The renowned Santa Anita Park has seen some greats of horse racing ride on its fertile lands. The thoroughbred racetrack in California has hosted several prestigious equestrian events, including the 1984 Olympics, and has been the host of Breeders Cup more than 10 times. On this day 43 years ago, Santa Anita was the site of a thrilling contest for La Brea Stakes, which it has hosted annually in late December since 1974.

La Brea Stakes, which offers a $300,000 purse today, has been a site of exhilarating action for several decades. As we recall the legendary ride of the great D.G McHargue from 1980, the horse racing enthusiasts were left feeling nostalgic about the bygone era. Grappled with nostalgic fondness, a G1 Stakes picture circa 1980 uncovered a lot of memories back to the fore.

The legendary La Brea Stakes 1980 photo

In the latest post on Facebook, Blood-Horse posted a throwback back photo of the iconic race between Terlingua and Glorious Song. “Terlingua under D. G. McHargue wins the 1980 La Brea Stakes at Santa Anita Park, with Glorious Song second.”, the caption read. The great Darrel G. McHargue won the exhilarating contest atop Terlingua. By the end of his illustrious career, McHargue had amassed 2553 wins with an astonishing $39,609,526 in winnings.

La Brea Stakes was initially classified as a Grade 3 event and was later upgraded to Grade 1 in 1997. Terlingua and Glorious Song were the best of their times and had lightened up the three-year-old filly event in 1980. The American Triple Crown winner Terlingua eventually outpaced the Glorious Song as McHargue sped up to claim the $53,850 purse. Meanwhile, equestrian enthusiasts were left with nostalgia seeing the iconic photo of these two legendary horses.

Horse racing community hails 1980 icons

Both Terlingua and Glorious Song are one of the best and most successful equines in the American horse racing arena. Hailing their achievements, a fan wrote, “Two outstanding mares-Glorious Song one of Canada’s greats IMO”.By the end of her glorious racing career, Glorious Song was inducted into the Thoroughbred Hall of Fame as well.

“Two of the Great Ones”, another user commented, stamping their inevitable authority on the horse racing era. Both horses were multiple grade 1 winners and sired several other grade 1 winners as well. “Two successful runners that turned out to be successful producers!”, another fan mentioned.

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While the photo is truly historic as well as iconic, it would have been even more exciting to watch these two live. “I was there”, a lady commented, humble bragging having watched this iconic La Brea Stakes contest. This Grade 1 stakes continues to produce epochal moments, the recent one being Bob Baffert-trained Fun to Dream’s dominant victory last year.

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