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Anthony DeSpirito
Anthony DeSpirito (December 24, 1935 – May 26, 1975) was a champion American Thoroughbred horse racing jockey who found instant fame when he won the national riding title in 1952 as an apprentice in his first full year of racing. Biography Born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, "Tony" DeSpirito was the son of a millworker. He left school at an early age to work as an exercise rider at Rockingham Park in Salem, New Hampshire. There are conflicting newspaper reports of his birth year, but the Social Security Death Index records him as being born in 1935. DeSpirito rode his first race as an apprentice jockey in 1951 at Narragansett Park in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. In 1952, DeSpirito began his record-setting year well behind other American jockeys in races won, as he did not get his first win until January 22 at Sunshine Park in Oldsmar, Florida. He then began winning at a tremendous pace and had several racedays with multiple victories. During the week of June 6–13, three times ...
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Jockey
A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual who rode horses in racing. They must be light, typically around a weight of 100–120 lb. (45–55 kg), and physically fit. They are typically self-employed, and are paid a small fee from the horse trainer, whose colors they wear while competing in a race. They also receive a percentage of the horse's winnings. The job has a very high risk of debilitating or life-threatening injuries, not only from racing accidents but also, because of strict weight restrictions, from eating disorders. Originally, in most countries, the jockeys were all male. Over time, female jockeys have been allowed to ride; thus, now there are many successful and well-known female jockeys. The participation of African American joc ...
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Tropical Park Race Track
Tropical Park Race Track was a horse racing facility built on at the current intersection of Bird Road and the Palmetto Expressway in Southwest Dade Miami part of metropolitan Miami, Florida and what is now Olympia Heights. The race track was built by Bill Dwyer, a prohibition era bootlegger, and Frank Bruen with backing from Canadian distilling tycoon, Samuel Bronfman. It opened on December 26, 1931, and closed January 15, 1972. The track hosted meets for both for Thoroughbred and Standardbred horses. Tropical Park introduced the first synthetic racetrack surface for horse racing in the 1966-67 season. Known as "Tartan Turf, " it was a rubberized surface manufactured by the 3M company. Built inside the regular dirt track, one race per day was contested on the Tartan track but for safety reasons the majority of horse trainers and owners refused to run their horses on the track. Saul Silberman bought Tropical Park in 1953 after president Henry L. Straus died in a pla ...
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Oriental Park Racetrack
Oriental Park Racetrack in Marianao, Havana, Cuba, was a thoroughbred horse-racing facility operated during the winter by the Havana-American Jockey Club of Cuba. Founded in 1915, Oriental Park was the only race track in Cuba before Fidel Castro came to power in 1959. It was closed 5 February 1967. History In its heyday, American owners brought their horses to race at Oriental Park Racetrack during the winter, and future Hall of Fame jockey Laverne Fator rode there in 1918, as did Alfred Robertson in the mid-1920s and Cuban-born Avelino Gomez. With American racetracks closed, jockey Joe Culmone, contract rider for Brookmeade Stable, won three races at Oriental Park on 31 December 1950, tying Bill Shoemaker for most wins that year by an American jockey. Shoemaker won on the same day at Agua Caliente Racetrack in Tijuana, Mexico. Oriental Park is also famous for hosting the 5 April 1915 boxing match between Jack Johnson and Jess Willard. Many American celebrities on vaca ...
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Lincoln Downs
Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln (name), a surname and given name * Lincoln Motor Company, a Ford brand Lincoln may also refer to: Places Canada * Lincoln, Alberta * Lincoln, New Brunswick * Lincoln Parish, New Brunswick * Lincoln, Ontario ** Lincoln (federal electoral district) (former), Ontario ** Lincoln (provincial electoral district) (former), Ontario United Kingdom * Lincoln, England ** Lincoln (UK Parliament constituency) United States * Lincoln, Alabama * Lincoln, Arkansas * Lincoln, California, in Placer County * Lincoln, former name of Clinton, California, in Amador County * Lincoln, Delaware * Lincoln, Idaho * Lincoln, Illinois * Lincoln, Indiana * Lincoln, Iowa * Lincoln Center, Kansas * Lincoln Parish, Louisiana * Lincoln, Maine, a New England town ...
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Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Hartford is the most populous city in the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, Capitol Planning Region and the core city of the Greater Hartford metropolitan area with 1.17 million residents. Founded in 1635, Hartford is among the oldest cities in the United States. It is home to the country's oldest public art museum (Wadsworth Atheneum), the oldest publicly funded park (Bushnell Park), the oldest continuously published newspaper (the ''Hartford Courant''), the second-oldest secondary school (Hartford Public High School), and the oldest school for deaf children (American School for the Deaf), founded by Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet in 1817. It is the location of the Mark Twain House, in which the author Mark Twain wrote his most famous ...
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Hartford Courant
The ''Hartford Courant'' is the largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Connecticut, and is advertised as the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States. A morning newspaper serving most of the state north of New Haven and east of Waterbury, Connecticut, Waterbury, its headquarters on Broad Street in Hartford, Connecticut was a short walk from the Connecticut State Capitol, state capitol. It reports regional news with a chain of bureaus in smaller cities and a series of local editions. It also operates ''CTNow'', a free local weekly newspaper and website. The ''Courant'' began as a weekly called the ''Connecticut Courant'' on October 29, 1764, becoming daily in 1837. In 1979, it was bought by the Times Mirror Company. In 2000, Times Mirror was acquired by the Tribune Company, which later combined the paper's management and facilities with those of a Tribune-owned Hartford WTIC-TV, television station. The ''Courant'' and other Tribune print properties were ...
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United Press International
United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th century until its eventual decline beginning in the early 1980s. At its peak, it had more than 6,000 media subscribers. Since the first of several sales and staff cutbacks in 1982, and the 1999 sale of its broadcast client list to its main U.S. rival, the Associated Press, UPI has concentrated on smaller information-market niches. History Formally named United Press Associations for incorporation and legal purposes but publicly known and identified as United Press or UP, the news agency was created by the 1907 uniting of three smaller news syndicates by the Midwest newspaper publisher E. W. Scripps. It was headed by Hugh Baillie (1890–1966) from 1935 to 1955. At the time of his retirement, UP had 2,900 clients in the United States, and 1, ...
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Oldsmar, Florida
Oldsmar is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 14,898. The Oldsmar name dates to April 12, 1916, when automobile pioneer Ransom E. Olds purchased of land north of Tampa Bay to establish a planned community. Geography Oldsmar is located at . According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (9.83%) is water. History A number of archeological digs in the Oldsmar area revealed small campsites as well as permanent villages that date from the Archaic period (c. 8000 to 1000 BC). In 1916, Ransom E. Olds purchased 37,541 acres (151.92 km2) on the northern tip of Tampa Bay in order to design a planned community. The property appealed to Olds because of its proximity to several other towns (including Tampa and Tarpon Springs) as well as being located on the Tampa and Gulf Coast division of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad. The town went through a number of name changes. ...
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Sunshine Park
Tampa Bay Downs is an American Thoroughbred horse racing facility located in Westchase in Hillsborough County in the U.S. state of Florida, just outside Tampa. It opened in 1926 under the name Tampa Downs, and has also been known as Sunshine Park and Florida Downs and Turf Club. Season The track races most Wednesdays, Fridays, and weekends from the end of November to the beginning of May. Physical attributes The main track is a one-mile (1.6 km) dirt oval. The turf course is seven furlongs and includes a quarter-mile inner chute. It is regarded as one of the best turf courses in the country. Tampa Bay Downs, the only Thoroughbred race track on the west coast of Florida, has live racing action, simulcasting, poker, as well as golf at The Downs Golf Practice Facility. History Tampa Bay Downs first opened its doors in 1926 under the name of Tampa Downs as the racetrack of the West Coast Jockey Club, and has since amassed a long and colorful history. The founding operation ...
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Pawtucket, Rhode Island
Pawtucket ( ) is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 75,604 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making the city the fourth-largest in the state. Pawtucket borders Providence, Rhode Island, Providence and East Providence, Rhode Island, East Providence to the south, Central Falls, Rhode Island, Central Falls and Lincoln, Rhode Island, Lincoln to the north, and North Providence, Rhode Island, North Providence to the west. The city also borders the Massachusetts municipalities of Seekonk, Massachusetts, Seekonk and Attleboro, Massachusetts, Attleboro. Pawtucket was an early and important center of textile manufacturing. It is home to Slater Mill, a historic textile mill recognized for helping to found the Industrial Revolution in the United States. History The name "Pawtucket" comes from the Algonquian languages, Algonquian word for "river fall." The Pawtucket region was said to have been one of the most populous places in New ...
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Narragansett Park
Narragansett Park was an American race track for Thoroughbred horse racing in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Beginnings On May 18, 1934, Rhode Island voters approved a measure legalizing parimutuel betting by an almost 3 to 1 margin. The following day, the Narragansett Racing Association announced plans for a $1 million race track and steeplechase course on the site of the former What Cheer Airport and filed articles of incorporation with the Secretary of State of Rhode Island. The Association chose to name their track after Narragansett Park (1867–1924), Narragansett Park, a former trotting park in Cranston, Rhode Island. On June 6, 1934, the Narragansett Racing Association was awarded the state's first horse racing permit. Construction was completed in less than two months at a cost of $1.2 million. The track consisted of a one-mile racing oval, a 14,000 seat grandstand, 270 betting and paying booths, a clubhouse, and 22 barns with stalls that could hold more than 1,000 horses. The ...
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