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26-559: The inaugural running of the event was on 31 August 1986, as the Chicago-Budweiser Breeders' Cup Handicap , the seventh event on the card for Budweiser-Arlington Million Day and was won by Lazer Show who was ridden by US Hall of Fame jockey Pat Day in a time of 1:21 2 ⁄ 5 . Between 1986 and 1995 Budweiser sponsored the event and from 1986 and 2006 the Breeders' Cup sponsored the event which reflected in

52-638: A giant in thoroughbred horse racing , despite dropping out of El Monte High School in El Monte, California . Shoemaker's career as a jockey began in his teenage years, with his first professional ride on March 19, 1949. The first of his eventual 8,833 career victories came a month later, on April 20, aboard Shafter V, at Golden Gate Fields in Albany, California . In 1951, he won the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award . At

78-508: A record crowd, to Eddie Delahoussaye , on Exemplary Leader. All told, Bill Shoemaker rode in a record 40,350 races. In 1990, he was voted the Mike Venezia Memorial Award for "extraordinary sportsmanship and citizenship". The Marlboro Cup of 1976 at Belmont Park proved to be maybe his greatest racing achievement, and it was upon the mighty Forego . Forego's drive started from eighth position out of eleven horses on

104-739: A train." When Shoemaker earned his 6,033rd victory in September 1970, he broke jockey Johnny Longden 's record. In 1999, Shoemaker's own record of 8,833 career victories was broken by Panamanian-born Laffit Pincay Jr. ; in 2006 Russell Baze tied Pincay's record. Win number 8,833, Shoemaker's last, came at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale, Florida , on January 20, 1990, aboard Beau Genius . Two weeks later, on February 3, Shoemaker rode his last race on Patchy Groundfog, at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California . He finished fourth, in front of

130-621: A trainer were 90 wins from 714 starters and earnings of $ 3.7 million. Shoemaker was involved in a solo drunk-driving car crash on April 8, 1991, in San Dimas, California , when he rolled over the Ford Bronco II he was driving. The accident left him paralyzed from the neck down, and he thereafter used a wheelchair. Even though a blood sample drawn 98 minutes after he entered the hospital showed his blood-alcohol at .13, above California's legal limit of .08, Shoemaker did not accept blame for

156-525: A walkover in the Woodward Stakes . In his autobiography Shoemaker (1988) he called Spectacular Bid the greatest horse he rode in his storied career. Soon after retiring as a jockey in 1990, Shoemaker returned to the track as a trainer, where he had modest success, training for such clients as Gulfstream magnate Allen Paulson and composer Burt Bacharach . He continued to train racehorses until his retirement on November 2, 1997. His final stats as

182-563: Is a Grade 1 flat horse race in the United States for thoroughbred horses aged three years and upward on turf. It was originally raced at Arlington Park in Arlington Heights , Illinois over a distance of 1 + 1 ⁄ 4 miles. The Arlington Million is the first thoroughbred race to offer a purse of US$ 1,000,000. It is part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge series, and the winner automatically qualifies for

208-462: Is as follows: Two of Shoemaker's most noted rides were in the Kentucky Derby . He lost the 1957 Kentucky Derby aboard Gallant Man , when he stood up in the stirrups too soon, having misjudged the finish line, where Gallant Man finished second to Iron Liege , ridden by Bill Hartack . At the 1986 Kentucky Derby , Shoemaker became the oldest jockey ever to win the race (at age 54) aboard

234-533: The Breeders' Cup Turf . Churchill Downs , whose parent company owned the land of the defunct Arlington Park racetrack, hosted the Arlington Million in 2022. The 2023 race was run at Churchill-owned Colonial Downs in Virginia. The Arlington Million was introduced in 1981 by Joe Joyce , the father of TVG 's Mike Joyce and the president of Arlington Park at the time. The winner receives 60% of

260-644: The COVID-19 pandemic in the United States , Arlington Park did not schedule the event in its shortened meeting. In 2021 the event was scheduled as a stakes allowance event, hence the event was changed to the Chicago Stakes . In 2022, the event was moved to Churchill Downs after the closure of Arlington Park in Arlington Heights, Illinois . Also the conditions of the event were changed so that only mares four years old or older could enter. In 2023

286-459: The 18-1 outsider Ferdinand. The following year, he rode Ferdinand to a victory over Alysheba in the Breeders' Cup Classic; Ferdinand later captured Horse of the Year honors. Shoemaker rode the popular California horse Silky Sullivan , about which he is quoted as saying: "You just had to let him run his race ... and if he decided to win it, you'd better hold on because you'd be moving faster than

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312-632: The age of 19, he was making so much money (as much as $ 2,500 each week) the Los Angeles Superior Court appointed attorney Horace Hahn as his guardian, with the consent of his parents. Thirty years later, he won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey in the United States. Shoemaker won eleven Triple Crown races during his career, spanning four different decades, but the Crown itself eluded him. The breakdown of these wins

338-480: The backstretch. It culminated with a tremendous charge through the muddy middle-of-the-track stretch run, leading to a victory by a nose over the dead-game Honest Pleasure . Shoemaker was quoted as saying that Forego was the best horse he had ever ridden. Shoemaker rode three-time champion Spectacular Bid in the horse's final 13 races from 1979 to 1980 losing only once during that stretch. This included Spectacular Bid's perfect nine for nine 1980 season, culminating in

364-760: The crash. He sued the California Department of Transportation for not installing guard rails along the highway and Ford Motor Company for faulty vehicle design (as the Bronco II was infamous for it higher rollover risk). Ford settled with Shoemaker for $ 1,000,000. Shoemaker authored three murder mysteries. They were often compared to the large stable of best-selling horse mysteries by fellow jockey/author Dick Francis . Shoemaker's Stalking Horse (1994), Fire Horse (1995), and Dark Horse (1996) all featured jockey-turned-sleuth Coley Killebrew using his racetrack experience in and about his restaurant and

390-427: The event was moved to Ellis Park after Churchill Downs closed their spring meeting earlier due to a spate of injuries. Speed Record: Margins: Most wins: Most wins by an owner: Most wins by a jockey : Most wins by a trainer : Legend:    All Weather Track    Dirt List of American and Canadian Graded races Arlington Million The Arlington Million

416-587: The final year of live racing at Arlington, the race was called the Mister D. Stakes (after Richard L. Duchossois ) with a purse of $ 600,000. The 2022 Arlington Million was run at Churchill Downs . The Louisville racetrack's parent company, Churchill Downs Incorporated (which owns the Arlington Park property), announced that it would relocate the race along with several of Arlington's traditional stakes races. A special one-day Arlington Million racing card

442-455: The inaugural Arlington Million by a nose over The Bart. The track famously ran the Arlington Million in 1985 under the shadow of a burnt-out grandstand, after a fire had occurred there 25 days earlier. In 2007, Jambalaya became the first Canadian bred horse to win the Arlington Million, with his trainer, Catherine Day Phillips , being the first female trainer to ever win the race. The race has been run under several different names: in 1981, it

468-475: The million dollar purse and the Arlington Million Trophy . The race was graded after only its second running and was awarded a grade one status in 1983 based on the talent of the runners that raced in its first two years. The horse John Henry won the race twice. On August 30, 1981, Willie Shoemaker became the first jockey to win a $ 1 million thoroughbred horse race when John Henry took

494-584: The name of the event. Lazer Show would win the event again the following year. In 1992 the event was upgraded by the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association to Grade III status. In 2007, the race was moved to a synthetic surface when Arlington Park switched its main track from dirt to an all-weather course. The Chicago Handicap was switched back to dirt in 2017, when it

520-527: The relocation of the Arlington Million and other races is another sign that the Arlington Park racetrack was closed for good, adding: "What I want to do now is take a horse down there and win the first Arlington Million at Churchill Downs." Because the Churchill Downs turf course is smaller than the one used at Arlington, the distance of the race was shortened from 1 + 1 ⁄ 4 miles to 1 + 1 ⁄ 8 miles. In December 2022 an agreement

546-506: The world record for the most professional jockey victories. Referred to as "Bill", "Willie," and "The Shoe", William Lee Shoemaker was born in the town of Fabens, Texas . At 38 ounces (1.1 kg), Shoemaker was so small at birth that he was not expected to survive the night. Put in a shoebox on the oven to stay warm, he survived, but remained small, growing to 4 feet 10 inches (1.47 m) and weighing 91 pounds (41 kg). His diminutive size proved an asset as he went on to become

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572-429: The years. Time record: At 1 + 1 ⁄ 4 miles Most wins: Longest odds: Shortest odds: Most wins by an owner: Most wins by a jockey : Most wins by a trainer : Largest Margin of Victory: Shortest Margin of Victory: Willie Shoemaker William Lee Shoemaker (August 19, 1931 – October 12, 2003) was an American jockey , considered one of the greatest. For 29 years he held

598-727: Was called the Arlington Million Invitational Stakes; from 1982 through 1984 it was known as the Budweiser Million Stakes; from 1985 through 1987, it was the Budweiser-Arlington Million. In 1988, the race was held at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto , Ontario to accommodate the completion of repairs after the 1985 fire, and there was no race held in 1998 or 1999 during a two-year shutdown of Arlington Park. In 2021,

624-570: Was held at Churchill on August 13, 2022. The plans were made possible after Churchill reached an agreement with Ellis Park , which normally controls racing in Kentucky during the summer, along with the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission and Kentucky horsemen. The move was criticized by the president of a group representing Illinois horsemen. Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association president Chris Block suggested that

650-614: Was moved to Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky . Arlington Park was cutting back on its stakes races in order to boost overnight race purses, and Churchill Downs, which is owned by the same company, picked up both the Chicago Handicap and the Matron Stakes . In 2018 the event returned to Arlington Park with Princess La Quinta winning the race. The event was not held in 1988, 1998, 1999 and 2015. In 2020 due to

676-487: Was reached between Churchill Downs and the American Graded Stakes Committee to move the 2023 Arlington Million to Colonial Downs in Virginia . The move allowed the race to return to its original distance of 1 + 1 ⁄ 4 miles. Several times throughout the race's history, it was nationally televised, usually through a simulcast aired on WGN-TV picked up by their superstation feed , NBCSN , and TVG throughout

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