Quote:
Originally Posted by Thomas Roulston
If the old 6-furlong turf course allowed for 1 3/16 mile races, then how could that configuration have possibly not have allowed for 1 1/4 mile races?
I did, however, make one mistake: The 1 3/16 mile start on the 6 furlong turf course had a 514-foot run into the first turn, while the 1 1/4 mile start on the 6 furlong turf course - from which the Secretariat Stakes was actually run in 1985
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1985 was the year Hawthorne unveiled the new 7 furlong turf course. The new design also included a tunnel to the infield and an infield paddock (both no longer in use)
The old 6 furlong course had races carded at 7f, 1 mile (stand side chute) 1 3/16 and 1 1/2 mile races, and way back in the 70's a 1 mile and 3/4 distance in a starter handicap series. No sprints. Again, a race at 1 1/4 would have started in the middle of the clubhouse turn.
For the record, the turning radius of Hawthorne turf is the tighest anywhere in North America.
