I might have missed it, but I haven't seen any story that pointed out that Accelerate, in winning the Breeders' Cup Classic, hit a major milestone–winning four Grade I races at 1 1/4 miles on the dirt in a single year.
Winning the Triple Crown is supposed to be one of the toughest achievements in horse racing, right?
Well, since the Graded Race era began in 1973, there have been five Triple Crown winners.
The number of horses that have won four Grade I, mile-and-one-quarter races on dirt in a single year is only four.
It might seem like a fairly unacknowledged accomplishment, but maybe it shouldn't be. Grade I races are the ultimate goal for any horse, and one mile and one-quarter on the dirt is still the CLASSIC distance in American racing and will remain so (because of the Kentucky Derby and the Breeders' Cup Classic) no matter how much money is thrown at turf races or nine-furlong dirt races (sorry Pegasus).
Affirmed did it in 1979 winning the Strub, the Santa Anita Handicap, the Hollywood Gold Cup and the Woodward.
Alysheba did it five times in 1988, opening his four-year-old season with the Strub and the Big 'Cap and ending it with the Woodward, the Meadowlands Cup and the Breeders' Cup Classic.
Cigar in 1995 won the Gulfstream Park Handicap, the Hollywood Gold Cup, the Jockey Club Gold Cup and the Breeders' Cup Classic.
And now Accelerate has joined the club.
The list of top horses that ran in the Graded Stakes era but didn't hit the magic number of four includes Alydar, Forego, Spectacular Bid, Easy Goer, John Henry, Sunday Silence, Holy Bull, A.P. Indy, Best Pal, Skip Away, Curlin, Ghostzapper and Tiznow as well as Secretariat, Seattle Slew and the two most recent TC winners.
Looking back through the DRF Champions book, the only pre-graded stakes horses I could find that probably would have been credited with four Grade I 10-furlong wins in a year were Gun Bow in 1964 (Strub, Gulfstream Park Handicap, Brooklyn Handicap and Woodward) and Round Table in 1958 (Santa Anita Maturity, Santa Anita Handicap, Gulfstream Park Handicap and Woodward).
Those that didn't make the list included Kelso, Dr. Fager, Damascus, Buckpasser, Sword Dancer, Bold Ruler, Swaps, Nashua, Citation and Seabiscuit.
As always, no 100% guarantee that my research is error-free, but I'm pretty sure the old eyes got it right.
–Jeffrey Tufts
Jeffrey Tufts is a former morning line maker and timer on the Southern California circuit.
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