A New Golden Age of Horse Racing

~Written by J. Keeler Johnson 

It is part of human nature to mourn the passing of time and lament the “good old days” when everything—cars, movies, trees, you name it—were bigger and better. In all facets of life, it seems as though these glory days sailed away decades ago, leaving behind a sea of fond memories and a yearning for the way things used to be. The “Golden Age of Hollywood,” the “Golden Age of Television,” the “Golden Age of Aviation”… it often seems like everything has experienced a Golden Age, with the only misfortune being that few people recognized the golden nature of the age until time had moved on, the world had changed, and the glory days were over.

Sports are no exception; they too have experienced the rise and fall of their respective Golden Ages. Few will deny that boxing and baseball have fallen from their glorious peaks; horse racing is another sport that can be added to the list. The days of record-breaking attendance, champions running two or three times a month, epic handicap races, and world-record performances have gradually faded away, leaving behind two “Golden Ages” in the 1940s and 1970s, when legendary horses like Whirlaway, Count Fleet, Assault, Citation, Secretariat, Seattle Slew, Affirmed, and Ruffian left their indelible marks on the “Sport of Kings.”

But for all of horse racing’s problems—for all the debates about medication and takeout and race dates and attendance and casinos and revenue and Lasix and everything in between—it’s becoming clearer with every year, with every major race, that we are in the midst of a renaissance. Despite all of horse racing’s problems, whether real or perceived, we may have entered a new Golden Age.

It’s hard to pinpoint exactly when it started—this is common with Golden Ages, because they tend to sneak up on you—but 2007 is as good a guess as any. That year, the filly Rags to Riches won the Belmont Stakes and future superstar Curlin rose to the forefront of the sport with wins in the Preakness Stakes and Breeders’ Cup Classic. Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense and the versatile, talented Hard Spun added further depth to what many consider to have been the strongest group of three-year-olds in many years.

In 2008, Curlin was back and made history by becoming the first North American-based racehorse to earn more than $10 million, and on the heels of this achievement, he became a two-time Horse of the Year and a legend in his own time. Meanwhile, a four-year-old filly named Zenyatta swept through an unbeaten 7-for-7 season to stamp herself as a rising star.

But these were mere appetizers for the epic entrée that was to come, and in 2009, everything started happening at once. Rachel Alexandra burst on to the scene with an unprecedented campaign that saw her defeat males in the Preakness, Haskell, and Woodward Stakes; Zenyatta remained unbeaten and achieved immortality by becoming the first filly or mare to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic; and Sea the Stars won six group I races in Europe, including the Epsom Derby and Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, to be hailed as perhaps the greatest racehorse in the history of European racing. Yet his reign with this title was short-lived; the very next year, a two-year-old named Frankel emerged as a potential superstar and lived up to expectations by going unbeaten in fourteen starts from 2010 to 2012 to garner even greater support in the “best of all time” debates.

Back in the United States, Zenyatta returned from retirement for a 2010 campaign that saw her reach, create, and inspire even more fans than before. Although she lost her unbeaten record by a head while trying to defend her Breeders’ Cup Classic title, the enormity of her accomplishments—and her determination in her only defeat—stamped her as perhaps the greatest filly or mare in U.S. racing history. Meanwhile, the French sensation Goldikova won her third straight Breeders’ Cup Mile to become the first horse in history to win three Breeders’ Cup races.

But the parade of superstars didn’t stop there. In 2011, Havre de Grace beat males in the Woodward Stakes and romped in races like the Beldame and Apple Blossom to become the third straight filly or mare to win the U.S. Horse of the Year title. The seemingly ageless Game On Dude won the first of his record-breaking three Santa Anita Handicaps, while the unbeatable Australian sprinter Black Caviar rocketed to victory in eight straight races—five of them group I events—to bring her overall record to a perfect 16-for-16.

The next few years were a blur of great horses and champions as the incomparable Wise Dan won two Horse of the Year titles, two Breeders’ Cup Miles, and six Eclipse awards to stamp his claim as the greatest turf miler in U.S. history. Groupie Doll rose to brilliant levels as a female sprinter and won back-to-back renewals of the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint, while Black Caviar won five more races in Australia, conquered Royal Ascot with a win in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes, and wrapped up her career with three more Australian wins to retire unbeaten in 25 starts.

Game On Dude won virtually every race of note in California and nearly set a world record in his final Santa Anita Handicap victory in 2014. That same afternoon, California Chrome won the San Felipe Stakes, the first graded stakes win in a career that has seen him win the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Dubai World Cup en route to surpassing Curlin as the richest North American-based racehorse of all time. But for all his accomplishments, California Chrome still hasn’t won as many Eclipse awards or Breeders’ Cup races as Beholder, the first filly or mare in history to win grade I races at age 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. With two Eclipse awards and wins in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies and Breeders’ Cup Distaff under her belt, Beholder has already compiled a record worthy of induction into the Hall of Fame… but before she retires, which might not be until the end of 2017, she’s expected to face California Chrome in the Pacific Classic and Breeders’ Cup Classic later this year.

Of course, no Golden Age of horse racing would be complete without a Triple Crown winner, and after 37 years of waiting, American Pharoah achieved the seemingly impossible by winning the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes during an unforgettable, memory-making 2015 campaign. The fact that he later added the Breeders’ Cup Classic to his record—completing the first-ever “Grand Slam” in the process—was icing on the cake.

The three-year-old filly Songbird has gone unbeaten in eight races, including the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, and her brilliance has earned comparisons to Rachel Alexandra. Nyquist compiled one of the best records of any two-year-old in recent memory when he went 5-for-5 in 2015, culminating with a Breeders’ Cup Juvenile triumph, and his later triumphs in the Kentucky Derby and Florida Derby have made him one of the most decorated juvenile champions in decades. Runhappy has shown sheer brilliance in sprint races; Yeats won an unfathomable four straight editions of the 2 ½-mile Ascot Gold Cup. Tepin made history by winning the historic Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot just a few days ago; with seven straight wins, including the Breeders’ Cup Mile, she’s picked up where Wise Dan left off and is a Hall of Famer in the making. But these names only scratch the surface of the memorable horses we’ve seen over the last ten years, with Animal Kingdom, Big Brown, Blind Luck, Cirrus Des Aigles, Conduit, Gentildonna, Gio Ponti, Golden Horn, Orfevre, Royal Delta, Snow Fairy, Treve, Vodka, Winx, and Zarkava also warranting inclusion on any list of great horses.

And thanks to technology, horse racing is more accessible than ever. Many racetracks provide free livestreams on their websites so that fans can watch races from the comfort of their homes; cable channels like NBCSN, TVG, and TVG2 are bringing more racing than ever to television. Furthermore, racing fans with online wagering accounts can watch and bet on races throughout the world, including championship events in England, Ireland, France, Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, and many other countries. Fans of international racing no longer need to wait and read recaps of races at Royal Ascot and Longchamp; instead, they can watch them live, as many did when Tepin won the Queen Anne.

Perhaps even more significant is social media, which has enabled fans to go behind-the-scenes like never before. With owners, trainers, racetracks, journalists, and other industry members posting countless videos and photos, fans can watch their favorite horses train and see what they’re like around the barn, even if they might never see them in person. Last year, fans that wanted to watch American Pharoah’s workouts could view them all online—either live or shortly after they occurred—and they even got to ride along on one occasion thanks to a helmet camera that filmed American Pharoah’s workout from his rider’s perspective. What does Exaggerator do while he’s being bathed after exercise? Thanks to social media, fans can watch him play with a sponge, shaking it in his mouth and flinging water everywhere. Want to participate in fun contests and win great prizes? Just start following racetracks, racetrack mascots, and breeding farms—you can win hats, shirts, horseshoes, photos, and all sorts of racing memorabilia.

The glory days of the 1940s and 1970s were amazing; some might say they’re unmatchable. But who’s to say that something different can’t be better? No one will mistake the current world of racing for the worlds of the 1940s or 1970s… but maybe this new world is better. Maybe we’re in the middle a new Golden Age of horse racing.

And maybe—just maybe—there’s never been a better time to be a horse racing fan.

J. Keeler Johnson (also known as “Keelerman”) is a writer, blogger, videographer, handicapper, and all-around horse racing enthusiast. A great fan of racing history, he considers Dr. Fager to be the greatest racehorse ever produced in America, but counts Zenyatta as his all-time favorite. He is the founder of the horse racing website TheTurfBoard.com and a regular contributor to Bloodhorse.com and AmericasBestRacing.net. He can be found on Twitter at @J_Keelerman