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Breeders’ Cup 2008 – Aerial View of Santa Anita Park

Virtual Bird's Eye — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 00:55:46 +0000

Santa Anita Park opens annually on December 26, with daily racing continuing through April 20. In addition, Santa Anita’s fall meeting, presented by the Oak Tree Racing Association, takes to the track from late September to early November every year and will be home to the 2008 Breeders’ Cup World Championships.

Live racing is Thursday through Monday. On weekdays, gates open at 10:30 a.m. and post time for the first race is 1:00 p.m. Weekends through 2/2/08, gates open at 10:00 a.m. and post time for the first race is 12:00 p.m. and weekends beginning 2/9/08, gates open at 10:30 a.m. and first post is at 12:30 p.m. Consult the racing schedule for additional post times and special promotions. Cont -Santa Anita Race Track

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Click either image for an Aerial or Bird’s Eye View of the track using Microsoft Virtual Earth.

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Triple Crown – Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs Aerial View

Virtual Bird's Eye — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 17:31:43 +0000

In pre-automobile 1875, the entire United States was “horse country.” But the rolling hills and ample bluegrass of Kentucky certainly presented an ideal venue to raise and race horses, as evidenced by the nascent breeding industry in the Commonwealth’s countryside and four racetracks operating in the city of Louisville before the turn of the century.

Little did Col. M. Lewis Clark, grandson of William Clark of Lewis & Clark fame, know that his new racetrack in the city’s South End with its inaugural Kentucky Derby would become a national landmark with a world-renowned sporting event that would one day eclipse the fame of the Epsom Derby after which it was fashioned. – Official Site

Churchill Downs Incorporated

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Triple Crown – The Preakness at Pimlico Aerial View

Virtual Bird's Eye — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 15:57:26 +0000

Historic Pimlico Race Course, home of the Preakness Stakes, first opened its doors on October 25, 1870, making it the second oldest racetrack in the nation behind Saratoga, which debuted in 1864 in upstate New York. Engineered by General John Ellicott, Pimlico has played host to racing icons for over a century, where Baltimoreans have seen the likes of legendary horses such as Man oΓÇÖ War, Sir Barton, Seabiscuit, War Admiral, Citation, Secretariat and Cigar thunder down the stretch in thrilling and memorable competition.

Constructed on 70 acres west of the Jones Falls, the Maryland Jockey Club purchased the land for $23,500, and built the racetrack for $25,000 after MarylandΓÇÖs Governor at the time, Oden Bowie, suggested the interesting proposition during a dinner party in Saratoga, New York in 1868. Bowie and his friends, prominent racing figures, had agreed to run a race in two years commemorating the evening, for horses that were yearlings at the time. – Official Site

Preakness at Pimlico Official Site

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Triple Crown – The Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park Aerial View

Virtual Bird's Eye — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 13:09:57 +0000

The Belmont Stakes, the final and most demanding leg of the Triple Crown, is named after August Belmont who had been a leading banker and racing man of the 19th century. He was also the first President of the Jockey Club in 1867. In 1869, August Belmont took first and second money with his own Fenian and Glenelg.

In 1985, trainer Woody Stephens saddled the entry of Creme Fraiche and Stephan’s Odyssey to finish one-two and in doing so, clinched his record-breaking fourth consecutive Belmont. Creme Fraiche thus became the first gelding to win the classic Belmont Stakes. Woody Stephens was back in 1986 with another Belmont charge, Danzig Connection, who went on to win the Belmont, giving Stephens his fifth consecutive Belmont Stakes victory. Trainer D. Wayne Lukas would notch his third consecutive Belmont win in 1996, with EditorΓÇÖs Note. – Official Site

The Belmont Stakes Official Site

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