1998 in Review

Dateline: 12/27/98

1998 Belmont Stakes

1998 was really a banner year for racing. We just missed a Triple Crown by a nose and saw Skip Away dominate for most of the year which created some excitement to draw the fans to the track. Most of the best horses stayed healthy and made it to the Breeders' Cup making it one of the best in years, although to me the highlight was the amazing training feat by Michael Dickinson with Da Hoss winning the Mile again after almost 2 years off.

We also lost some important people and horses this year. Woody Stephens and Best Pal were just a couple who left us.

Fiasco of the year would have to be either the new Kentucky Derby post position draw or the Preakness day fire and power outage. The Derby draw was funny in a sad sort of way as it got screwed up the first time and had to be redone. The Preakness day mess was really awful for the people trapped in the grandstand and gave Pimlico a black eye they will take years to live down not to mention millions in lost wagers.

As all our racers pass their official January 1st birthday, here are some links to recaps of the top stories of 1998 to reminisce over.

• 1998 in Review from the Blood Horse. An excellent recap of the year in Thoroughbred racing.
• 1999: The Year Ahead from the Thoroughbred Times. Some predictions of what is in store for the coming year.
• Horse Racing 1998 from Fox Sports. A nice recap covering thoroughbred and harness racing.
• 1998: A Year of Drama from Sporting Life. A nice review of racing in the UK. Even better is their year in quotes.
• Top Mounts: A year of exciting races and magnificent failures from CNNSI covering the year in Thoroughbred racing.
• Case dominated harness racing in 1998 from CNNSI covering the year in harness racing.
• Highlights of an Outstanding Racing Year from Matt Graves of the Times Union.
• Skip Away Galloped to a Great 1998 from the Washtington Post AP wire
• Top three stories in horse racing for 1998 from the Record Online a New Jersey centered view.
• Harness Racing Champs from USTA. The divisional winners and Horse of the Year for 1998.

Some Top Stories from 1998

• Breeders' Cup 1998 - photos, results, and links to charts.
• Jim Beam Stakes postponed - very unusual occurence for a major stakes race caused by power poles downed by high winds
• NTRA - 1998 saw the birth of this organization to promote racing
• Triple Crown Denied - Real Quiet misses the sweep by a nose
• Woody Stephens Remembered - a look back at the legendary trainer who passed away on August 22, 1998

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All clip art and photos by the author