November 20, 2021: The UBS Arena Opens

November 20, 2021: The UBS Arena opens in the Belmont Park complex, in Elmont, Long Island, New York, just over the City Line from Queens. It becomes the home of the New York Islanders.

The Islanders had played at the Nassau Coliseum, in the Town of Hempstead but with a Uniondale mailing address, from their 1972 inception until 2015, by which point the Coliseum had become obsolete. They played the 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, groundsharing with the NBA's Brooklyn Nets.

The players, the organization and the fans all hated it: The building was designed for basketball and concerts, and, in order to fit a regulation-size NHL rink in the place, about 2,000 seats had to be removed, thus giving them an even smaller seating capacity than they had at the Coliseum. The Coliseum was renovated, and they played a few home games there in the 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons, and the even smaller seating capacity didn't matter, since they weren't selling out, anyway.

But, after years of trying to get a new arena approved at the Coliseum site, a deal was finally struck to build one next-door to Belmont Park, one of America's greatest horse-racing tracks. This led to the UBS Arena being nicknamed "The Stable." Lucky for them, the Islanders have been good since moving in, so there are few jokes about them being "horseshit."

Major League Soccer's New York City FC had wanted the site, and, backed with the money of their owners -- 80 percent the royal family of Abu Dhabi, and 20 percent the New York Yankees -- they could certainly afford it. But the State of New York, owner of Belmont Park and its operator through the New York Racing Association, chose the Islanders, who are more established than NYCFC, and, unlike the royal family of Abu Dhabi, don't have the taint of anti-Semitism, which is an issue in New York City and Long Island.

Ground was broken on September 23, 2019. UBS, the United Bank of Switzerland, bought the naming rights on July 22, 2020. The arena seats 17,255 for hockey and 19,000 for concerts. It opened on November 20, 2021. The Islanders did not live up to the occasion, losing 5-2 to the Calgary Flames. Brad Richardson of the Flames scored the 1st goal, while Brock Nelson scored the 1st Islander goal. The Islanders lost their 1st 7 games in the arena, finally getting their 1st win on December 11 -- unfortunately for me, over the New Jersey Devils.

On November 28, 2021, former One Direction singer Harry Styles hosted the Arena's 1st concert. Queens-based St. John's University, which uses Madison Square Garden for home games too big for its on-campus Carnesecca Arena, were a natural to host the 1st basketball game at the Arena. On December 3, 2021, they played the University of Kansas, and lost, 95-75. The loss didn't look so bad at the end of the season: Kansas won the National Championship.

*

November 20, 2021 was a Saturday. There were 11 other NHL games played that day:

* The New Jersey Devils beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 5-3 at the Amalie Arena (now the Benchmark International Arena) in Tampa.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Nashville Predators, 6-3 at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 5-2 at the Wells Fargo Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.

* The Florida Panthers beat the Minnesota Wild, 5-4 at the FLA Live Arena (now the Amerant Bank Arena) in the Miami suburb of Sunrise, Florida.

* The Dallas Stars beat the St. Louis Blues, 4-1 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 2-0 at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.

* The Arizona Coyotes beat the Detroit Red Wings, 2-1 at the Gila River Arena (now the Desert Diamond Arena) in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona. Clayton Keller scored the winning goal, 25 seconds into overtime.

* The Vegas Golden Knights beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 3-2 at the T-Mobile Arena in the Las Vegas suburb of Paradise, Nevada.

* The Edmonton Oilers beat the Chicago Blackhawks at Rogers Place in Edmonton.

* The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Los Angeles Kings, 5-4 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

* The Washington Capitals beat the San Jose Sharks, 4-0 at the SAP Center in San Jose.

* And the New York Rangers, the Buffalo Sabres, the Vancouver Canucks, the Winnipeg Jets, the Colorado Avalanche, the Ottawa Senators, and the Anaheim Ducks were not scheduled.

There were 9 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Houston Rockets, 106-99 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, 111-105 at the TD Garden in Boston.

* The Washington Wizards beat the Miami Heat, 103-100 at the Capital One Arena in Washington.

* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Charlotte Hornets, 115-105 at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the New Orleans Saints, 111-94 at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Orlando Magic, 117-108 at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee. Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 32 points and had 20 rebounds, a pretty big rebounding number for his generation.

* The Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Memphis Grizzlies, 138-95 at the Target Center in Minneapolis.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Sacramento Kings, 123-105 at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.

* And the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 118-111 at the Moda Center in Portland. Damian Lillard led all scorers on the night with 39 points.

This was the start of the 8-day rivalry week in college football. The games played on this day included:

* Number 1 Georgia warmed up for their rivalry with Georgia Tech by beating Charleston Southern, 56-7 at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia.

* Number 2 Alabama warmed up for their rivalry with Auburn by beating Number 21 Arkansas, 42-35 at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Alabama beat Georgia in the Southeastern Conference Championship Game, but Georgia qualified for the National Championship Playoff anyway, and won a rematch against Alabama at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis for the title.

* Number 3 Cincinnati beat Southern Methodist University (SMU), 48-14 at Nippert Stadium in Cincinnati. Cincy won the American Athletic Conference Championship, and became a rare school from outside the "Power Five" conferences to qualify for the National Championship Playoff. But in their Semifinal, which also served as the Cotton Bowl, they lost to Alabama.

* Number 4 Oregon were upset by Number 24 Utah, 38-7 at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City. The schools had a rematch in the Pacific-Twelve Conference Championship Game, at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, and Utah won again, to go to the Rose Bowl. Oregon lost the Alamo Bowl to Oklahoma.

* Number 5 Ohio State warmed up for their rivalry with Michigan by beating Number 7 Michigan State, 56-7 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus.

* Number 6 Notre Dame beat Georgia Tech, 55-0 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. (In odd-numbered years, due to the weather, Notre Dame and USC play each other in South Bend in the middle of the season. In even-numbered years, they play in Los Angeles on Thanksgiving weekend.)

* Number 8 Michigan warmed up for their rivalry with Ohio State by beating Maryland 59-18 at Maryland Stadium (now SECU Stadium) in the Washington suburb of College Park, Maryland. Michigan beat Ohio State for the 1st time in 10 years, beat Iowa in the Big Ten Championship Game, and lost the Orange Bowl to Georgia as the National Championship Playoff Semifinal. For once, the Rose Bowl was a consolation prize for the Michigan-Ohio State loser, and Ohio State beat Utah.

* Number 9 Oklahoma State warmed up for their rivalry with Oklahoma by beating Texas Tech, 23-0 at Jones Stadium in Lubbock, Texas.

* Number 10 Mississippi warmed up for its rivalry with Mississippi State by beating Vanderbilt, 31-17 at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Mississippi. Despite not being SEC Champions, with the top 2 teams in the SEC invited to the Playoff, "Ole Miss" were invited to the Sugar Bowl.

* Number 11 Baylor beat Kansas State, 20-10 at Bill Snyder Family Stadium in Manhattan, Kansas, Baylor beat Oklahoma State in the Big Twelve Conference Championship Game in Arlington, Texas, then beat Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl.

* Number 13 Wake Forest were upset by Clemson, 48-27 at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina.

* Number 18 University of Pittsburgh beat Virginia, 48-38 at Heinz Field (now Acrisure Stadium) in Pittsburgh. Pitt won the Atlantic Coast Conference title, but lost to Michigan State in the Peach Bowl.

* Rivalry: The University of California at Los Angeles, UCLA, beat the University of Southern California, USC, 62-33 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

* Rivalry: Harvard beat Yale, 34-31 at the Yale Bowl in New Haven, Connecticut.

* Rivalry: Princeton beat the University of Pennsylvania, 34-14 at Franklin Field in Philadelphia. Technically, Princeton had won a share of the Ivy League title, but it was with Dartmouth, who had the head-to-head tiebreaker over them.

* Not a rivalry, but a novelty: Purdue beat Northwester, 32-14 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* Among the service academies, Army beat the University of Massachusetts, 33-17 at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York; Navy lost to East Carolina, 38-35 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland; and Air Force had played the night before, beating Nevada 41-39 at Mackay Stadium in Reno, Nevada.

* And New Jersey's team, Rutgers, lost to their arch-rivals, Penn State, 28-0 at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania.

And, in English soccer, Liverpool FC beat North London team Arsenal FC, 4-0 at Anfield in Liverpool. Much to my dismay.

October 20, 1923: Zev vs. Papyrus

October 20, 1923: One of the biggest match races in American history is held at Belmont Park.

It's easy to ask, "If Man o' War was the most famous thoroughbred race horse of the era, how come he didn't win the Triple Crown?" Well, at the time, the Triple Crown had been won only once, by Sir Barton in 1919, and it was not the big deal that it would later become. Man o' War won the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes in 1920, but did not even enter the Kentucky Derby.

Zev had been the leading 2-year-old horse in America in 1922. In 1923, the Preakness was run before the Kentucky Derby, and Zev, ridden by Earl Sande, ran a bad race. But he came back to win the Derby and the Belmont Stakes.

In England, which still thought of itself as the worldwide capital of horse racing -- "The Sport of Kings," partly because the British royal family had owned champion horses, and still does -- Papyrus had been doing much the same thing as Zev. Ridden by Steve Donoghue, he was his country's leading 2-year-old racehorse, and, the next year, won the country's leading race, The Derby (and, unlike in America, that's pronounced "DAR-bee," not "DER-bee") at Epsom Race Course in Surrey.

On August 19, 1923, a deal was struck to have Papyrus race against Zev, to determine the best racehorse in the world. The winning horse would win $100,000 (about $1.7 million in 2022 money), with the losing horse getting just $2,000. But Papyrus would be running at something of a disadvantage: In 2 warmup races, he was bumped by another horse, the one in the 2nd race actually drawing blood.

But he was determined to be fit enough to sail to America and race against Zev. Accompanying him on the voyage were Donoghue, trainer Basil Jarvis, 2 stable boys, his stablemate Bargold, a cat with whom Papyrus had bonded, and a special feed mix. But the British media, normally so jingoistic, was actually pessimistic, thinking the effects of the voyage and the change in environment -- normally racing on grass, this would be his 1st time running on a dirt track -- would work against Papyrus.

A crowd of 70,000 people filed into Belmont Park, just outside New York City in Elmont, Nassau County, New York. The track was muddy, and while Papyrus held his own for the first half of the race, Zev pulled away, and won by 5 lengths. Although noting the conditions, Jarvis acknowledged that he had been fairly beaten by a better horse.

Papyrus was never the same horse. He ran 4 races as a 4-year-old, didn't win any of them, and was retired to stud. He lived until 1941. In contrast, Zev won races as a 4-year-old, and broke Man o' War's record as horse racing's all-time leading money-winner. He was less successful at stud than Papyrus, and lived until 1943.

*

October 20, 1923 was a Saturday. Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, now named Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, opened on this day in Norman, Oklahoma. The University of Oklahoma beat Washington University of St. Louis, 62-7. I have a separate entry for this event. These other notable college football games were played that day:

* In an unusual North vs. South matchup, Army beat Auburn, 28-6 on The Plain at West Point, New York.

* Navy lost to Penn State, 21-3 at Beaver Field (not to be confused with the later Beaver Stadium) in State College, Pennsylvania.

* Fordham lost to Lehigh, 7-0 at Taylor Stadium in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

* Columbia lost to the University of Pennsylvania, 19-7 at Franklin Field in Philadelphia. This was only the 4th game at the new Franklin Field, which had replaced the one that had stood there since 1895.

* Rutgers beat New York University (NYU), 7-3 at Neilson Field in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

* Princeton lost to Notre Dame, 25-2 at Palmer Stadium in Princeton.

* Syracuse beat the University of Pittsburgh, 3-0 at Yankee Stadium. It was the 1st college football game played there.

* Harvard beat Holy Cross, 6-0 at Harvard Stadium in Boston.

* In what would later become an arch-rivalry, Michigan beat Ohio State, 23-0 at Ferry Field in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

* The University of Chicago beat nearby Northwester University, 13-0 at Stagg Field in Chicago.

* The University of Missouri and Saint Louis University played to a 0-0 tie at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis.

Also on this day, "Beat Generation" writer Philip Whalen was born. 

July 6, 1975: The Tragedy of Ruffian

Ruffian, before an earlier race at Belmont Park

July 6, 1975: Another sport has set up an equivalent to the "Battle of the Sexes" that tennis had 2 years earlier. Only this time, it didn't seem so ridiculous, mainly because the male competitor wasn't running his mouth.

He couldn't: Like his female opponent, he was a horse.

Of course, when Billie Jean King beat Bobby Riggs, there was a chance that Riggs, then 55 years old, could have had a heart attack and dropped dead. But he didn't.

This time, the competition did end in tragedy.

*

Every now and then, there is a racehorse about whom the sport's observers say loves to run, was born for it. Ruffian was the 1st filly about whom it was said. Foaled on April 17, 1972 at Claiborne Farm in Paris, Kentucky, she was a granddaughter of 1957 Preakness Stakes winner Bold Ruler, making her a niece to 1973 Triple Crown winner Secretariat. Her other grandfather was 1953 Preakness and Belmont Stakes winner Native Dancer. (This was not surprising: Both grandfathers can count dozens of winning horses among their descendants.) She was large for a filly, and ran 5 races as a 2-year-old, winning them all.

As a 3-year-old, she ran 5 races, and won them all. This included the Triple Tiara, the fillies' version of colts' Triple Crown: The Acorn Stakes, at Belmont Park, just outside New York City in Elmont, Long Island, New York; the Mother Goose Stakes, also at Belmont; and the Coaching Club American Oaks, at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, in the Adirondack Mountains of northern New York State.

An "oaks" is the female version of a "derby." The Mother Goose Stakes has since been dropped from the Triple Tiara. Now, it's the Acorn Stakes, the Coaching Club, and the Alabama Stakes, which is run at Saratoga. The Kentucky Oaks, run annually the day before the Kentucky Derby, is a prestigious race for fillies, but is not part of the Triple Tiara, which is probably why Ruffian was not entered into it. And while fillies are eligible for the Triple Crown races, very few run in them: The Kentucky Derby has had just 3 female winners in 148 races, the Preakness Stakes 6 out of 147, and the Belmont Stakes 3 out of 154.

Ruffian had been working her way up in length, as young racehorses tend to have done for them. Until her 8th race, the Acorn Stakes on May 10, 1975, she had never run as long as a full mile. But in winning the Coaching Club and taking the Triple Tiara on June 22, she had run a mile and a half -- the same length as the Belmont Stakes, whose length has given it the name "the true test of champions."

It wasn't just that she was undefeated: She won big. Her 10 races were won by an average distance of 8.3 lengths. She won the Mother Goose by 13 1/2. And in every stakes race she ran, she set a new record for that race. This was the closest thing that fillies had ever had to Secretariat, who had blown away the competing colts to win the Triple Crown 2 years earlier.

The question was asked: Could the best filly in the country defeat the best colt in a match race?

Match races are rare. There had been 4 big ones in the 20th Century:

* 1920: Belmont Stakes winner Man o' War over the previous year's Triple Crown winner Sir Barton, at Kenilworth Park in Windsor, Ontario, across the river from Detroit.

* 1923: Preakness and Belmont winner Zev over Epsom Derby winner Papyrus, at Belmont Park.

* 1938: West Coast champion Seabiscuit over the previous year's Triple Crown winner War Admiral (a son of Man o' War), at Pimlico in Baltimore.

* 1955: Preakness and Belmont winner Nashua over Kentucky Derby winner Swaps, at Washington Park in Chicago in 1955.

So a match race between Ruffian and a leading colt would be the first major match race will full television coverage.

Her trainer, Frank Whiteley, had preferred to take her up to Saratoga, and run her against colts in the Travers Stakes, America's leading Summer thoroughbred race. "Prove the point one time, and that'll be it," he said. But her owners, Stuart and Barbara Janney, overruled him, because the money from a match race against the top colt in the country was too good to pass up. Stuart did insist that it take place on her usual home track, Belmont.

So it was set up for Sunday, July 6: Ruffian, wearing Number 2, would take on Foolish Pleasure, wearing Number 1. Foolish Pleasure, bred, foaled and trained in Florida, was a first cousin of Ruffian: Each was a grandchild of Bold Ruler.

Foolish Pleasure won the Kentucky Derby by making a late charge to beat Avatar, finished 2nd to the not-quite-aptly-named Master Derby in the Preakness, and finished 2nd to Avatar in the Belmont. Given this record, he was probably the best 3-year-old thoroughbred colt in the country, but it was hardly definitive.

Foolish Pleasure

There was another issue: Both horses had the same jockey, Jacinto Vásquez, a 31-year-old native of Panama. He had to make a choice, and he chose Ruffian, which spoke volumes. After all, he probably knew each horse as well as its owners and trainers, and he was certainly the only person who knew the tendencies, and the emotional makeups, of both horses.

So Braulio Baeza, 35 and also from Panama, was hired to ride Foolish Pleasure. He had won the 1961 Belmont Stakes aboard Sherluck, both the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont in 1963 aboard Chateaugay, and the 1969 Belmont aboard Arts and Letters. So he was certainly familiar with Belmont, its track and its atmosphere. His win aboard Chateaugay made him the 1st Hispanic jockey to win the Kentucky Derby. If he wasn't the best possible choice, he was certainly a very good one.

Belmont Park, which originally opened in 1905, had been rebuilt, and reopened in 1968 with a 33,000-seat grandstand, and, with infield seating, necessary for the Belmont Stakes, could seat over 100,000 people. The infield seating was needed again, as over 50,000 people came to see "The Great Match." Another 20 million watched on ABC, obliterating the record for TV viewership of a horse race set at the 1973 Belmont Stakes won by Secretariat.

The odds on Ruffian were 20-1. Horse racing oddsmakers are usually older men, and they seemed sure that there was no way any filly could beat a champion colt. But Vásquez knew better than anyone, because he had ridden both horses, and he chose Ruffian because he genuinely believed she was the better horse. The winner-take-all prize: $350,000. (About $1.93 million in 2022 money.)

The horses broke from the starting gate. But Ruffian did not do so straight, bumping her shoulder on the gate before straightening out. If that had been the worst of it, it would have been a footnote: Even if she had run the race to its conclusion and lost, that probably wouldn't have been considered the reason.

The 1st quarter-mile was run in 22 1/5th seconds, and Ruffian was ahead by a nose. A furlong later, she had a lead of half a length. It was too soon to tell if she would hold the lead the whole way.

Just then, both jockeys heard a sound that they described as a crack. A bird had flown across the infield, distracting Ruffian, and she took a bad step. She had broken both of the sesamoid bones in her right foreleg.

Vásquez, not possessed of X-ray vision, didn't know exactly what was wrong, but he knew horses well enough to know that this was a devastating injury. He tried to pull her up, to get her to stop. But this horse that loved to run, apparently not yet feeling the pain, kept going. This further damaged the leg's bones, and tore its ligaments. Vásquez finally got her to stop, and Baeza guided Foolish Pleasure to a win in what amounted to a walkover.

Ruffian was loaded onto an ambulance, and taken to Belmont Park's veterinary clinic. Surgery on her leg took 12 hours, and she had to be revived twice. The next day's first edition of the New York Daily News, sent to press while Ruffian was still alive, printed a hopeful, if tasteless, secondary headline.

But in her padded recovery stall, she kept flailing her legs, knocking the plaster cast against the wall, until it came loose. Her continued flailing undid all the surgery. The doctors concluded that she could not survive another operation. She was euthanized in the middle of the night. Later editions of newspapers had to print the awful truth. 

This was something relatively new in American sports. There had been deaths on the field of play before, but most of them happened before television came along (as with baseball player Ray Chapman in 1920), or had only happened on local TV, with the footage not preserved due to the high cost of videotape (such as happened to hockey player Bill Masterton in 1968, and a few football players in the 1960s and early '70s). Ruffian didn't die during the race, but she died as a result of it, and the announcers let the audience know that it could happen.

Some of the 20 million people watching on TV were women who had never watched a horse race before, not even with Secretariat, but were watching because Ruffian was a girl going up against the best of the boys. Many of the viewers, men and women alike, swore they would never watch another horse race.

Sure enough, in spite of 2 more Triple Crown winners in the decade -- Seattle Slew in 1977 and Affirmed in 1978, and the dramatic story of the 1980 Kentucky Derby (more about that in a moment), TV viewership of horse racing severely declined. So did live attendance, as the growth of cable TV led to more sports viewing opportunities without having to leave your house.

Up until the dawn of the TV era, horse racing was the 3rd-most popular sport in America, behind baseball and boxing. Even in 1975, with football having surpassed everything, horse racing was still more popular than basketball and hockey. Now, despite 2 Triple Crown winners in the 2010s, it might not even be one of the top 10 sports.

Ruffian was buried in the infield at Belmont, with her nose pointing toward the finish line. She is the only horse laid to rest there. The following year, the Ruffian Handicap was founded, and was run annually at Belmont until 2009. In 2010, it was moved to Saratoga. In 2014, it was moved back to Belmont. The veterinary clinic at Belmont, where Ruffian died, is now named Cornell Ruffian Equine Specialists, run by Weill Cornell Medicine, of Cornell University.

Foolish Pleasure, forever to be remembered for a race that, officially, never took place, raced as a 4-year-old, and was retired to stud. He died of a stomach ailment at a ranch in Wyoming in 1994.

In 1980, Jacinto Vásquez accomplished something that he hadn't done even with Ruffian: He won the Kentucky Derby aboard a filly, Genuine Risk. The 2 Kentucky Derbies he won would be the only Triple Crown races he won.

In 1976, Baeza rode Honest Pleasure, another first cousin of Foolish Pleasure, to a 2nd-place finish in the Kentucky Derby. After finishing 5th in the Preakness with Honest Pleasure, he finished the season, and retired with 3,140 wins.

That year, he was elected to the National Racing Hall of Fame. So was Ruffian. Vásquez kept racing until 1996 -- racing into one's 50s is not unusual for a jockey -- and retired with 5,231 wins. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1998. As of July 6, 2022, Baeza is 82, and Vásquez is 78.

The racing magazine The Blood-Horse ranked Ruffian as the top female thoroughbred racehorse of the 20th Century -- but only 35th overall on their list of the top 100 thoroughbreds. Foolish Pleasure was ranked 97th.

A film titled Ruffian was made in 2007. Sam Shepard played Whiteley, Nicholas Pryor played Stuart Janney, Christine Belford played Barbara Janney, Vladimir Diaz played Vásquez, Francisco Torres played Baeza, Frank Whaley played Sports Illustrated racing writer William Nack, and original track announcer Dave Johnson, needing only to provide a repeat of his announcing, not needing to show his older face, played himself.

There would not be another match race in America until July 23, 1988, at Ak-Sar-Ben Racetrack in Omaha, Nebraska. (Ak-Sar-Ben, also the name of an adjacent sports arena, is "Nebraska" spelled backwards. Both the arena and the track have since been demolished.) Again, it was a "Battle of the Sexes," but neither horse had won any Triple Crown races. The colt Who Doctor Who beat the filly Explosive Girl by 3 1/2 lengths.

*

July 6, 1975 was a Sunday. Elsewhere in Queens that day, Curtis Jackson was born. He went on to become the rapper 50 Cent.

These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles, 6-1 at Shea Stadium, where they played "home games" while the original Yankee Stadium was being renovated. Brooks Robinson went 0-for-3. Ken Singleton, later a Yankee broadcaster, provided the Orioles' only run with a solo home run. No Yankee homered, but Graig Nettles went 3-for-4 with an RBI. Pat Dobson outpitched Mike Cuellar. Both men went the distance.

In 1971, while with the Orioles, Dobson was part of a unique achievement: He, Cuellar, Jim Palmer and Dave McNally all won 20 games that season, the only time a single team has had 4 20-game winners in the same year. The Orioles won the American League Pennant, but lost the World Series.

* The New York Mets lost to the Philadelphia Phillies, 8-6 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Rusty Staub and Mike Phillips hit home runs for the Metropolitans, and Dick Allen hit one for the Phils.

* A doubleheader was split at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. The Boston Red Sox won the opener, 5-3, despite Carl Yastrzemski going 0-for-5. The Cleveland Indians won the nightcap, 11-10. Yaz was held out of it. Indians manager Frank Robinson, not yet retired as a player, did not enter either game.

* The Houston Astros beat the Atlanta Braves, 6-2 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

* The Detroit Tigers swept a doubleheader from the Milwaukee Brewers at Tiger Stadium in Detroit, 7-5 and 11-2. Over the 2 games, Hank Aaron went 3-for-9 with an RBI, but no home runs.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs, 18-12 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. The wind must have been blowing out that day. The Pirates got homers from Willie Stargell, Dave Parker, Rennie Stennett and Bob Robertson. The Cubs got them from Jerry Morales and Rick Monday.

* The Texas Rangers swept a doubleheader from the Minnesota Twins at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota, 4-2 and 7-0. Gaylord Perry pitched a 7-hit shutout in the nightcap. (Cough-spitball-cough.) Rod Carew went 3-for-8 with an RBI in the twinbill, and Toby Harrah homered in each game for the Rangers.

* The Montreal Expos beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-3 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Lou Brock went 2-for-3 with a walk.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals, 9-3 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. George Brett went 0-for-3, but did draw a walk.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the San Diego Padres, 13-2 at San Diego Stadium (later Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium). The Big Red Machine, on their way to winning the World Series, hit no home runs on this day, but got 3 hits each from Pete Rose and Joe Morgan, and 2 each from Ken Griffey Sr., George Foster and Bill Plummer, who was substituting at catcher for Johnny Bench.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat their arch-rivals, the San Francisco Giants, 5-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* And the California Angels beat the Oakland Athletics, 2-0 at the Oakland Coliseum. Dick Lange and Don Kirkwood combined on a 6-hit shutout, beating Vida Blue. Reggie Jackson went 1-for-4.

June 7, 1941: Whirlaway Wins the Triple Crown

June 7, 1941: The Belmont Stakes is run at Belmont Stakes in Elmont, Long Island, New York. The Triple Crown is on the line.

Whirlaway was one of many champion thoroughbred racehorses bred at Calumet Farm, outside Lexington, Kentucky. His sire was Blenheim, who won the 1930 Epsom Derby in England. Trained by Ben A. Jones, and ridden by Eddie Arcaro, he won 4 stakes races as a 2-year-old, and was named the American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt.

On May 3, 1941, he entered the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, and won it in 2 minutes, 1 and 2/5ths seconds, a record at the time. He won the race by 8 lengths, tying a record which still stands. Two weeks later, on May 17, he won the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore.

He was considered such a favorite in the Belmont that only 3 other horses entered: Robert Morris, Yankee Chance, and Itabo. At post time, the odds on "Mr. Longtail" (his tail was exceptionally long for a thoroughbred) were 1-4. That's not a typographical error: One to four. He won in 2 minutes and 31 seconds, by 2 1/2 lengths over Robert Morris.

He had become the 5th horse to win the Triple Crown. Then, he did something not done before or since: He went up to Saratoga Race Course in Upstate New York, and won the Travers Stakes. No other horse has won all 4 races, although the feat was called "The Superfecta" rather than "The Grand Slam" like in tennis or golf.

Arcaro was suspended for the 1942 racing season, for racing infractions. George Woolf, who had previously stepped in for the injured Red Pollard to ride Seabiscuit to some big wins, became Whirlaway's rider.

Alsab was also a Kentucky-bred horse. He was the 2-year-old champion in 1941, and in 1942, ridden by Basil James, he won the Preakness, finishing 2nd Shut Out in both the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont.

It might have made sense, in an era when match races, races between 2 major thoroughbred horses, were occasionally done, to match up Whirlaway and Shut Out, winners of 5 of the last 6 Triple Crown races. Instead, one was set up for September 19, 1942, at Narragansett Park in Pawtucket, Rhode Island -- 6 miles northeast of downtown Providence, and 41 miles southwest of Boston -- between Whirlaway and Alsab, who, despite being only 2, finished 2nd to Whirlaway for Turf and Sport Digest magazine's Horse of the Year award the year before. Alsab won in a photo finish.

Nevertheless, the horses opposed each other in one more race before the year was out, and Whirlaway won. It may have made a difference, as Whirlaway, having won 12 races on the year to Alsab's 9, was named Horse of the Year again. Whirlaway lived until 1953, Alsab until 1963.

In 1948, Eddie Arcaro rode Citation, making him the only jockey ever to ride 2 Triple Crown winners. He lived until 1997.

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June 7, 1941 was a Saturday. These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the St. Louis Browns, 11-7 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. The Yankees led 6-4 going to the bottom of the 8th inning, but the Browns scored 3 runs off Spud Chandler, in relief of Lefty Gomez, to take a 7-6 lead. Then the Yankees scored 5 in the top of the 9th. Charley Stanceu was the winning pitcher. The losing pitcher was former Yankee Johnny Allen.

Charlie Keller went 3-for-4 with a home run, a walk and 4 RBIs. Joe DiMaggio went 3-for-5 with an RBI. This was the 22nd game of his hitting streak, and people were beginning to notice. It would reach a record 56.

* The New York Giants lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 11-3 at the Polo Grounds. Mel Ott went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers lost to the Cincinnati Reds, 8-3 at Ebbets Field. Pete Reiser hit a home run.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Boston Braves, 5-1 at Braves Field in Boston.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 2-0 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. Cy Blanton allowed 8 hits, but kept the shutout.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 6-2 at League Park in Cleveland.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Washington Senators, 10-6 at Briggs Stadium (later Tiger Stadium) in Detroit. The Tigers' Hank Greenberg had recently become the 1st big star in baseball to enlist in the U.S. armed forces.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Boston Red Sox, 5-4 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Ted Williams went 1-for-4 with a walk. He was batting .431. Then he went into a slump, finishing at .406.

June 5, 1943: Count Fleet Wins the Triple Crown

June 5, 1943: The Belmont Stakes is held at Belmont Park, just outside New York City in Elmont, Long Island. A horse named Count Fleet is going for the Triple Crown.

The son of Reigh Count, who won the Kentucky Derby and the Jockey Club Gold Cup in 1928, Count Fleet was foaled at Stoner Creek Stud Farm in Paris, Kentucky. He was owned by Fannie Hertz, whose husband, John D. Hertz, founded the rental car company that bears his name.

Count Fleet was not a particularly attractive horse, called "narrow, light-waisted, and flat-muscled" by one expert and too leggy and light boned by others. He also had an unruly temperament. John Hertz initially did not think much of Count Fleet, and thought of selling him, until jockey Johnny Longden talked him out of it. Don Cameron became the horse's trainer.

He started slowly as a 2-year-old, but began winning races as the year wound down. As a 3-year-old, he won the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct in Queens, but was cut in the process. On May 1, he won the Kentucky Derby by 3 lengths. On May 8, only 3 horses opposed him in the Preakness Stakes, and he was a 3-20 favorite. He won by 8 lengths. He was taken to Belmont Park, and squeezed in a win over 2 other horses to win the Withers Stakes on May 22.

On June 5, his performance in the Belmont Stakes would have been considerably more memorable had it happened on television. But with only radio, and with a big chunk of the listening audience in military service, the number of people who cared was a lot smaller than it would have been. Nevertheless, with only 2 other opponents, he won in 2 minutes, 28 and 1/5ths seconds, a record until Gallant Man broke it in 1957. And he won by 25 lengths, a record until Secretariat broke it in 1973.

But in this spectacular performance, he injured himself yet again, and it was his last race. In 1951, his son, Count Turf, won the Kentucky Derby, producing the 1st three-straight-generations winners of the Derby, ever. It's only been done once since: Pensive in 1944, his son Ponder in 1949, and Ponder's son Needles in 1956.

Count Fleet's son Counterpoint won the Belmont in 1951, and another son, One Count, won it in 1952. Other descendants include 5-time Horse of the Year Kelso, 1965 Kentucky Derby winner Lucky Debonair, 1971 Epsom Derby winner Mill Reef, and 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah. Count Fleet died in 1973, at the age of 33, and remains the longest-lived Kentucky Derby winner.

Longden, born in 1907 in Yorkshire, England, grew up in Alberta, Canada, and went on to become the winningest jockey ever, with 6,032 wins, a record since broken. He became a trainer, and trained Majestic Prince, who won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness in 1969. But the horse was injured, and his owner overruled Longden, and had him run in the Belmont. The injury may have cost Longden the chance to become the only man to win the Triple Crown as a hockey and a trainer, as Majestic Prince finished 2nd, 5 1/2 lengths behind Arts and Letters. Longden lived until 2003.

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June 5, 1943 was a Saturday. These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees lost to the St. Louis Browns, 3-2 at Yankee Stadium. Chet Laabs singled Milt Byrnes home with the winning run in the top of the 10th inning. Johnny Niggeling outpitched Charles "Butch" Wensloff. Charlie Keller hit a home run.

* The New York Giants beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-1 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Mel Ott, now also the Giants' manager, went 2-for-4 with a walk.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers lost to the Chicago Cubs, 3-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Boston Red Sox, 4-1 at Fenway Park in Boston.

* The Philadelphia Athletics beat the Cleveland Indians, 6-5 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia.

* The Washington Senators beat the Detroit Tigers, 6-3 at Griffith Stadium in Washington.

* The Boston Braves beat the Cincinnati Reds, 7-5 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati.

* And the Philadelphia Phillies played the St. Louis Cardinals at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. With the Cards leading, 1-0 in the bottom of the 8th, the Phils lodged a protest. The Cards hung on to win, but the Phils' protest was upheld. The game was resumed from the point of the protest on July 29, and Jimmy Wasdell hit a home run in the top of the 9th, and the Phillies won, 2-1.

June 5, 1937: War Admiral Wins the Triple Crown

June 5, 1937: The Belmont Stakes is run at Belmont Park. A horse named War Admiral was seeking the Triple Crown.

When Man o' War was 3 years old in 1920, the Triple Crown -- winning the Kentucky Derby in Louisvlle, the Preakness Stakes in Baltimore, and the Belmont Stakes just outside New York City, all in the same year -- wasn't yet a big deal. Sir Barton, the year before, had become the 1st horse to do it. Man o' War was eligible to run in all 3, but since the Derby and the Preakness were so close together, it was decided to run him only in the Preakness and the Belmont, winning both.

Man o' War became one of the leading sires of thoroughbred racehorses, and his greatest son was War Admiral. In 1937, at age 3, ridden by Charles Kurtsinger, and trained by George Conway, he followed a 2-year-old season in which he'd won 3 of 6 races by entering the Kentucky Derby on May 8, as the favorite. He won it by 1 3/4 lengths over Pompoon.

Man o' War was very tall for a racehorse. War Admiral was not. Neville Dunn, sports editor for the Lexington Herald, wrote, "A little brown horse that takes after his mammy in size but runs like his daddy charged to victory in the 63rd Kentucky Derby... and he won so easily, so effortlessly, that 65,000 fans nudged one another in the ribs and said, 'I told you so! I told you that War Admiral could run like Man o' War.'"

On May 15, just 7 days later -- in modern times, it's 2 weeks between the Derby and the Preakness, and 3 weeks between the Preakness and the Belmont --  he entered the Preakness. Pompoon again provided his biggest challenge, and War Admiral won by only a head.

There were 3 weeks to prepare for the Belmont. War Admiral was very temperamental, and resisted going into the gate at all 3 races. At the Belmont, it took an extraordinary 8 minutes to get him in, and he stumbled as the gate opened. Betting on the race had already been cut off: He was a 4-5 favorite. Had been been allowed until the moment the gate opened, he might have lost his favorite status.

He quickly recovered his stride, and won the race by 3 lengths. His time of 2 minutes, 28 and 3/5ths seconds tied the American record for a race of a mile and a half, while breaking Man o' War's track record by 1/5th of a second.

What no one realized at the time was that War Admiral had struck the quarter of his right front fore-foot when stumbling at the gate, which left a gaping wound. During the race, Kurtsinger did not notice that anything was amiss. But when led into the winner's circle, his connections found that his belly and legs were covered with blood. He was taken home, and kept from racing in the Summer, returning in October to win, among other races, the Pimlico Special at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, home of the Preakness.

In 1938, he kept winning, including the prestigious Jockey Club Gold Cup. Then there was Seabiscuit. Although older, 5, he was a grandson of Man o' War, and thus War Admiral's nephew. They were the 2 most successful horses that year, and a match race was set up, to be that year's Pimlico Special. War Admiral was a heavy favorite, but Seabiscuit won, an underdog story that people hit hard by the Depression took to heart.

War Admiral won the Rhode Island Handicap at the end of the 1938 racing season, and won a race at Hialeah, outside Miami, early in 1939, before an injury forced his retirement. His male bloodline has run out, but descendants of his daughters include major race winners Swaps, Dr. Fager, Seattle Slew, Affirmed, Alysheba, Cigar and Zenyatta.

Kurtsinger died in 1946. War Admiral lived on until 1959.

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June 5, 1937 was a Saturday. These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers, 6-5 at Navin Field in Detroit. (The next season, the ballpark was renamed Briggs Stadium; in 1961, Tiger Stadium.) Lou Gehrig hit 2 home runs. Joe DiMaggio also hit a home run, as did Red Ruffing, a good hitter for a pitcher, who did so pinch-hitting for Bump Hadley. Oddly, he did not then come in to pitch. For the Tigers, Hank Greenburg went 2-for-3 with 2 walks and an RBI, but did not hit a home run.

* The New York Giants beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 7-5 at the Polo Grounds. Mel Ott went 1-for-4. Paul Waner went 1-for-5, and Lloyd Waner went 0-for-4 with a walk and an RBI on a groundout.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers beat the Cincinnati Reds, 5-4 at Ebbets Field.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Boston Bees, 6-3 at National League Park in Boston. After a historically bad 1935 season, the Boston Braves attempted what would now be called a "reband," renaming the team and the ballpark. It didn't take, and in 1941, the team went back to the names "Boston Braves" and "Braves Field."

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-1 at Baker Bowl in Philadelphia. Dizzy Dean went the distance for the win.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Washington Senators, 8-6 at League Park in Cleveland.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 2-0 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. John Whitehead allowed 9 hits, but kept the shutout.

* And the Boston Red Sox beat the St. Louis Browns, 11-4 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. Lefty Grove went the distance for the win. Jimmie Foxx went 3-for-6 with 2 RBIs.

May 4, 1905: Belmont Park Opens

May 4, 1905: Belmont Park opens, just outside New York City, in Elmont, Long Island. It becomes the leading horse racing track in the Northeastern United States. Like its neighbor in Queens, Aqueduct Racetrack, and Saratoga Race Course, Upstate, it is owned by the State of New York, and operated through the New York Racing Association.

Since its opening, usually on the 1st Saturday in June, it has hosted the Belmont Stakes, the 3rd and last leg of thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown. Due to its distance of a mile and a half, it is known as "the true test of champions."

Originally funded by financier and horse-breeder August Belmont Sr., the Belmont Stakes (or simply, "The Belmont") was first held in 1867, at Jerome Park Racetrack in The Bronx (also financed by Belmont, and demolished in 1894 to make way for a City reservoir). The 1st race was won by a filly, Ruthless. In 1890, the Stakes was moved to another Bronx track, Morris Park Racecourse (which burned down in 1910). In 1905, it was moved to the original version of Belmont Park.

In 1963, the original grandstand was found to be structurally unsound. It was demolished, and the current grandstand was built on the site. The Belmont Stakes was moved to Aqueduct for 1963, '64, '65, '66 and '67. The new 33,000-seat grandstand opened on May 20, 1968. With infield seating, capacity can be raised to well over 100,000.

The Triple Crown has been won at Belmont by Sir Barton in 1919, Gallant Fox in 1930, Omaha in 1935, War Admiral in 1937, Whirlaway in 1941, Count Fleet in 1943, Assault in 1946, Citation in 1948, Secretariat in 1973, Seattle Slew in 1977, Affirmed in 1978, American Pharoah in 2015 and Justify in 2018.

In winning the Belmont Stakes in 1973, Secretariat set a race record that still stands, winning by a staggering 31 lengths. A few horses have won the Kentucky Derby in Louisville and the Preakness States in Baltimore, but failed at the Belmont Stakes, including Smarty Jones in 2004, upset by Birdstone in front of the biggest crowd in Belmont Park history, 120,139 fans.

Two match races held at Belmont should be mentioned. In 1923, it hosted a race between the winner of the Kentucky Derby, Zev, and the winner of England's premier thoroughbred race, the Epsom Derby, Papyrus. In a big victory for American racing, Zev won by 5 lengths.

In 1975, Ruffian, channeling the memory of Ruthless, won the fillies' version of the Triple Crown, and her owners challenged those of Kentucky Derby winner Foolish Pleasure. The race was neck-and-neck about halfway through, when Ruffian was injured, and had to be euthanized. While Secretariat has a statue outside the grandstand, Ruffian was buried near the finish line, with her nose pointed toward the finish pole.

Among the other stakes races held at Belmont Park are the Metropolitan Handicap (a.k.a. the Met Cap or the Met Mile), the Woodward Stakes, and the Champagne Stakes.

UPDATE: Belmont Park was closed for the "fall meet" of 2022, with its races moved to Aqueduct. In 2024, the 1968 grandstand was demolished. A new grandstand is being built, hoping to open by September 2026. If this deadline is met, the 1st meet at the 3rd Belmont Park will be the Breeders' Cup. Whenever the construction is completed, it will mean the closing of Aqueduct, which opened in 1894.

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May 4, 1905 was a Thursday. These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Highlanders (forerunners of the Yankees) lost to the Boston Americans (forerunners of the Red Sox), 9-4 at Hilltop Park in Manhattan. Cy Young was the winning pitcher -- with 5 innings of relief.

* The New York Giants beat the Boston Braves, 6-1 at the South End Grounds in Boston.

* The Philadelphia Athletics beat the Washington Senators, 6-0 at Columbia Park in Philadelphia.

* The Cleveland Naps beat the Chicago White Sox, 5-0 at League Park in Cleveland. The Naps were named for their manager, 2nd baseman and best player, Napoleon "Nap" Lajoie, who hit a home run in this game.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the St. Louis Browns, 4-2 at Bennett Park in Detroit.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 3-1 at the West Side Grounds in Chicago.

* The Brooklyn Superbas (forerunner of the Dodgers) and the Philadelphia Phillies were rained out at Washington Park in Brooklyn. The game was rescheduled for May 7, and the Superbas won, 4-2.

* And the Cincinnati Reds and the Pittsburgh Pirates were not scheduled.