As soon as upon a time, a very long time in the past, a horse named Arrogate entered the highlight with a sequence of victories in distinguished stakes races.
Wait a minute – “a very long time in the past?” Wasn’t Arrogate on the peak of his powers lower than 10 years in the past, successful such prestigious occasions because the 2016 Breeders’ Cup Traditional and the 2017 Pegasus World Cup?
Properly, sure. However as soon as upon a time, a very long time in the past, there was a distinct racehorse by the title of Arrogate. Though at this time he’s a footnote in historical past, overshadowed by the newest and biggest Arrogate, within the Nineteen Fifties this earlier model equally carried the title Arrogate with aplomb and concurrently carried a well-known jockey into the historical past books.
Like his modern-day counterpart, the unique Arrogate – born in 1951 – was primarily based in California. However in contrast to the latest globe-trotting celebrity, whose total profession spanned 11 races, the older Arrogate was a tough-as-nails warhorse who competed 83 occasions over the course of seven seasons, accumulating 20 victories and earnings of $226,545.
The 2 Arrogates differed in one other main method. The Arrogate of the twenty first century appeared to have a transparent disdain for Del Mar, the place he misplaced his closing three begins in distinguished stakes races to shut his profession. The identical couldn’t be mentioned for the unique Arrogate, who relished the seaside oval to such an extent that he received back-to-back renewals of the Del Mar Handicap.
As a 2-year-old, the Arrogate of the Nineteen Fifties raced for the high-profile staff of Calumet Farm and coach Jimmy Jones, successful two small stakes races earlier than being culled from the Calumet racing secure.
In consequence, the colt wound up reaching the vast majority of his success for Mr. and Mrs. Dick Griegorian, with Reggie Cornell (a two-time main coach at Del Mar) conditioning the son of Goya II.
Arrogate was sluggish to mature and didn’t actually rise to prominence till his 4-year-old season, however his subsequent accomplishments had been properly definitely worth the wait. Arrogate first signaled his bettering type when ending second by a nostril in opposition to Trigonometry within the 1955 San Diego Handicap at Del Mar, run within the observe report time of 1:41 1/5 for 1 1/16 miles.
This effort served as an ideal prep for Arrogate’s first foray within the Del Mar Handicap, then contested at 1 1/8 miles on filth. It was there, with a near-record crowd of twenty-two,486 in attendance, that the title Arrogate first grew to become related to the expertise of an elite racehorse.
Arrogate and his Corridor of Fame rider, Johnny Longden, needed to pull out all of the stops to prevail in opposition to a deep and aggressive area. The tempo was set by Bobby Brocato, future winner of the 1956 Santa Anita Handicap, and when Arrogate pulled up alongside Bobby Brocato with a quarter-mile remaining, the 2 gifted stakes winners locked collectively in a heated battle to the end line.
“Because the horses got here right down to the wire their heads had been nodding in reverse instructions,” wrote Maurice Bernard within the Sept. 6, 1955 version of the San Francisco Examiner, “and it was evident that the end result can be selected the nod. It was. And Arrogate’s nostril was there at exactly the precise time.”
Arrogate’s speedy closing time of 1:47 2/5 equaled the observe report, a spotlight for the Labor Day followers who wagered $1,527,500 on the vacation races, setting a report for Del Mar. However Arrogate was removed from completed – one 12 months later, he would play a pivotal function in an much more wonderful triumph.
When Labor Day 1956 rolled round, Johnny Longden was on the verge of breaking a world report. With 4,868 wins to his credit score, Longden trailed world chief Sir Gordon Richards of England by simply two victories. With a giant afternoon at Del Mar, Longden may declare the report as his personal.
Once more, a big crowd turned out – 21,945 followers. Once more, wagering information fell as $1,536,600 churned by the betting home windows. Longden did his half, successful two races early on the cardboard to equal Richards’ report. Then it was publish time for the Del Mar Handicap, through which Longden would staff up with Arrogate in a bid for historical past.
Another time, Arrogate needed to dig deep in a dramatic stretch battle. Honeys Alibi, a contemporary 4-year-old coming off a victory within the San Diego Handicap, pushed the defending Del Mar Handicap victor to his restrict.
However Arrogate, seemingly feeling the significance of the event, pushed past his limits and one way or the other – one way or the other! – thrust his nostril throughout the end line in first place, tenaciously decreasing the observe report to 1:47 flat.
For each horse and rider, the Del Mar Handicap was a career-defining triumph. Arrogate grew to become the primary horse to win the Del Mar Handicap in back-to-back years and remained the one runner to take action for greater than half a century. Longden, in flip, introduced the title of world’s winningest jockey to the US, and fittingly did so whereas carrying the crimson, white, and blue silks of the Griegorians.
“Instantly [Longden] was engulfed within the winner’s circle,” famous the Sept. 4, 1956 version of the Arizona Each day Star. “By his spouse, his household, his little 2-year-old granddaughter … by observe officers, and even by his rival jockeys … ”
Possibly the unique Arrogate didn’t obtain fairly the identical stage monetary success because the acclaimed champion Arrogate of 2016-’17. However that didn’t cease the “different Arrogate” from serving to to make historical past in his personal particular method.
