh well.

Well at least your friends who couldn't think of what to get you for your birthday have a myriad of ideas now. Better than that Zenyatta paperweight.;);)

Did you apply for disaster relief? That is sad. I have los alot of programs. I like the old pocket programs but now I bring PP's to the track and don't get a program except on very big days.

I could argue that Glowing Tribute (who I missed that weekend but saw many times) as the dam of 7 sw's including Hero's Honor, Sea Hero and Wild Applause, was the most influential, though more through daughters than sons. Beneath Wild Applause are countless SW's including her son Roar, the broodmare sire of Rachel Alexandra.

I loved Glowing Tribute even when she raced. Wouldn't it be between her and Courtley Dee?

I still can't believe Wild Applause paid $9 when she made her turf debut in the Diana. Of course, Hero's Honor paid $22 in his turf debut....the race after Slew o' Gold beat Bates Motel a pimple in the Marlboro.

Courtly Dee might get the edge from me as a broodie. I cannot even count how many sw's she has under her. Maybe after I finish the THU card I'll do some searching. Hard to believe how many of those horses paid big on grass. My rule was if it was "Mellon bred" it was worth a bet on grass without even looking at the field.
Last week at Ascot a Rahy colt named Strong Suit won a 2yo stake. He's an Arky bred and I was curious so I looked him up. His 3rd dam is a full to Personal Ensign. This branch of the family hadn't produced much in 2 generations but this colt can really run. Now, I'm back in pedigree research mode.

Native Courier ( out of Courtley Dee ) was actually the first winner I picked on air with Harvey in a later appearance when he broke his maiden. I feel like Sid Watters trained him. He won over $500K racing through his 7YO year from 1977 to 1982. That is a ton of money for a turf horse back then.

Aug 25 1979
Race 6 included Charedi who eventual produced Gana Facil (dam of Unbridled) and Pentelicus. Also in the field was Love You Dear, a half to Affirmed.

None of the maidens that day became much but one was Vatza, a colt by Nijinsky x Shuvee. The Hopeful was the stake and it was...well...let's just say it was not one of the better renewals. JP Brother won. Who you say? Indeed.

......throat was what, 12 years old:confused:

He was a prodigy.

Man, this is some good stuff. The only good program I have in my possession is from the Laurel Futurity in November 2005.

Linny, a lot of your programs were BEFORE my time :p but, I do have a lot from 1986 - today.......including Pine Bluff 's maiden breaker (which I saw in person) from the Spa. Most of my old programs are in the back of the closet or in the garage attic along with many DRF Racing Forms from the late 80's into the 90's.

15.

I'm an old codger.

I also have a vast collection of Thoroughbred Record issues from 1976-78 and tons of BH issues from the early to mid 80's. If I start selecting articles from some of those to post we'll have a 100 page thread in no time.

I found the maiden breaker notice in an old TR today for Alleged. He broke his maiden as a late 2yo, at the Curagh IIIRC.

The first program that I just pulled out of my "large stash"

November 2, 1985 - Aqueduct
1st Race

1 Ketoh
1A Louisiana Slew
2 Papal Power
3 Au Bon Marche
4 Danzig Connection
5 Mogambo
6 Scat Dancer
7 Tasso
8 Mr. Classic
9 Real Courage
10 Groovy
11 Regal Dreamer
12 Storm Cat

(On the last page of the program - Robert Brennan of 1st Jersey Securities exclaims that "horse racing is entering into an exciting new era of growth and opportunity")

Of course, Tasso won the Breeders Cup Juvenile that year for Neil Drysdale and Laffit Pincay, Jr. (and things didn't turn out too well for Mr. Brennan).

I remember sitting in the grandstand 2nd level and mid-stretch on a blustery, cold day. Gotta love it !!!

I wish I still had that BC program. I looked for it for years. Pebbles was amazing that day.

Drawing out a random magazine: March 22 1977, Thoroughbred Record
Cover photo: HUNCH-Swiftest in the Swift (now the Capossela) The pic looks like it could hae been taken this past March at AQU.
For the Record page Neophytes colums reports that Taisez Vous (eventual G1 winner) broker her maiden at Santa Anita. Meanwhile Cum Laude Laurie broke her maiden at Hialeah in her 2nd start. She is noted as a full to Prince Thou Art who rallied from well back.
Comebacks of note: Our Mims (f.3) rallied in an allowance score and Seattle Slew (c. 3) scored by 9 in his first start since the Champagne
Two record setters:
Crystal Water in the Santa Anita H 1:59 1/5 and Hunch (our cover boy) winning the Swift breaking the record by "a tick."

I live in a little Racing Museum all my own. Sad really....

I still have some programs from the '93 season at the Daytona Beach Kennel Club.

It's glorious finding an animal you desperately want to bet on next time it runs - and only having to wait like 3 days for it to run back. And at 14 races a card and 8 cards a week ... the well of possible betbacks never runs dry.

Hate to say it ... but when you only have very small money to play with ... dog racing at a rum-dumb track is the vastly superior game.

It's funny, btw, that you should mention Courtly Dee.

There was a colt that broke his maiden in Monmouth's 6th on Sunday. It was his 4th career start, and 2nd going 9f on the turf. His name is They Call Me Giant, by Giant's Causeway out of an Alydar mare named Aishah. She in turn was produced by none other than Courtly Dee, which makes her a full sister to Althea.

The only reason I know this is because I saw Alydar's name as the damsire of this colt, and for some reason got intrigued.....wanting to know where Alydar's offspring are in terms of timeline, so I decided to find out more about her. When Courtly Dee's name popped up as her dam, I just went, "WOW"!

I did find out that Aishah was an aged mare of 20 years when They Call Me Giant was foaled (born in 1987), and that Alydar's last foal crop arrived in 1991 (which most folks who have half a memory would know). They are, or would be 19 years old this year. It would seem pretty likely that They Call Me Giant is among the last young horses we will see with him as their broodmare sire.

Anyway, I thought it was funny that, after doing that little bit of research, Courtly Dee should come up in this thread. Kinda cool!

Comebacks of note: Our Mims (f.3) rallied in an allowance score

She was one of my favorite fillies of the 1970's - John Veitch & Darby Dan Farm

How about this for a race in my 35 cent program?

Oct 11, 1976 - Belmont Park - 8th Race The Man O' War

1 Trumpeter Swan 10-1
2 Banghi 20-1
3 Caucasus 3-1
4 American History 15-1
5 Erwin Boy 8-1
6 Effervescing 15-1
7 Kamaraan 2nd 6-1
8 Dahlia 4-1
9 Great Contractor 10-1
10 Recupere (G.B.) 20-1
11 L'Heureux 5-1
12 Crackle 20-1
13 Rouge Sang 20-1

I bet the #9 - I always played Roger Laurin's horses on the lawn, but

if I recall - Angel Cordero, Jr. "snuck by down on the hedge" to win the 18th running of the MOW at the wire with Effervescing, a 3-yr old colt for Odgen Phipps and J. W. Russell....

Our Mims was Calumet.

Great Contractor is the only horse I have ever seen in the Belmont Stakes with a prior race at 1 1/2 miles. He ran on the turf at 1 1/2 at Hialeah, maybe the Bouganvilla, against olders in the Spring before coming close against Bold Forbes.

I just looked Great Contractor up. He ran twice at 1 1/2 in Florida, once at Hialeah and once at Gulfstream. He also won the JCGC that Fall the first time it was run at 1 1/2 after being 2 miles in prior years ( Revidere was 3rd ). He buried Forego in the Suburban at 1 1/2 the following year by 11 lengths.

His second to last start was a third in the Exceller/Seattle Slew JCGC.

Ketoh! Another Lukas'd runner. I thought he had a bright future. I believe he was another one out of Courtly Dee.

now this is an enjoyable thread!

Louisiana Slew was another Lukas in that race. The hype on that horse was just tremendous. Cost almost 3 mil and was basically an allowance horse, at best.

I could be wrong, but I think Nijana broke her maiden in the Schylerville.

One of the Saratoga 3YO turf stakes, the Lake Placid or Lake George, used to be called the Nijana. She was also a half to Prod who was one of my first favorites.