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| Arlington Park in its full glory |
The Beverly D. Stakes has been a prestigious American horse race for Fillies and Mares, run right before The Arlington Million. Named in honor of Beverly Duchossois, the wife of Chicago businessman and horse racing enthusiast Richard Duchossois, the race has a rich history intertwined with the development of Arlington Park and its premier international turf racetrack. While The Turk believes these famous race names should be retired and new traditions born, no one in power really cares what this two bit handicapper thinks. Similarly, no one at CDI or the Illinois Racing Commission really care either that greed and shortsighted policy making destroyed this track, decimating the purses and putting it on the path to closure and then demolition. Shame on these people that allowed a premier facility to be wiped off the map.
The Beverly D. Stakes was inaugurated in 1987 as part of Richard Duchossois’s broader efforts to rejuvenate Arlington Park, which had suffered a devastating fire in 1985. The rebuilding of the park was an ambitious project, and the introduction of the Beverly D. Stakes was intended to elevate Arlington Park’s status in the international racing community. The race was designed as a companion event to the Arlington Million, a race that had already established itself as one of the premier turf races in the United States. The Turk has told the story several times on my blog, but I was at the track the night of the fire. I was stationed at Great Lakes Naval Training Center and answered the call to help with efforts at the scene. That night left a lasting impression on me. I was invested in the redevelopment of Arlington Park and later in life, my family and I took vacations to Chicago for Million Day at the track.
From the outset, the Beverly D. Stakes was established to be a Grade I race, a status it lost beginning with this year's event. The race is run over a route of grass and historically attracted many international competitors, often using the race as a kickoff to Breeders' Cup campaigns. Run over a distance of 1 3/16 miles, The Beverly D. Stakes is open to fillies and mares aged three years and older. With the demise of Arlington Park, the race bounced to Churchill Downs, but has been spun off to Colonial Downs, where the event anchors the biggest day of the racing calendar year and hopefully regains some of its luster as time goes by. Because of the pending heavy rains from the tropical storm, the card shifted to Sunday and the turf course is being protected as best as possible in advance of the event.
And make no mistake about it, Arlington Million Day was a premier day on the calendar and network coverage always gave it a large audience. The sport has done so much damage to itself, but this is a sport that excels at finding new bottoms. What the flawed human stewards of the sport cannot take away is the past and the glory of races like this. One of the most memorable early winners was Flawlessly, who triumphed in 1992 after a long objection/inquiry delay. Trained by the legendary Charlie Whittingham, Flawlessly was a model of consistency and excellence on the turf, and her victory in the Beverly D. Stakes solidified her place as one of the leading turf mares of her era.
The Beverly D. Stakes has also been a stage for international success. Horses from Europe and other regions have frequently competed, often with great success. The 2013 victory by Dank, a British mare trained by Sir Michael Stoute, is one such example. Dank’s powerful late surge in the race not only earned her the Beverly D. Stakes title but also contributed to her being named the American Champion Female Turf Horse that year.
My personal favorite is 2010, and Mr. Duchossois finally winning the race with Eclair de Lune (Ger), and as he wipes tears away from the winners circle, states that winning this race was more important to him than the Kentucky Derby. Take that CDI.
While I'm glad to see the race is run for $500,000, you have to understand it was $750,000 for many years at Arlington, dropping to $400,000 when it was at Churchill. With inflation, these races are not the draws they were to the international racing community that they once were. That's partially why we get a six horse Beverly D. field, a six horse Arlington Million field. Losing its Grade 1 status doesn't help either.
The Turk truly hopes a turf festival of speed and excitement takes hold at Colonial Downs, but I'm skeptical, not of these wonderful animals, or the connections, but of the short sightedness of the industry in general. While I'd said I'd rather see these proud and legendary events retired and new events and history formed, I'm glad a horseman and true ambassador of the sport, Mr. Duchossois can be remembered, as well as the enduring memory of his beloved, Beverly.
Enough rambling, lets get after it!
The weather will be wet on Friday but should improve Saturday and Sunday. For now we will assume something nearing Good to Firm but if the rains pick up Sunday Good to Yielding. Like many tracks, the website does not cater very much to horseplayers, so you'll find scratches/Changes and updated track conditions on a redirect to Bloodhorse via this link.
Let's look at just three videos.
The Beverly D Preview $125K : 1 1/16 mile on soft turf 13 July 2024. A five horse field, of which Nadette (Fr) embarrassed the rest of the field with her paid workout.
