Thoroughbred Racing Fan Association, Inc.
Thoroughbred Racing Fan Association, Inc.
WHICH JOCKEY WITH THE MOST WINS IN THE ASHLAND STAKES WON THEM IN A UNIQUE WAY?
4/6/2018
The Ashland Stakes (GI) run at Keeneland Race Course this weekend has served different surface, distance and age masters. Inaugurated in 1936 as race for 3-year-olds and up. This condition was ended after the 1937 year. The race was not run in 1937 and 1938.
It began its seventy-seven-year run in 1940 with a race just for 3-year-olds run at the distance of 6 furlongs. In 1973 it was stretched to 7 furlongs (184 feet). In 1981 it stretched again to 8.5 furlongs (1 1/16 miles) and has remained at that distance. With the focus on horse injuries peaked in 2006, Keeneland converted its dirt course to a poly track. That experiment lasted for eight years until it was change back to a dirt track in 2014.
2014 marked one of five unique years for the running of the Ashland Stakes in which there were two recorded winners of the Ashland. In 2014 the two winners, Roseland and Room Service, found themselves in the Winner’s Circle by route of a Dead Heat. The remaining four dual winner years (1952, 1965, 1974 and 1980) came as a result of the race being run in two Heats (Divisions).
The 1974 Ashland Stakes is the subject of this week’s Friday Trivia questions? Which jockey with the most wins in the Ashland Stakes won them in a unique way? Why was it so unique?
ANSWER: The two Ashland races in 1974 were won by the same jockey, Don Brumfield. Although there were four dual heat Ashlands run, the 1974 races were the only ones won by the same jockey. Blumfield rode Maud Muller to win one Heat and rode Winged Wishes to win the second.