Found some old programs...
 

I started looking at some old programs today.
Thur. Mar 31 1977-AQU INNER
Featured race a H'Cap for F/M
1. Northern Heiress, eventual 6x winner dam of 2 SW's
2. Shawi, winner of the Affectionately, bed O' Roses and Rare Treat
3. Worthyana eventual 7x winner and dam of 2 stakes winners
4. Sweet Bernice, 10x winner, multiple stakes places
5. Abystar, 8x winner
6. Illiterate, 10x winner includig Affectionately and Interborough, dam of BCC winner Alphabet Soup

Kind of a cool race to find I saw back in my misspent youth. If my notes are correct, Illiterate won under Steve Cauthen as the 122lb highweight.

Wasn't Abystar a Rosoff/Zito horse?

Yes, she was.

How about this one:
June 24 1977
Race 4 5 1/2f MSW 2yo
1. Historically
2. Calligraphy
3. Tegay
4. Morning Frolic
5. Assago
6. Believe It
7. For Your Pleasure
8. Junction
9. Alydar
10. Sauce Boat

Race 8 NW3x F/M
1. Dottie's Doll
2. Tampa's Dream
3. Infernal Vernal
4. Fun Forever
5. Dr. Mary Lou
6. Leave Me Alone
7. Yehonatan
8. Imogene
(2,8 SCR)
The 7th featured Sail to Rome who had been a SW at 2.

Had my grandmother's funeral not been the next day I'd have seen the likes of Resolver, Grecian Banner, in the 3rd. Squander, (taking on Illiterate and Abystar) in the 4th and a good sprint in the 7th with Clout, Piamem, Fabled Monarch and American History. The feature was the NY H'cap. This time Sweet Bernice was on grass against some good grass mares of the day. Nijana, Javamine (dam of Java Gold) Welsh Pearl, Glowing Tribute(dam of Sea Hero, Hero's Honor, Wild Applause), Fleet Victress (winner) and Mississippi Mud, among others.

Funny how you look back at a Friday in June at Belmont 30+ years later and find something you didn't know was there at the time.

Really cool stuff to have!

I've started keeping a lot of programs, ticket stubs, photos etc., but somehow I don't think I'll ever look back and see the equivalent of Alydar in a MSW.

Or even Believe It or Sauce Boat.

Them too!

I did see the epic battle of Hello Broadway and Imperial Council. Surely that is going to be worth something in 30 years.

Boy, it sure seemed like it might have been more meaningful.

Here's how pathetic ( and narcissistic ) I am....that Alydar maiden race was ( shockingly ) a key race. Calligraphy ( who I believe was a Greentree horse....as my first thought was Woody but he trained Believe It ) returned on a day I was at Belmont. In those days Harvey Pack used to interview handicappers between races on Saturdays on TV, and I made my debut picking Calligraphy. He ran second to a firster who I think was named Cloud Forest.

For Your Pleasure, Morning Frolic, Believe It, Sauce Boat, Junction and Alydar were all SW's. Historically was a SP winner.

Calligraphy was Mill House (by Art and Letters) and Woody did train him. He and Believe It were uncoupled.

Cool thing to me was how many outstanding mares I saw and who they eventually produced.

You debuted on October 1, 1977! The racing isn't as good now, but at least we have better technology to quickly and freely learn:

Calligraphy
http://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbH...563&registry=T

Cloud Forest
http://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbH...862&registry=T

Sweet Bernice , daughter of Speak John . And Sauce Boat, sire of Barbicue Sauce ( dam of Tabasco Cat). . Makes me think of Ham Sandwich.

Maybe Cloud Forest was Greentree.

Mac Diarmida finished third in that maiden race.

Sauce Boat won the Arlington-Washingto Futurity and was third or fourth in Alydar's Champagne victory over Affirmed.

God racing was great back then.

John Imbriale brought in an old OTB entry sheet from Belmont in 1977 the other day. There were some great names on it. But none bigger than the horse that won the finale.....Lebon.

None as influential to the breed as Mississippi Mud, dam of Dixieland Band.

Hold on to those programs, if for nothing else than to be able to look back and reminisce when in the future someone on a message board talks about their old programs and you suddenly realize you threw all of yours away:(

Or a flood in your storage room ruined them.

A tragedy.

Now that's truly sad.

Pristine copies of the first few Marlboro Cups....Onion's Whitney over Secretariat. It makes me want to cry thinking about it.

I remember looking at the program one day at the track, I think Del Mar.

I saw a 2yo debuting that had my birthday. Since he was by Nijinsky, I went over to look him over in the walking ring and thought something like, wow, what a magnificent looking horse. I thought about keeping the program, but since I was only 18 years old or so, I had no use for sentiment. It was Ferdinand, and the race turned out to be a pretty good field, if I remember correctly.

Wish I'd have kept the Snow Chief msw program, Melairs last start, Swear, Akinemod and Lakeways programs.

Oh well.

Well at least your friends who couldn't think of what to get you for your birthday have a myriad of ideas now. Better than that Zenyatta paperweight.;);)

Did you apply for disaster relief? That is sad. I have los alot of programs. I like the old pocket programs but now I bring PP's to the track and don't get a program except on very big days.

I could argue that Glowing Tribute (who I missed that weekend but saw many times) as the dam of 7 sw's including Hero's Honor, Sea Hero and Wild Applause, was the most influential, though more through daughters than sons. Beneath Wild Applause are countless SW's including her son Roar, the broodmare sire of Rachel Alexandra.

I loved Glowing Tribute even when she raced. Wouldn't it be between her and Courtley Dee?

I still can't believe Wild Applause paid $9 when she made her turf debut in the Diana. Of course, Hero's Honor paid $22 in his turf debut....the race after Slew o' Gold beat Bates Motel a pimple in the Marlboro.