V E N U E = 8/14 @ Arlington
 

YA CAN’T PLEASE ALL THE PEEPS ALL THE TIME :zz:
SOMETIMES YA GOTTA GO WITH YER HEART 💜

SAY SO LONG TO SARATOGA
AS ARLINGTON IT SHALL BE
8 STAKES & 3 GRADE #1
THE BEST PLACE OF ALL TO ME! :tro:

A “Bonus” Just For Me Alone
A Stakes Named For My ALL TIME LOVE 💗
BLACK TIE AFFAIR :{>:
{ HOTY 1991 }

Good choice, we all need a break from The Spa once in awhile. Nice win!!!

A change of pace is always worthwhile. Besides, this might be our final trip to Arlington - I don't think that they have even applied for a racing license for next year. Racing in Illinois is very different than it once was.

There was a time when this was Arlington Million weekend, and it was a very big deal. But the Million has been renamed the Mr. D Stakes and the purse reduced to $600,000. The Beverly D. keeps its name but has the purse reduced from $600,000 to $400,000. What used to be the Secretariat Stakes is now the Bruce D. Stakes and its purse has been reduced from $500,000 to $300,000. It is possible that the horsemen got tired of having the lion's share of the purse money taken away by out of state [or out of country] runners who shipped in for the race. All of the purses in Illinois races have diminished greatly. Four of the stakes races are restricted to Ill Breds and only carry a purse of $75,000. I've gotten accustomed to seeing optional claimers on the NYRA circuit with purses in excess of $100,000.

…. But the Million has been renamed the Mr. D Stakes
and the purse reduced to $600,000. “

WHY WAS THE ARLINGTON MILLION RENAMED ? :mad:
After all this time that’s kind of sad :(

It’s also sad to see this Racetrack go the way of the dinosaur

PS
I called the track to find out why they Change the name of the Arlington Million Race

He said it was to honor Mr. D
After all he has done for the track and since they are closing down

The official house answer you received is kind of humorous and indeed Dick Duchossois deserves to be honored for everything he had done at Arlington Park. But there may be a simpler answer.

In 1981 Arlington offered the first thoroughbred race with a purse of $1,000,000 and so they named it the Arlington Million. The name has been slightly changed over the years [i.e. the Budwiser Arlington Million], but it always included the word "Million" due to its purse. Now that they have cut the purse from $1,000,000 to $600,000 they really couldn't continue to refer to the race as the "Million". Glad they came up with a recognition of Mr. D as the track that he created fades into the sunset.