I first heard the name of a new rider who had been under contract to Fred W. Hooper that opening season at Oak Tree....Mispronounced his name, but soon would never forget it Pincay: the BEST rider I ever saw on the back of a horse.
Was there for the inaugural Oak Tree Invitational to see the two shippers: Czar Alexander (Cordero up) beat Whittingham's turf champion Fiddle Isle with Pink Pigeon third. Watched Codex beat my Rumbo in the SA Derby, John Henry and many other good ones like Ack Ack, Quicken Tree and Fort Marcy.
The 1986 Breeder's Cup and I KNEW that Dancing Brave would succumb to the racing strip as he had too much to do on that short stretch and wore a shirt stating: "Dancing Brave you can't handle the turns!" and stood in front of Bobby Frankle yelling "Manila, Manila to the Whittingham entry" for the exacta. That is how they finished and years later my story was written up in a history of the Breeders Cup by Perry Lefko.
http://horseracing.about.com/cs/bree...afpr102103.htm
But sadly, the kettle has really gone off the boil there since the new ownership and all the malarkey that went with it. I will always love the Great Race Place, but have no fond remembrances of the way it is today. The East coast is where racing today is all about.....probably was then too but I was too unsophisticated to recognize it.