The 19 thoroughbreds that went to the post last week for the Garden State (N.J.) Stakes were competing for the biggest purse ($319,210) in racing history. At a mile and one-sixteenth, the race was the toughest and most revealing test of two-year-olds in the nation.
A race for two-year-olds at championship distance was a project launched by Garden State's President Eugene Mori in 1953. It would appeal to both horse breeders and horseplayers, he reasoned, as a way of separating the sprinters from the stayers. It would also give a line on the potential ability of the following season's three-year-olds. Liberally backed...
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