Fusaichi Pegasus wins the Kentucky Derby (photo courtesy of Tina Hines)

Major Races in 2000 Louisiana Derby and Florida Derby Spiral Stakes Santa Anita Derby Blue Grass Stakes, Wood Memorial, & Arkansas Derby Kentucky Oaks Kentucky Derby Preakness Belmont Stakes Queen's Plate King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes The Haskell Invitational Arlington Million Pacific Classic Travers Results Atto Mile Kentucky Cup & Woodward Stakes Vosburgh & Jerome Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe Breeders' Cup Preview Day at Belmont Canadian International & E.P. Taylor Stakes Breeders' Cup Steeplechase Breeders' Cup Championship Day Japan Cup

2000 in Review

Dateline: 12/26/00

The year 2000 marked the end or the beginning of a millennium depending on how you look at it, and it proved to be a very eventful year in the world of horse racing. You had the $4 million Fusaichi Pegasus winning the Kentucky Derby and retiring into syndication at a record $60 million. Jockey Laffit Pincay Jr. winning his 9000th race while Russell Baze won 400 races in a year for the eighth time. The Breeders' Cup Classic had its best finish in recent memory after a record 135 horses pre-entered for the big day. A virtually unknown filly from Louisiana named Hallowed Dreams tied Cigar and Citation's consecutive wins record. Arlington Park, which was closed and assumed never to reopen, hosted live racing once again after a two year hiatus. For the first time, a woman, jockey Julie Krone, was inducted into racing's Hall of Fame then briefly came out of retirement to set a world record in harness racing! The year ended on a sad note when the brilliant potential of jockey Chris Antley was violently snuffed out after his career had been brought down by his own inner turmoil.

Off the track, the business side of racing made plenty of headlines too. Yearling and breeding stock sales set records for high prices, eclipsing numbers from the boom years of the late 1980's, although buy-backs were also high and pinhookers took a beating. The ridiculously high sales prices encouraged owners to retire would-be greats early to cash in on this bonanza with several high profile freshmen sires expected to start at six figure stud fees next year.

Magna Intl. CEO Frank Stronach (photo by Cindy Pierson)

Race track acquisitions by mega-track behemoths Magna Entertainment and Churchill Downs continued while Magna CEO Frank Stronach and NTRA Commissioner Tim Smith engaged in a media war over the future of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association. By year's end, 22 tracks are opting to leave the NTRA, while NTRA is taking punitive action by refusing to televise Triple Crown preps at non-NTRA tracks and not allowing them to host the Breeders' Cup. Churchill Downs decided to play The Grinch by taking away the last free general admission bleachers on Kentucky Oaks Day and hiking all the ticket prices for the Oaks and Derby. And finally the New York City Off-Track Betting network was put up for sale with several parties in the bidding war.

Cecilia Straub-Rubens accepts Tiznow's Breeders' Cup Classic trophy (photo by Terence Dulay)

Sadly, some very popular figures in the sport passed away. In 2000 we said goodbye to old heroes Halo and Bold Forbes, world-renowned owner-breeders, Allen Paulson, Fred Hooper, and Ernie Samuel, Oak Tree founder Clement Hirsch, Secretariat's trainer Lucien Laurin, longtime Kentucky trainer Jerry Romans, Breeders' Cup Classic winner Tiznow's owner Cecilia Straub-Rubens only two days after his victory, and two-time Derby winning jockey Chris Antley.

Recaps:

• Year in Review from Canadian Press
• Horse Racing 2000 from Fox Sports
• Best of 2000 from Daily Racing Form
• 2000 was a busy year from Thoroughbred Times
• Newsmaker of the year: Bloodstock market from Thoroughbred Times
• News Archive for 2000 from Courier Journal
• Sales Recaps from the Blood Horse

Major news stories:

• Hall of Fame Inductees from National Museum of Racing
• Laffit Pincay Jr. breaks the 9000 win mark
• Russell Baze wins 400+ for the 8th time
• Hallowed Dreams run for the record
• Julie Krone and Moni Maker set a harness racing record
• $150,000 stud fee set for Fusaichi Pegasus from the Blood Horse
• Arlington re-opens from the Backstretch. Continued here.
• 22 tracks leave NTRA from LA Times. More here from the Las Vegas Review Journal.
• Frank Stronach - racing's saviour or saboteur? from Sacremento Bee
• Stronach leads movement to reshape racing industry from KY Hoofs
• Derby and Oaks ticket prices increase
• New York OTB up for sale from the Blood Horse. More here from the DRF.
• Pat Valenzuela suspended until Feb. 2001
• 1999 Eclipse Award winners

Chris Antley (photo by Cindy Pierson)

Gone but not forgotten:

• Chris Antley
• Sonny Hine
• Clement Hirsch
• Fred Hooper
• Lucien Laurin
• Allen Paulson
• Jerry Romans
• Ernie Samuel
• Cecilia Straub-Rubens

• Bold Forbes
• Halo

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