10 Years Ago: June 2013
- Details
- Published: June 2023
- Written by Emily Stakem
Maryland-bred Tuscalee was voted into the National Racing Hall of Fame.
Maryland-bred Tuscalee was voted into the National Racing Hall of Fame.
Pimlico posted new attendance and wagering records for the 98th Preakness as 61,657 people witnessed Secretariat’s greatness, exceeding the previous year’s record by 12,936.
Maryland’s spring racing season was hampered by poor weather (19 of 26 days during the Havre de Grace and Pimlico meets were run on off tracks), but enlivened by great performances.
Thoroughbred racing in Maryland was looking up with bigger purses, increased breed incentives and a 10-year cooperative agreement between horsemen and the Maryland Jockey Club.
Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred editor and racing historian Timothy Capps provided a retrospective of the 50th and 25th Triple Crowns anniversaries of Citation (1948) and Secretariat (1973).
“Oh How the Pressure Grew!” for trainer Lucien Laurin as the 60-year-old Canadian was going for his second Kentucky Derby in a row “with the chestnut wonder [perhaps] horse, Secretariat,” reported Snowden Carter.
The spring cross-country racing season had more entries, and more promising young riders, than had been the case for years.