Marlboro Cup Invitational Handicap

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The Marlboro Cup Invitational Handicap was a Thoroughbred horse race first run in September of 1973 at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. A Grade 1 race for horses 3 years old and up, it was raced over a distance of 1 1/8 miles on a dirt track.

The race came into existence as a result of the huge popularity of Secretariat who in 1973 had become the first U.S. Triple Crown champion in twenty-five years. Such was the drawing power of Secretariat that CBS television readily agreed to broadcast the race nationally, a rare occurrence at the time for a non Triple Crown or traditional "classic" event (such as the Travers Stakes). Originally conceived as a match race with stable mate and 1972 Kentucky Derby winner Riva Ridge, it was changed to an invitational race that would bring together the top horses 3 years of age and older.

The inaugural race more than lived up to its expectations with Secretariat setting a new world record time for 1 1/8 miles on dirt while winning by three-and-a-half lengths. The race became a very important annual event and 1978 marked the first of only two times in racing history that two American Triple Crown winners met in a single race, with Seattle Slew, the 1977 champion, defeated the 1978 champion Affirmed by three lengths (the two met again in that year's edition of the Jockey Club Gold Cup; Seattle Slew lost by a bare nose to Exceller, while Affirmed finished up the track due to a slipped saddle).

For many years it was part of Belmont Park's Fall Championship meet -- in fact, the track created a Fall Championship Series consisting of the Marlboro Cup, the Woodward Stakes, and the Jockey Club Gold Cup (not necessarily in that order). CBS and later NBC continued to carry the Marlboro into the 1980s.

The advent of the Breeders' Cup races in 1984 marked the beginning of the end for the Marlboro Cup. In 1987, the 15th edition of the race attracted just five horses and was picked up for broadcast on cable television only. The Philip Morris company who manufactured the best-selling Marlboro cigarette brand, canceled their sponsorship.

[edit] Winners of the Marlboro Cup

Year	Winner	Age	Jockey	Trainer	Owner	Time
1973	Secretariat	3	Ron Turcotte	Lucien Laurin	Meadow Stable	1:45.40
1974	Big Spruce	5	Michael Hole	Victor J. Nickerson	Elmendorf Farm	1:46.60
1975	Wajima	3	Braulio Baeza	Stephen A. DiMauro	East-West Stable	2:00.00
1976	Forego	6	Bill Shoemaker	Frank Y. Whitely, Jr.	Lazy F Ranch	2:00.00
1977	Proud Birdie	4	Jacinto Vasquez	James W. Maloney	Marablue Farm	2:00.80
1978	Seattle Slew	4	Angel Cordero, Jr.	Douglas Peterson	Karen & Mickey Taylor	1:45.80
1979	Spectacular Bid	3	Bill Shoemaker	Bud Delp	Hawksworth Farm	1:46.60
1980	Winters' Tale	4	Jeffrey Fell	MacKenzie Miller	Rokeby Stables	1:47.00
1981	Noble Nashua	3	Ruben Hernandez	Jose Martin	Flying Zee Stable	2:00.60
1982	Lemhi Gold	4	Jacinto Vasquez	Laz Barrera	Aaron U. Jones	2:01.00
1983	Highland Blade	5	Jacinto Vasquez	David A. Whiteley	Pen-Y-Bryn Farm	2:01.20
1984	Slew o'Gold	4	Angel Cordero, Jr.	Sidney Watters, Jr.	Equusequity Stable	2:02.40
1985	Chief's Crown	3	Don MacBeth	Roger Laurin	Star Crown Stable	2:01.20
1986	Turkoman	4	Gary L. Stevens	Gary Jones	Saron Stable	2:00.00
1987	Java Gold	3	Pat Day	MacKenzie Miller	Rokeby Stables	2:01.00