The Marlboro Cup Invitational Handicap was a Thoroughbredhorse race first run in September 1973 at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. A Grade 1 race for horses 3 years old and up, it was raced over a distance of 1+1⁄8 miles on a dirt track.[1]
The race came into existence as a result of the huge popularity of Secretariat, who in 1973 became the first U.S. Triple Crown champion in twenty-five years. Such was the drawing power of Secretariat that CBS television readily agreed to broadcast the race nationally, a rare occurrence at the time for a non-Triple Crown or traditional "classic" event (such as the Travers Stakes). Originally conceived as a match race with Secretariat's stablemate and 1972 Kentucky Derby winner Riva Ridge, it was changed to an invitational race that brought together the top horses 3 years of age and older.
In the inaugural race, Secretariat set a world record time for 1+1⁄8 miles on dirt while winning by 3+1⁄2 lengths on a track officially rated as being only "good".[2] The race became a very important annual event and 1978 marked the first of only two times in racing history that two American Triple Crown winners met in a single race, with Seattle Slew, the 1977 champion, defeating the 1978 champion Affirmed by three lengths. (The two met again in that year's edition of the Jockey Club Gold Cup; Seattle Slew lost by a nose to Exceller, while Affirmed finished up the track due to a slipped saddle.)[3]
For many years the Marlboro Cup was part of Belmont Park's Fall Championship meet and the track's owner, the New York Racing Association, created a Fall Championship Series consisting of the Woodward Stakes, followed by the Marlboro Cup, and then the Jockey Club Gold Cup. In 1984, Slew o' Gold became the first horse to win the Fall Series for which he received a $1,000,000 bonus.[4] CBS and later NBC continued to broadcast the Marlboro into the 1980s.
The advent of the Breeders' Cup races in 1984 marked the beginning of the end for the Marlboro Cup. In 1987, the 15th edition of the race attracted just five horses and was picked up for broadcast on cable television only.[5]
marlboro, invitational, handicap, former, soccer, tournament, marlboro, soccer, thoroughbred, horse, race, first, september, 1973, belmont, park, elmont, york, grade, race, horses, years, raced, over, distance, miles, dirt, track, discontinued, grade, raceloca. For the former soccer tournament see Marlboro Cup soccer The Marlboro Cup Invitational Handicap was a Thoroughbred horse race first run in September 1973 at Belmont Park in Elmont New York A Grade 1 race for horses 3 years old and up it was raced over a distance of 1 1 8 miles on a dirt track 1 Marlboro Cup Invitational HandicapDiscontinued Grade 1 raceLocationBelmont ParkElmont New York United StatesRace typeThoroughbred Flat racingRace informationDistance1 1 8 miles 9 furlongs SurfaceDirtTrackleft handedQualificationThree years old amp upWeightAssigned The race came into existence as a result of the huge popularity of Secretariat who in 1973 became the first U S Triple Crown champion in twenty five years Such was the drawing power of Secretariat that CBS television readily agreed to broadcast the race nationally a rare occurrence at the time for a non Triple Crown or traditional classic event such as the Travers Stakes Originally conceived as a match race with Secretariat s stablemate and 1972 Kentucky Derby winner Riva Ridge it was changed to an invitational race that brought together the top horses 3 years of age and older In the inaugural race Secretariat set a world record time for 1 1 8 miles on dirt while winning by 3 1 2 lengths on a track officially rated as being only good 2 The race became a very important annual event and 1978 marked the first of only two times in racing history that two American Triple Crown winners met in a single race with Seattle Slew the 1977 champion defeating the 1978 champion Affirmed by three lengths The two met again in that year s edition of the Jockey Club Gold Cup Seattle Slew lost by a nose to Exceller while Affirmed finished up the track due to a slipped saddle 3 For many years the Marlboro Cup was part of Belmont Park s Fall Championship meet and the track s owner the New York Racing Association created a Fall Championship Series consisting of the Woodward Stakes followed by the Marlboro Cup and then the Jockey Club Gold Cup In 1984 Slew o Gold became the first horse to win the Fall Series for which he received a 1 000 000 bonus 4 CBS and later NBC continued to broadcast the Marlboro into the 1980s The advent of the Breeders Cup races in 1984 marked the beginning of the end for the Marlboro Cup In 1987 the 15th edition of the race attracted just five horses and was picked up for broadcast on cable television only 5 Contents 1 Records 2 Winners 3 External links 4 ReferencesRecords editSpeed record 1 45 40 1 1 8 miles Secretariat 1973 new stakes track and world record 2 00 00 1 1 4 miles Turkoman 1986 Most wins No horse won this race more than once Most wins by a jockey 3 Jacinto Vasquez 1977 1982 1983 Most wins by a trainer 2 MacKenzie Miller 1980 1987 Most wins by an owner 2 Rokeby Stables 1980 1987 Winners editYear Winner Age Jockey Trainer Owner Dist Miles Time Win Gr 1987 Java Gold 3 Pat Day MacKenzie Miller Rokeby Stables 1 1 4 m 2 01 00 450 000 G1 1986 Turkoman 4 Gary Stevens Gary F Jones Saron Stable 1 1 4 m 2 00 00 300 000 G1 1985 Chief s Crown 3 Don MacBeth Roger Laurin Star Crown Stable Estate of Carl Rosen 1 1 4 m 2 01 20 300 000 G1 1984 Slew o Gold 4 Angel Cordero Jr John O Hertler Equusequity Stable Jim amp Sally Hill Mickey amp Karen Taylor 1 1 4 m 2 02 40 240 000 G1 1983 Highland Blade 5 Jacinto Vasquez David A Whiteley Pen Y Bryn Farm 1 1 4 m 2 01 20 240 000 G1 1982 Lemhi Gold 4 Jacinto Vasquez Laz Barrera Aaron U Jones 1 1 4 m 2 01 00 240 000 G1 1981 Noble Nashua 3 Ruben Hernandez Jose A Martin Flying Zee Stable Carl Lizza Jr amp Herbert Hochreiter 1 1 4 m 2 00 60 240 000 G1 1980 Winter s Tale 4 Jeffrey Fell MacKenzie Miller Rokeby Stables 1 1 8 m 1 47 00 180 000 G1 1979 Spectacular Bid 3 Bill Shoemaker Bud Delp Hawksworth Farm Harry amp Teresa Meyerhoff 1 1 8 m 1 46 60 180 000 G1 1978 Seattle Slew 4 Angel Cordero Jr Douglas R Peterson Karen amp Mickey Taylor 1 1 8 m 1 45 80 180 000 G1 1977 Proud Birdie 4 Jacinto Vasquez James W Maloney Marablue Farm A Douglas Henderson 1 1 4 m 2 00 80 167 760 G1 1976 Forego 6 Bill Shoemaker Frank Y Whiteley Jr Lazy F Ranch 1 1 4 m 2 00 00 170 220 G1 1975 Wajima 3 Braulio Baeza Stephen A DiMauro East West Stable Zenya Yoshida James A Scully Harold I Snyder James Welch 1 1 4 m 2 00 00 150 000 G1 1974 Big Spruce 5 Michael Hole Victor J Nickerson Elmendorf Farm 1 1 8 m 1 46 60 150 000 1973 Secretariat 3 Ron Turcotte Lucien Laurin Meadow Stable 1 1 8 m 1 45 40 150 000External links editSecretariat s 1973 Marlboro CupReferences edit Palm Beach Post September 15 1973 Secretariat Wins Setting a World Record New York Times page 1 1973 09 16 Retrieved 2020 12 31 The Age September 17 1973 Slew o Gold Like His Father Is Horse of Year Los Angeles Times 1985 02 09 Retrieved 2020 01 24 Anchorage Daily News September 21 1987 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Marlboro Cup Invitational Handicap amp oldid 1177466435, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
