Maryland Million Moments: Herat wins the classic * The Racing Biz

This week we’ll have a series of 10 Maryland Million Moubers, indelible moments that helped define the meaning of Maryland’s Day at the Races. Here Herat wins the first running of the Maryland Million Classic.

When the inaugural Maryland Million Classic was run at Laurel Park in 1986, it was more than just a horse race – it was the birth of a new tradition.

And fittingly, it was a horse owned by Maryland’s greatest sire – perhaps the greatest sire to ever grace anywhere – who stole the show. Herat, a son of the legendary northern dancer, delivered a dominant front-row performance in the $200,000 Budweiser Maryland Classic, The Day’s Featured Race. Although owned by a Louisianan, trained by Nebraskan Hall of Famer Jack Van Berg, and ridden by New Yorker Jerry Bailey, Herat’s pedigree made him a fitting first winner of the state’s new showcase.

After facing some of the country’s best horses in California, including the formidable Precisionist, Herat found Laurel Park’s competition much friendlier. He broke sharply under Bailey and cruised through an easy opening breezy mile before pulling effortlessly away from his pursuers. He completed the 1¼ miles in 2:03 1/5, just a fifth of a second off the track record, to win by 5½ lengths over Castelets.

Herat retired with a record of 31 starts, 8 wins, 5 seconds and 2 thirds, earning $771,415. He had previously captured the Class 2 New Orleans Handicap, but it was his Maryland Million Classic Triumph that cemented his connection to his home state’s legacy. On that October afternoon, Herat not only won a race, he helped launch an institution in Maryland.

Conceived by ABC sports car Jim McKay as a celebration of Maryland’s thriving breeding industry, the event brought together a crowd of more than 20,000 that combined the spirit of a major sporting event with the pride of a state fair. “This wasn’t just a typical race crowd,” McKay said. “It was a festive event.”