Secretariat
1973 Belmont
In what is considered to be the single greatest performance in racing history, Secretariat dominates the 1973 Belmont, completing a sweep of the Triple Crown while winning by a staggering 31 lengths or almost a sixteenth of a mile. As Secretariat widens his margin into the far turn, track announcer Chic Anderson famously intones, "Secretariat is moving like a tremendous machine."
Affirmed
1978 BELMONT STAKES
After gamely holding off arch-rival Alydar by increasingly narrow margins in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, Affirmed saves his grittiest performance for the 1978 Belmont Stakes. Alydar engages Affirmed midway through the mile-and-a-half race, and the two carry a pitched battle right down to the wire, with Affirmed holding on by a determined head, completing an unforgettable sweep of the Triple Crown.
Personal Ensign
1988 BREEDERS' CUP DISTAFF
Appearing thoroughly beaten with an eighth of a mile to go, Personal Ensign slogs her way over a mud-soaked Churchill Downs track to defeat the Kentucky Derby-winning filly Winning Colors on the wire to finish out a perfect 13-for-13 career. She becomes the first major racehorse in 80 years to retire undefeated.
Sunday Silence
1989 PREAKNESS
In the second chapter of their timeless rivalry, Sunday Silence and Easy Goer trade punches throughout the stretch of the 1989 Preakness at Pimlico Race Course with Sunday Silence adding to his Kentucky Derby victory in a heart-stopping finish. Easy Goer would exact revenge in a blowout win in the Belmont, averting a Triple Crown sweep, but Sunday Silence got the last word with a narrow victory in the season-ending Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Tiznow
2001 BREEDERS' CUP CLASSIC
Just six weeks after the horrors of the terrorist attacks of September 11, Tiznow scores a dramatic and emotional victory over European champion Sahkee in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Belmont Park, just 20 miles from the site of the still-smoldering ruins of the World Trade Center. The California-bred Tiznow becomes the first horse to win consecutive runnings of America’s richest race.
The Daily Racing Form began publishing as a 4-page newspaper in 1894 in Chicago. Originally, the Form reported the results or "form charts" of horse racing at major tracks in the United States, Cuba, and Mexico. In 1971, the Daily Racing Form absorbed the entertainment broadsheet, The Morning Telegraph, to become the Eastern Edition of the Daily Racing Form. The Western Edition emerged in 1984. Today, the DRF publishes over 2,000 pages of editorial and statistical content 364 days a year.
The Daily Racing Form collection at the Keeneland Library compromises approximately 3,700 hardbound folio volumes in 3 editions representing more than 113 years of racing history. Included are the Eastern, Midwestern, and Western editions of the Daily Racing Form as well as the long-established entertainment broadsheet, The Morning Telegraph. When The Morning Telegraph ceased in 1971, the Eastern Edition of the Daily Racing Form became the premier daily representing the tracks on the east coast.
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Beginning with our Friday, March 27, 1896 Edition, Our archive now includes 118,000 pages and 492,000 articles. Select a date in history to view a PDF of our past issues.
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