On This Day...

Easy Goer's Gotham Stakes win on April 8 defied belief.

"In an effort so brilliant and stunning it will never be forgotten by anyone fortunate enough to witness it, Easy Goer went beyond mere brilliance, winning Aqueduct's Gotham Stakes (gr. II) in 1:32 2/5, only one-fifth of a second slower than Dr. Fager's world record for a mile and a full second faster than Triple Crown winner Secretariat's stakes record," wrote The Blood-Horse's Bill Finley. "Easy Goer did it so effortlessly that he appeared capable of running far faster, a startling thought considering he is a 3-year-old and well away from his prime."

Finley, who noted the Aqueduct strip had played exceptionally fast, offered additional proof of Easy Goer's prominence. Easy Goer, who won by 13 lengths, also broke the track record by four-fifths of a second. His unofficial gallop-out time in the Gotham, 1:45 4/5 for 1 1/8 miles, was 1 1/5 seconds faster than Riva Ridge's track record and only two fifths of a second slower than Secretariat's former world record on dirt.

Easy Goer closed out his Kentucky Derby (gr. I) preps with a victory in the Wood Memorial Invitational Stakes (gr. I) two weeks later at Aqueduct. Part of the favored entry in the Run for the Roses, Easy Goer finished second to West Coast invader Sunday Silence, and second to him again in a hotly contested Preakness (gr. I). He avenged the loss with an eight-length win over Sunday Silence in the Belmont Stakes (gr. I).