The New Million: From Arlington to Colonial Downs

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 which trainer Bernard van Cutsem sent Karabas over from Newmarket to take the Washington D.C. International at Laurel Park.

When the third-ever Arlington Million was run in the summer of 1983, the new hallmark of Chicago racing and Duchossois's first at the helm had the third-richest purse in all of racing and featured the legendary U.S. turf champ John Henry, an eight-year-old who had won the inaugural Million two years previously. Tolomeo, an Irish-bred trained in Newmarket by Luca Cumani, provided a 38-1 shock to the U.S. betting public when he slipped through an opening on the far side rail under Pat Eddery to defeat the venerable John Henry by a neck.

Tolomeo's conquest of John Henry changed European viewpoints and initiated the dawning of an era of widespread international participation seeking to capture Chicago racing's biggest prizes: the Secretariat Stakes for three-year-olds, the Beverly D. Stakes for three-year-olds and older fillies and mares, and the Arlington Million for three-year-olds and up. The European influence on these races partly led to the track being renamed Arlington International Racecourse in 1989.

In 1994, Criquette Head got the ball rolling for the Beverly D. when Hatoof, who went on to be named U.S. Champion Female Turf Horse that year, defeated two-time defending U.S. Champion Flawlessly in a vintage renewal. In 1996, the John Oxx-trained Irish starlet Timarida sandwiched a Beverly D. win between Group 1 wins versus male horses in Germany and her native country. There was more to come as European-trained distaffers took the race five more times with South African-bred Crimson Palace (2004), I'm A Dreamer (2012), subsequent U.S. Champion Dank (2013), Euro Charline (2014) and Santa Barbara (2021) all prevailing.

Starting with Ciro's win in the 2000 Secretariat, Aidan O'Brien has sent a record-setting quartet of colts to win the race. That group is led by Highland Reel, who won the first of his seven Group/Grade 1s in the 2015 renewal.

But clearly, the showpiece was the Million, and routinely, acclaimed European runners, bolstered by generous travel incentives and the standout purse, targeted the race. Since Tolomeo's unexpected triumph, ten invaders, including representatives from England, France, Germany and Ireland, have emerged victorious in the main event.

One of those winners was the John Hammond-trained French horse Dear Doctor, who defeated a star-studded field in 1992 under an excellent ride from Cash Asmussen. In addition to defeating celebrated foes like Golden Pheasant, Exit to Nowhere, Quest for Fame, and Marquetry, Dear Doctor nosed out Sky Classic, a Canadian-bred who was later named that year's U.S. Male Turf Champion.

Recently, Hammond recalled, “It was a race I had always wanted to try and win, it had kudos and a little stardust for us Europeans. Plus, the racecourse was run by the best man in the business, Dick Duchossois.” 

He continued, “Dick told me that his orders to his troops were that the whole place had to be so clean that you could eat off the loo floors. It just about was. He had a sign on his desk that said, 'Do not expect what you didn't inspect.' So true.” 

Of his 1992 hero, Hammond said, “I was quite attached to him [Dear Doctor]. There was no bid on him as a yearling as he was a tall, gangly creature with offset knees. Curiously, he became more correct as he grew and matured. He had a wonderful turn of foot which I have always liked in horses. It won him the Arlington Million.”

Sadly for Hammond and countless others, Arlington International Racecourse closed following its 2021 season and, soon after, the property was sold by Churchill Downs Incorporated (CDI) to the Chicago Bears who had planned to build a new football stadium there. Later, the NFL franchise shelved that idea.

CDI ran the famed trio of Arlington races at Churchill Downs in 2022 and, after acquiring Colonial Downs in 2023, made the New Kent, Virginia track their new home. This year, they'll be run on August 10. The Secretariat Stakes and Beverly D. Stakes are Grade II races with $500,000 purses, and the Arlington Million is a Grade I worth, appropriately, $1,000,000 in prize-money. The races have no nomination fee and nominations close on July 24.

CDI's executive director of racing Gary Palmisano Jr said, “The turf course at Colonial Downs is 1 1/8th miles around and nearly 180-feet wide, so it offers wide, expansive turns unlike many American tracks. Given Colonial's summertime meet, the Bermuda grass is really able to thrive and take hold, offering the horses excellent footing.”

When asked about attracting European-based runners, he reported, “Colonial Downs is actively recruiting throughout Europe for horses to come compete in Virginia. We have a relationship with Adrian Beaumont and the IRB and they work hard to help spread the message of Colonial Downs. We also had a partnership with The Jockey Club and Ascot to have some two-way race programmes that offer horses competing at the highest level the opportunity to ship for these races.”

Palmisano Jr concluded, “Anyone interested in nominating or discussing travel incentives can reach out to myself at [email protected].”