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Originally Posted by slotdirt
I don't think this is your average GI race though. Lots of history here.
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EXACTLY!! History and tradition are the one thing that horse racing has that many other sports don't have. Pro baseball has it; pro basketball doesn't. Racing was the sport of choice for our early presidents (Washington, Jefferson, Jackson); Congress recessed for a day to go see a match race in Maryland between two champions; the great North-South match between American Eclipse and Henry in the 1820s drew tens of thousands of people from all over the country to the Union course on Long Island before the days of railroads.
Long histories of stakes races allow us bring of the names of winners of the past who have become immortals, implying the same fate is possible for today's winner. The Pimlico Special (like the Saratoga Special) was originally a winner-take-all race - no purse money for second, third, etc, which made it truly special; only horses who really had a chance to win would run. Maybe a return to that sort of race for $300K would generate some interest and still open up some money for overnight purses.
01-26-2007, 08:09 AM
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