Gary Palmisano Jr

In 1981, Arlington Park's president Joe Joyce created the Arlington Million, a mile-and-a-quarter race on turf intended to raise the focus on Chicago racing. Soon after, in 1983, highly-decorated U.S. Army WWII veteran and businessman Richard L Duchossois purchased the track and substantially raised its profile. At the time, European-based racing connections were mostly strangers to American shores. Aside from the successful exploits of American oil company executive Nelson Bunker Hunt and his illustrious France-based trainer Maurice Zilber, European racehorses had cut little ice Stateside since 1969, the year in...