Arlington Million

History

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 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 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 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, 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. Because the Churchill Downs turf course is smaller than the one used at Arlington, the distance of the race was shortened from miles to miles.

In December 2022 an agreement 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 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 the years.

Records

Time record:

At miles

• 1:58.19 - Set Piece (2023)

Most wins:

• 2 - John Henry (1981, 1984)

Longest odds:

• 40.60 - Mill Native (1988)

Shortest odds:

• 0.50 - Bricks and Mortar (2019)

Most wins by an owner:

• 3 – Juddmonte Farms (2000, 2002, 2023)
• 3 – Godolphin Racing (2003, 2022, 2024)

Most wins by a jockey:

• 2 - Laffit Pincay, Jr. (1982, 1991)
• 2 - Cash Asmussen (1988, 1992)
• 2 - José A. Santos (1990, 1993)
• 2 - Gary Stevens (1990, 1997)
• 2 - Jerry D. Bailey (2000, 2002)
• 2 - Ramon A. Dominguez (2009, 2012)
• 2 - Irad Ortiz Jr. (2018, 2019)
• 2 - Florent Geroux (2015, 2023)

Most wins by a trainer:

• 4 - Chad C. Brown (2013, 2017, 2018, 2019)

Largest Margin of Victory:

• 5 Lengths - Estrapade (1986)

Shortest Margin of Victory:

• Nose - John Henry (1981)

Winners

In 2021, the Arlington Million was known as the Mister D. Stakes.

• Storming Home finished first in 2003 but was demoted to fourth place following a Stewards' Inquiry. ** Powerscourt finished first in 2004 but was demoted to fourth place following a Stewards' Inquiry. *** The Apache finished first in 2013 but was demoted to second place following a Stewards' Inquiry.

References

Notes

• In 2015, The Pizza Man became the lone horse bred in Illinois to win the Million.
• No races were held at Arlington International Racecourse in 1998 or 1999, as the Illinois horse racing authorities did not authorise dates for the track.
• Starting in 1991, timing was arranged to hundredths.
• In 2004, Pat Gibson won a million pounds on the UK version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? by correctly answering the Million was not a Triple Crown race in the United States (which were the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes).
• Starting in 2007, the winner of this race will qualify for the Breeders Cup World Thoroughbred Championships in the Turf Division.

References

1. "Arlington Million history at Arlington Park".
2. [http://www.breederscup.com/challenge.aspx Breeders' Cup Challenge] {{webarchive. link. (2008-09-13)
3. Placek, Christopher. (15 March 2022). "The Arlington Million will live on this year ... at Churchill Downs in Kentucky". [[Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, Illinois).
4. Finley, Bill. (22 December 2022). "It's Official: Arlington Million Moved To Colonial Downs".
5. [https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-s5RAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_G0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=5420,5170682&dq=arlington+million+john+henry&hl=en Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - August 31, 1981]
6. [https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=hYlQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=VBIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4446,6428027&dq=arlington+million+john+henry&hl=en Milwaukee Sentinel - August 27, 1984]
7. [https://www.usatoday.com/sports/horses/2007-08-12-arlington-million_N.htm USA Today - Aug 12, 2007]
8. Kieckhefer, Bob. (15 March 2022). "Arlington Million Moves This Summer to Churchill Downs". [[The Blood-Horse]].
9. (9 August 2024). "2025 Arlington Million Stakes Grade 1 - (race 11)". Equibase.
10. (11 August 2024). "2024 Arlington Million Stakes Grade 1 - (race 11)". Equibase.
11. (12 August 2023). "2023 Arlington Million Stakes Grade 1 - (race 10)". Equibase.
12. (13 August 2022). "2022 Arlington Million Stakes Grade 1 - (race 11)". Equibase.
13. (14 August 2021). "2021 Mr. D. Stakes Grade 1 - (race 9)". Equibase.
14. [https://www.usracing.com/news/arlington-set-to-start-shortened-season Arlington Set to Start Shortened Season]
15. (19 August 2019). "2019 Arlington Million XXXVII Stakes Grade 1 - (race 11)". Equibase.
16. (11 August 2019). "2018 Arlington Million XXXVI Stakes Grade 1 - (race 11)". Equibase.
17. (12 August 2017). "2017 Arlington Million XXXV Stakes Grade 1 - (race 11)". Equibase.
18. (13 August 2016). "2016 Arlington Million XXXIV Stakes Grade 1 - (race 9)". Equibase.
19. (15 August 2015). "2015 Arlington Million XXXIII Stakes Grade 1 - (race 10)". Equibase.
20. (16 August 2014). "2014 Arlington Million XXXII Stakes Grade 1 - (race 10)". Equibase.
21. (17 August 2013). "2013 Arlington Million Stakes Grade 1 - (race 10)". Equibase.
22. (18 August 2012). "2012 Arlington Million Stakes Grade 1 - (race 11)". Equibase.
23. (13 August 2011). "2011 Arlington Million Stakes Grade 1 - (race 10)". Equibase.
24. (21 August 2010). "2010 Arlington Million Stakes Grade 1 - (race 10)". Equibase.
25. (8 August 2009). "2009 Arlington Million Stakes Grade 1 - (race 9)". Equibase.
26. (9 August 2008). "2008 Arlington Million Stakes Grade 1 - (race 10)". Equibase.
27. (11 August 2007). "2007 Arlington Million Stakes Grade 1 - (race 9)". Equibase.
28. (12 August 2006). "2006 Arlington Million Stakes Grade 1 - (race 9)". Equibase.
29. (13 August 2005). "2005 Arlington Million Stakes Grade 1 - (race 9)". Equibase.
30. (14 August 2004). "2004 Arlington Million Stakes Grade 1 - (race 9)". Equibase.
31. (16 August 2003). "2003 Arlington Million Stakes Grade 1 - (race 10)". Equibase.
32. (17 August 2002). "2002 Arlington Million Stakes Grade 1 - (race 9)". Equibase.
33. (18 August 2001). "2001 Arlington Million Stakes Grade 1 - (race 8)". Equibase.
34. (19 August 2000). "2000 Arlington Million Stakes Grade 1 - (race 9)". Equibase.
35. (24 August 1997). "1997 Arlington Million Stakes Grade 1 - (race 9)". Equibase.
36. (25 August 1996). "1996 Arlington Million Stakes Grade 1 - (race 10)". Equibase.
37. (27 August 1995). "1995 Arlington Million Stakes Grade 1 - (race 8)". Equibase.
38. (28 August 1994). "1994 Arlington Million Stakes Grade 1 - (race 10)". Equibase.
39. (29 August 1993). "1993 Arlington Million Stakes Grade 1 - (race 10)". Equibase.
40. (6 September 1992). "1992 Arlington Million Stakes Grade 1 - (race 10)". Equibase.
41. (1 September 1991). "1991 Arlington Million Stakes Grade 1 - (race 9)". Equibase.
42. (20 August 1988). "40-1 Mill Native Takes Arlington Million". Washington Post.