The First Million-Dollar Horse Race

Today was supposed to have been 2020 Arlington Million Day, but the coronavirus has put the kibosh on that. Arlington Park is presenting a bare-bones meet that offers racing three days a week for eight weeks, with no spectators. Whether the Million will be run in 2021 or ever again is very doubtful--because Arlington's owner, Churchill Downs Inc., is ambivalent at best about the future of the fabled oval that has hosted a lengthy honor roll of the greatest horses, jockeys, trainers, and races since 1927. Even as recently as last year, the path to Horse-of-the-Year honors went through Arlington Park. Bricks and Mortar would not have won the award without his victory in the Million.

     Below is a look back at the career of John Henry, winner of the first Arlington Million in 1981. 

STATUE OF JOHN HENRY AND THE BART AT ARLINGTON PARK

 

John Henry was on the small side and nothing much to look at, as befitted the son of an obscure sire with the somewhat comical name Ole Bob Bowers. He was sold as a yearling for only $1,100, and then—to add injury to insult—was gelded in a futile attempt to curb his nasty temper. He spent his early career running at cheap tracks in Louisiana, with little success.

His record stood at three wins in 17 tries when he was bought by Sam and Dorothy Rubin in May 1978. Shipped to New York, John Henry became a winner from the instant he walked off the van. He won his first start in the Rubins’ colors on May 21 at Aqueduct, paying odds of 12-1. On June 1 at Belmont Park, he raced on grass for the first time and won as he pleased—by 14 lengths. This was the turning point for John Henry. Running on grass and at longer distances, he was an entirely different horse.

On September 16, 1978, John Henry paid his first visit to Arlington Park and notched his first major stakes victory, capturing the Round Table Handicap by 12 lengths. He was on his way. He had a good campaign as a four-year-old in 1979, finishing first or second in nine of his 11 starts. The next year John Henry had eight wins, three seconds, and a third in 12 starts; he received the first of his four Eclipse Awards as best male grass horse of the year.

In 1981, the six-year-old John Henry won five of his first six starts in top-quality stakes competition. Then he came to Arlington for the inaugural running of the Arlington Million, the first race in the world to offer a million-dollar purse. The Chicago area had been hard hit by rain for several days prior to the race on August 30, and Arlington’s turf course was very soft and spongy. John Henry had tried soft turf only once before, and had been well beaten on that occasion. To make matters worse, he drew the outermost post position in the field, No. 12.

Sent off at odds of 11-10, John Henry was the heavy favorite of the crowd. But in the early stages of the mile-and-a-quarter race, it was obvious that he did not like the boggy footing. He was far out of contention for the first half mile. “It was terrible,” said jockey Bill Shoemaker. “He wasn’t handling it at all down the backstretch, and I didn’t think we’d be close. I was trying to urge him a little, without making him sour, but he was struggling.” Key to Content led all the way down the backstretch and into the far turn, with 40-1 longshot The Bart in hot pursuit. John Henry was eighth as they entered the far turn.

Turning for home, Key to Content yielded command to The Bart. John Henry had moved up to fifth, but he was still six lengths from the front with only a quarter mile left to go. “He began to pick it up on the turn and moved through the upper stretch pretty good,” Shoemaker recalled, “although he was still a beaten horse at the eighth pole. I was trying to hold him together at that point, for he was working very hard and beginning to tire.”

John Henry, furiously charging on the outside, was giving Shoemaker everything he had—but it didn’t seem to be enough. Inside the final furlong, The Bart was still holding him off by a full length. John Henry kept coming. He edged ever closer to The Bart until, finally, with the cheers of the crowd rising to a crescendo, the two flashed across the finish line together. It was impossible to tell which horse had won. NBC originally identified The Bart as the winner, but the photo-finish pictures confirmed that John Henry had prevailed by a nose.

“He overcame everything,” trainer Ron McAnally said. “He had the worst post position and this soft turf wasn’t his type of racetrack. But I never saw him run a better race.”

      The little gelding’s thrilling triumph in the first Arlington Million catapulted him to Horse of the Year honors in 1981. He finished the year with eight victories in 10 outings and earned almost $1.8 million. In 1982, physical problems prevented John Henry from defending his title in the Million; he won twice in only six starts that year. He was on the sidelines again for much of 1983, his eight-year-old season. The third Arlington Million, on August 28, was only his second start of the year—but John Henry was game, losing by merely a neck to Tolomeo.

John Henry had perhaps his finest year in 1984, at the ripe old age of nine. He won six of his last seven races, finishing second in the other. He earned a staggering $2,336,650, and was again voted Horse of the Year. Along the way he won his second Arlington Million. A crowd of 39,053 turned out on the perfect afternoon of August 26 to cheer him on. Again the bettors’ favorite at 11-10, John Henry bided his time in third position under Chris McCarron while remaining always within striking range. At the head of the stretch McCarron angled him right to make his customary outside run to the wire, and he easily ran down the pace-setting Royal Heroine to score by a length and three quarters. The victory put John Henry over the $5 million mark in career earnings—at a time when no other horse in history had collected even $3 million.

Thrill of a Lifetime

RICHARD DUCHOSSOIS

     Richard Duchossois got the thrill of his 88-year-old life Saturday when Eclair de Lune carried Duchossois' blue and yellow silks to victory in the 21st running of the Beverly D Stakes, the race named in honor of Mr. D's late wife, who passed away in 1980.
     "When the filly broke loose [drawing away in the stretch], I stopped thinking," Duchossois said. "When we won, I didn't know what to think. Then someone hit me on the back and said we won."
     After Eclair de Lune and jockey Junior Alvarado crossed the finish line a length and a half in front of runner-up Hot Cha Cha, fans sitting near Duchossois gathered around to congratulate him while those in adjacent sections applauded. As Duchossois started to make his way toward the winner's circle, fans throughout the grandstand joined in.
     By the time Duchossois was met in the winner's circle by Alvarado and trainer Ron McAnally, the warm applause had become a loud and sustained ovation from the entire crowd of 30,304. Alvarado had tears streaming down his face, and McAnally was overcome with emotion as he tried to explain how happy he was for his longtime friend.
     "This was for this man right here," McAnally said, with his arm around Duchossois. "He deserves it so much. He is a first-class man, and I know how much he wanted to win this race for his late wife."
     "We've had others in the Beverly D [1991, 1992, and 2006] that we thought might be good enough," Duchossois said. "But they never cut the buck." Eclair de Lune, a four-year-old German-bred filly that McAnally found in France, was specifically acquired to end that losing streak--and she did.
    
     Duchossois was a giant in the racing game long before his filly's stirring victory in the Beverly D. If racing ultimately fails to survive in Illinois, it will be no fault of his, for he has done more than anyone (and more than anyone could have expected) to prop up that struggling sport.

• In 1981, Duchossois helped to create the world's first million-dollar race, the Arlington Million (its inaugural winner, John Henry, was trained by McAnally).
• In 1985, Duchossois was instrumental in staging the "Miracle Million" using tents and temporary bleachers on Arlington's infield, just 23 days after the grandstand and clubhouse were completely destroyed by fire.
• In 1989, Duchossois opened the rebuilt Arlington facility, which was far more magnificent than purely economic considerations would have dictated. Perhaps following his heart more than his head, Duchossois had attended to every detail concerning the physical setting, amenities, and overall experience of his customers. The new Arlington did not exist merely to serve its function as a place to take bets and present races. It was meant to represent more than that.
• In 1996, Duchossois offered a million-dollar purse to lure the great Cigar to Arlington, where the latter tied the all-time record (since broken) by winning his 16th consecutive race.
• In 2002, Duchossois brought the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships to Arlington.

None of these triumphs equaled Saturday's, at least to Duchossois himself. "I'd rather win this race [the Beverly D] than the Kentucky Derby," he said as he wiped away tears of joy. "This one means more to me."

Bailey Sets Cigar Alight

CIGAR, WITH JERRY BAILEY UP, ON A SIERRA LEONE POSTAGE STAMP

Have you heard of Zenyatta? If the answer is no, you're not alone—for today’s thoroughbred champions are not nearly as famous as their predecessors of decades past. As it happens, Zenyatta is a six-year-old mare who is undefeated for her career, who last year became the first of her gender to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic, and whose victory in last Saturday’s Vanity Handicap at Hollywood Park was her 17th in succession, breaking the record set by Citation 60 years ago and equaled by Cigar in 1996 at Arlington Park. Below is a remembrance of the latter, who (fyi) was named not after a tobacco product but after an aviation checkpoint.


     Cigar’s early career gave little indication that he was destined for greatness. He never raced at age two, and he won just two of his first 13 starts—11 of these on the grass, which his breeding suggested he should prefer. With nothing to lose, trainer Bill Mott moved Cigar back to the dirt late in his four-year-old season—and the rest, as they say, is history. Cigar won his last two starts of 1994, then went 10-for-10 in 1995. That year, he became the oldest horse to have a perfect season and earned a record $4,819,800.
     Rather than retire Cigar after his sensational 1995 campaign, owner Allen Paulson decided to keep him in training for another year so as to give the racing game a much-needed shot in the arm. Cigar won his first three races in 1996 to extend his winning streak to 15, one short of the mark established by Citation between 1948 and 1950. When a minor injury prevented Cigar from making his next scheduled start, in the Hollywood Gold Cup on June 30, Arlington Park chairman Dick Duchossois stepped into the breach. Working with Paulson’s cooperation, he scheduled the Arlington Citation Challenge for July 13, rounding up a field of nine challengers to face Cigar at a mile and an eighth for a purse of $1,050,000.
     Cigar was given a police escort from O’Hare Airport to Arlington. Mott participated in a question-and-answer session with fans on the morning of the race, and jockey Jerry Bailey signed autographs for more than an hour in the afternoon. Eighty-nine-year-old Jimmy Jones, Citation’s trainer, was on hand as well. That the weather was perfect only added to the impression that the event was more a carnival than an athletic contest in which the outcome might not suit people’s expectations.
     Cigar had drawn the outermost post position, No. 10. He had also been assigned to carry 130 pounds, thus conceding between eight and 14 pounds to each of his rivals. The crowd of 34,223 gave him a standing ovation when he appeared in the paddock to be saddled, when he stepped onto the racetrack, and when he entered the starting gate. “He really seems to enjoy it,” Mott said of the hubbub surrounding his champion, “and I’m not so sure he doesn’t know this great crowd is for him.”
     Cigar broke leisurely and was five wide around the first turn, about six lengths behind the front-running Honour and Glory. With Bailey content to remain wide and stay out of traffic trouble, Cigar gradually advanced along the backstretch. On the far turn, Dramatic Gold threatened the leader while Cigar moved into striking range, only a length from the front. “And now Jerry Bailey sets Cigar alight!” track announcer Michael Wrona exclaimed as Honour and Glory, Dramatic Gold, and Cigar passed the quarter pole virtually three abreast.
     Honour and Glory soon called it a day, but Dramatic Gold stubbornly refused to give in. By the eighth pole, though, Cigar had finally managed to get in front by half a length, and from then on he continued driving to draw off by three lengths at the wire. Bailey held his cap aloft to acknowledge the tumult of cheers as he guided Cigar back to the winner’s circle for the 16th consecutive time. “I can’t put into words how proud I am of Cigar,” he said.
     It was a thrilling day for Chicago racing fans (and one that took on added significance when Cigar ran second in his next start, thus failing to break the record he had tied at Arlington). When Paulson said that it had been an honor to bring Cigar to Chicago, racing writer Sharon Smith gently took issue with him: “It was a gracious thought,” she wrote, “but inaccurate. It was the tracks and the sport itself who were honored by Mr. Paulson’s horse in 1996, not the other way around.”

Reprinted from Heydays: Great Stories in Chicago Sports
(c) 2009, 2010 by Christopher Tabbert