1989 Pimlico Special
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- Опубліковано 5 сер 2019
- In his last race, the Oaklawn Handicap in Arkansas a month ago, Blushing John lost a shoe leaving the gate and still finished fourth, beaten by only two lengths.
Saturday at Pimlico, Blushing John took better care of his footwear and through the stretch he was a study in footwork. He shook off a familiar rival, Proper Reality, near the sixteenth pole and rolled to a two-length victory in track-record time in the $700,000 Pimlico Special before 16,211 fans in cool, overcast weather.
While winning $420,000 for his owner, Allen Paulson, the 4-year-old colt ran 1 3/16 miles in 1:53 1/5, breaking by a fifth of a second the official record that Tank’s Prospect set in winning the Preakness in 1985. The Daily Racing Form also credited Secretariat with a 1:53 2/5 when he won the Preakness in 1973. A suspect track timer clocked the eventual Triple Crown winner in only 1:55.
By finishing ahead of Proper Reality for the third time in less than two months, Blushing John sent Pat Day to a winner’s circle that the red-haired jockey would like to return to next Saturday, after he rides Easy Goer in the Preakness. Easy Goer and Day were upset by Sunday Silence in the Kentucky Derby and have a rematch coming up at Pimlico.
“I hope this is a prelude to next week,” Day said Saturday, before catching a plane to Kentucky.
Blushing John’s record came on a track that was wet earlier in the week and then dried out to become lightning-fast Saturday. Cheaper horses were routinely running six furlongs in times under 1:11, on a track where the record of 1:09 1/5 has stood for almost 20 years.
Blushing John carried 117 pounds, one less than Proper Reality, who went off at a surprising 13-1. After Proper Reality, it was 1 1/4 lengths back to Granacus, an 80-1 shot who finished a half-length ahead of Cryptoclearance. Top-weighted at 123 pounds, Cryptoclearance and his stablemate, Lustra, were the 8-5 favorites. Cryptoclearance was typically sluggish in the early going, trailing the pace-setting Slew City Slew by about 20 lengths going down the backstretch.
Following Cryptoclearance to the finish line, in order, were Brian’s Time, Saratoga Passage, Stalwars, Slew City Slew, Templar Hill, Lively One and Little Bold John. Lustra, running in the race solely to make sure that Slew City Slew didn’t run off to an uncontested early lead, broke poorly and after running with Slew City Slew for three-quarters of a mile was eased by jockey Tony Graell.
Blushing John paid $16.20, $11 and $8.40. Proper Reality paid $13.40 and $10 and Granacus returned $15.40.
Paulson, an aerospace executive who has farms in California, Kentucky and Georgia, privately bought Blushing John, a son of Blushing Groom and La Griffe, for $850,000 as a yearling. The horse was bred in Kentucky, but began his racing career in 1987 in Europe. There he won two of six starts, including a major race in France as a 3-year-old.
Blushing John’s first American appearance was a 10th-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Churchill Downs last November. This spring, trainer Dick Lundy took Blushing John to Arkansas and raced him on dirt for the first time.
“He had trained so well on dirt,” Lundy said. “He had a good foot for it, and the first time we ever breezed him, at our training center in California, he handled the dirt super.”
Blushing John won an allowance race at Oaklawn Park, then moved into stakes competition there. He won the Razorback Handicap, finishing 4 1/2 lengths ahead of Proper Reality, who ran third as the 1-5 favorite. Slew City Slew beat both of those horses with a wire-to-wire performance in the roughly run Oaklawn Handicap, with Blushing John finishing fourth and Proper Reality fifth.
“He blew a shoe in the first jump that day,” Day said of Blushing John on Saturday. “He over-reached and lost it. So he had to run the race with three shoes. Today he had a faultless trip and he responded big when I asked him.”
Blushing John and Proper Reality were close to each other throughout the race Saturday. “We couldn’t have been more than three or four feet away from each other all the way, until the other horse pulled away,” said Jerry Bailey, Proper Reality’s jockey. “We didn’t plan it that way, that’s just the way it happened.”
There were fast fractions of 1:10 for six furlongs and 1:34 2/5 for a mile. Slew City Slew held the lead over Lustra and Little Bold John starting down the backstretch, with Blushing John and Proper Reality in close pursuit.
Turning for home, Slew City Slew started to weaken, and from the eighth pole home, it was a two-horse race. Proper Reality, on the inside but well away from the rail, drifted out slightly and brushed with Blushing John as they neared the sixteenth pole. However, the contact didn’t faze the winner.
Blushing John has a bright future on both dirt and grass, especially since he now knows how to run with all of his shoes on his feet. - Спорт
Can't beat the late 80's when it comes to racing
Yes, you can...with the 1890's (Hindoo, Correction, Domino), the 1900's (Colin, Sysonby), the 1910's (Regret, Exterminator), the 1920's (Zev, Nellie Flag, Sir Barton, Man O'War, Exterminator), 1930's (Questionnaire, Gallant Fox, War Admiral, Seabiscuit), 1940's (Whirlaway, Armed, Assault, Noor, Citation), and the 1950's (Citation, Swaps, Nashua). And these are all from memory of studies as a fan; no insult to other contemporary champions and their top rivals, who weren't mentioned here.
The 1980s was a very underrated horse racing decade in America. People typically consider the 1970s to be the last decade of racing's golden era, but I beg to differ. In my opinion the 1980s was racing's last golden decade. There was no Triple Crown winner, which I suppose hurt's it's legacy to some degree, but it was a decade that was loaded with all-time greats. Easy Goer, Sunday Silence, Personal Ensign, Alysheba, Slew o' Gold, Lady's Secret, John Henry, Genuine Risk, Go for Wand, Bayakoa, Broad Brush, Spend a Buck, Landaluce, Risen Star, Swale, Forty Niner, Seeking the Gold, Ogygian, Devil's Bag, Conquistador Cielo, Ferdinand, etc. So many greats. It deserves greater respect.
I agree. My favorite decade.
Man, I miss Dave Johnson. And Blushing John.
Track announcer: Dave Johnson
And, INCREDIBLY, Pat Day has 3 of the TOP 7(maybe 6) FASTEST WINNING Times on that Track EVER going 1 3/16 miles(Pimlico) ..!! His (1:53.1) in
this 89' Pimlico Special; and 2 of his 5 Preakness Stakes Wins ...in both 85' on Tank's Prospect AND 96' on Louis Quatorze he WON w/a Winning Time of (1:53.2)....
Incredible!!! They later (and Correctly) went back and changed Secretariat's Time , then 2 years later in 91' a Horse named Farma Way ran the (1 3/16) in 1:52.3 which I believe (not 100% positive) is STILL the Track Winning Time Record .... NOT in Preakness Stakes, but still "out of this World " fast !!!!
I just realized, Pat Day Won 5 of the 12 Preakness Stakes run(held) between the Years 1985 - 1996 , & probably should have Won 6 (if u count Easy Goer's loss to Sunday Silence a week after this Pimlico Special)!!!
and finally, ONLY Eddie Arcaro Won MORE (6) Preakness Stakes than Pat Day (5) !!!! Another GREAT Stat ....
Another Great Post! Please can you post the 1990 Whitney and Hollywood Gold Cup Criminal Type?! Thanks