Before the start ~ your personal, pre BC I memories
 

I was wondering, and this question is for people who were into the game 30 years ago, about the first Breeders Cup.

I've read about it and all but what I'm interested in are personal accounts.

When was the first time you heard about the idea for it? What did you think? As it started coming together did you care? Were you excited?

Did it get press? Did you think it would be a one time event?

I'm not asking about the actual races or how profitable a day you had but what were your thoughts leading up to it?

Thanks! :)

i remember it. there was a lot of positive press about it. and of course still some big time horses around for the first, with john henry and slew o' gold getting a lot of attention.
now, i wonder if it wasn't a bad idea after all....because back in those days, you have the fall handicap triple. when was the last marlboro cup? and why is everything a prep for either the derby or the bc now? christ, always prepping...it's like always a bridesmaid.

I remember I thought Nialator had no shot on a 5/8th track against Dragon's Lair. And Roger Huston's call is magical.. Best Breeders Crown ever

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZUAAnTlNmI

I think people were curious more than anything about the Breeders Cup being run for the 1st time back in 1984. I remember that I had to miss the live telecast (attended a family wedding), but video-recorded the entire day on VHS and could not wait to get home to see it.

Remember there were no cell phones let alone smart phones and the best you could do was call a betting service that might announce the official order of finish just after the race was official.

The following year I was lucky enough to attend the 1985 Breeders Cup event at Aqueduct. The Big A never seemed so exciting, festive and crowded (and cold) to me than on that day.

So I would say that initial BC in 1984 was a huge success....

This is a great post. Thanks for answering. :tro:

You too Danzig.

... and Freddy, as always, thank you for your insight. Not sure if you're presently inebriated or if it's just a short bus kinda day or what but sure... it's appreciated.

I went, but I can't remember the lead up to the BC. But it was a good year to be in LA, because they just had the Olympics and then the BC.

I just pulled out the Racing Form I saved from that day and the headline was:
" $10 in Breeders' Cup Purses Begin New Era today"
One of the articles said that "Nelson Bunker Hunt was the Chairman of the Site Committee and they traveled widely to hear countless proposals before choosing HP.

Also John Henry did not run. He was supplemented, but had a ligament issue leading up to BC.

I remember them showing Dynasty patriarch, John Forsythe (Blake Kerrington), so I figured it must be a cool place to be.

:D

My dad was the head writer, the script consultant, and one of the producers. It's Carrington, with a C. :p

:eek:
Do you have them from every special day?

yeah, it was too bad he couldn't make it to bc day. he got a lot of attention leading up to it, but bad luck intervened. and if it wasn't such a big day, i seriously doubt that the taylors would have run slew o'gold.

The thing I remember leading up to it was thinking how great it was that they were running all stakes races. There was a special edition of the Form I believe because we never saw hollywood pp's in the East. You have to remember that they didn't stack stakes races up on one day back then so having all those stakes in a row was unique. I don't think I cashed a ticket but that isn't that unusual even now. Still think that Day's ride on Wild Again was his best work.

Okay so this is a dumb question but since I didn't know the above I'll ask... did they have things like Pick 3s and 4s back then? Tris and supers? If not when did that kind of wagering begin?

Yes I did try, unsuccessfully, to find the answer to this.

ok they had 7 BC races that day, and they only had $5 exacta's on all races except the first 2 races, and they $2 pick six 2nd thru 7th race and $2 DD's only on first and 2nd races. Talk about old school !!

Interesting... thanks!

(Glad that has changed! :D ).

No just a few BC days, most likely from when they ran out in Ca.

:tro:

I was splitting my time between the Lexington Training Center and Mare Haven in mornings and UK's campus the rest of the day (it was the best of times :D), and at the former two the excitement level was of course palpable. The Classic, controversy aside, was an incredible finish to the day. A lot of us thought that Wild Again's owners were crazy to pay the supplement. We would toast WA and PD and them that evening.

First place was worth $1.35 million, which didn't seem like a very good return, considering the money Wild Again's ownership had risked.
"Don't worry about us, pal," said Ron Volkman, one of the owners. "We more than made up for it at the windows."
Wild Again paid $64.60 to win, still a record for the Classic.
Pat Day, riding Wild Again--his first of six Breeders' Cup winners--followed orders from trainer Vincent Timphony, which included not hitting the colt because he might shy from the stick.
Said Day: "As we turned for home, Slew O' Gold ranged up on the outside of me, and my horse was tiring significantly at that point. I thought that was as far as we were going to go.
"But as Slew came to me, he never got by me. My little horse just refused to give up. He dug down with such a gutsy last quarter of a mile that it gives me goose bumps just to talk about it. I could hear him grunting every jump, just straining."
http://articles.latimes.com/1993-11-...eders-cup-race

Pat Day recalls:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anKQHZLf1GA

The Wild Inaugural Classic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGoay4TJ-I0

Relive the day (thanks KirisClown)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JH0XVYLHnZg

What a delightful thread! Thanks for starting it MMSC.

Had Gate Dancer to win and place.........thought he got Hosed, still do. Hollwood park was so great back in those days:(

Amen..............

Forget my wagering stories.

What I remember from 01 and 05 at Belmont is it being really really cold. I'm a baby. I need warmth.

When ever I hear the TRF ad played on Steve's show and they replay the stretch call of Gulchs 1988 BC sprint win I cringe. I had Play the King at something like 70-1. Ruined my whole day until Personal Ensign's win. How that isnt the greatest BC moment is beyond me.

i went to hollywood park with the girl i married 3 years later and watched the races. they had placed temporary seating on the apron between the stands and the track and I had two seats there for $15 each. they were in the sun all day but were just before the finish line. i remember I couldn't believe how well placed the seats were for $15.

i remember the "pavilion off the stars" had just opened and had the most expensive seats but they were on the wrong side of the finish line.

i'm looking through the program and seeing all the notes i scribbled on it and wonder if it would be worth anything if i hadn't done that. i can also see my ex's cryptic 5,1,1,4,7 on the pages with the classic and wonder what it means.

mostly I remember betting $50 on the slew o' gold entry in the classic. i was probably making about $7/hour and paying $300/month or so for rent. i had assured myself and my ex he couldn't lose. $20 would have been more than i could afford to bet on 1 race at the time.

it remains one of my personal touch points for not betting heavily on favorites.

.......P.E. getting up in the last jump to beat Winning Colors Ruined my day. that was 2 great fillies doing serious battle.

one hell of an effort from an amazing horse. i don't know that any horse has ever tried harder than personal ensign did that day. every time i watch the replay, i still think she's not going to win...even tho i know the result. just seemed too impssible to do. she wouldn't quit, when she had every right to toss it in.

I was too "young in the game" (not young as a person, mind you) in 1984 to have much recollection of anything I really thought about the Breeders Cup then. I just know I was really excited about it. I'm born and raised SoCal, but for some reason, I didn't go to Hollywood Park that day. I just parked myself in front of the TV with my Racing Form.

I remember Chief's Crown, Fran's Valentine/Outstandingly, Eillo, Royal Heroine, Princess Rooney, Lashkari, and Wild Again like they were yesterday!

I'd like to tell a little story about 1986 Breeders Cup at Santa Anita, my first Breeders Cup that I attended, and it speaks to the issue that came up earlier in the thread about the wagering opportunities back in those days.

I went to a seminar the night before, held at the adjacent mall. A popular and respected newspaper handicapper, Jerry Antonucci, was on the panel. Exactas ($5 minimum) were only offered in the 5th, 7th, and 9th back in those days, and Jerry was in a snit because the Mile came up in the 4th race that day. He said that the only two horses in that race were Last Tycoon and Palace Music, and he was gnashing his teeth because there was no exacta opportunity.

Turns out he was right! Last Tycoon won that Mile at some ridiculous price, and Palace Music came in 2nd! I had $2 to WP (that was my MO at the time) on Last Tycoon only because of Jerry Antonucci, and I swear, I thought I was rolling in dough! Man, that was fun!

I watched the first BC in the grandstand at lovely Jefferson Downs. I was 15 and a newbie to a sport that I had just started following that year. Simulcasting was basically non-existent in Louisiana in 1984. Other than the rare simulcast of a major stakes event, you were limited to wagering on the live races at your local track unless you wanted to bet with a bookie, which many opted to do. My exposure to major horses in 1984 was mostly confined to watching replays on Racehorse Digest and reading about the equine stars in DRF, Blood Horse, and Thoroughbred Record, so it was quite exciting to see so many good horses run, even if I was just watching them on a small color (I think) monitor at JD. I recall betting on Wild Again because he had won the New Orleans Handicap earlier that year, but it is more likely that I bet on him to place or show. Also, if my memory is correct, the BC pools were not yet commingled, so the payoffs were different depending on where you bet.

This is still the best exacta I've hit in betting the Breeders Cup. Actually bought the ticket at Arlington Park then watched on TV. I love that commercial on ATR. Early in BC history, the Woodbine horses were virtually ignored. If I remember correctly, I loved Play The King because he had ran a 1:10.00 flat 6 furlongs in his prep race and by Woodbine standards back then anything under 1:12.00 was smoking. (long before poly was invented)

Great memories!!!! (although a little sketchy)

1990 BC Belmont 43F

I bet 50WPS on Itsallgreektome and in mid stretch when it looked like he had a shot I was yelling "Nakatani Nakatani Nakatani" . My friends said "who the f is Nakatani ?" He ran 2nd by a neck at 36-1.

I also had $100 on Bayakoa - that was a bitter sweet win.

Can't wait for next Friday!

Huge fan of Gate Dancer - the ear muff blinkers were cool.

Have never seen anything quite like that before or since. I saw him in the Arkansas Derby. I think it was the 1984 running. He got beat that day by the filly Althea and another horse by the name of Pine Circle. Wonder how they ever figured out that he needed the ear muff blinkers?

He was a nervous wreck and the ear muffs helped drown out outside noises.

Obviously one of my favorites, growing up in Omaha and living at Aks-Sar-Ben, I was a huge JVB and Gate Dancer fan. Certainly one of the best horses I have ever seen run in person. I still maintain that he had the reputation as somewhat of a 'bully' because he loved to make that move coming into the stretch and pull right up to the nose of anyone in front of him. He definitely wanted to intimidate other horses. I still say Wild Again was tiring and lugging a bit outward when Slew O Gold and Gate Dancer were pressing him in the stretch. Wild Again closed the hole on Slew not Gate Dancer. But I'm sure the stewards wanted no part of any DQ of the winner. GD made it easier for them with his reputation.

As an aside............the earmuff thing is still rare but I have seen a number of horses especially in Japan racing that seem to have the used this. Maybe because of the large crowds they get on track.

Favorite race and betting moment
 

Best race---Personal Ensign over Winning Colors. Gutsiest performance I ever saw...epitomized the phrase "refusing to lose".
Best betting moment---The year Thirty Slews won the Sprint. Pools were fragmented in the day and got 30-1 on him at an OTB in IL when he was around 4-1 in CA. $$$$
Great thread!

i've seen other horses with the muffs, altho some do just resort to cotton in the ears. i guess it wasn't enough noise reduction for him tho.

I was in the paddock for the 86 big cap, Gate dancer was very nervous around the huge crowd that day, he broke terrible and was 15 wide.......Jorge Valasquez was in from New York to ride him.... LOVED Jorge.

by the time of the bc, he had three quarter cracks. they almost didn't run him, but wanted to be 'sporting' and help out the bc by running him.
check this out, perfect example of the press about the inaugural race, and slew o'gold's role in the big day..


http://news.google.com/newspapers?ni...g=6676,5783345

wow. superb find.

looking through it put the time in sharper focus for me. reagan/mondale and indira ghandi's assasination.

interesting read in the other sections of the paper. but i still think the interference played a bigger role in the loss than quarter cracks.

i do, too. always liked slew o'gold, and was sorely disappointed i couldn't see him a few years back when we went up to ky.

and to you, and cardus, when i saw that page i said 'wow'. love stumbling upon old stuff like that.

i have a book at home with copies of old newspaper articles on races horses, from colin vs fair play up through the 70's. i used to get that book at the elementary school library and look over it, repeatedly. then, found a copy on half.com. yay!


that youngblood article was a hoot-wonder how many even know who merlin olsen was! or youngblood for that matter...

and found stuff about the usfl in there. neat stuff.