Pierre de Coubertin established the motto of the “modern” Olympic Games in 1894.  And in 2021, “communiter” was added (together) to the original:  swifter, higher, stronger.  

We Americans of a certain age grew up with the ABC television version of the Olympics, presented by the inimitable Jim McKay.  ABC’s “Wide World of Sports” also showcased his talent, covering everything from Acapulco Cliff Diving to skiing wrecks in the Giant Slalom to horse shows and racing.  It didn’t hurt a bit that he loved horses, and was the founder of the Maryland Million.  The Olympic ideals of perfected human nature inspired us all.

Moreover, it’s not a stretch to say that without the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles, Santa Anita might never have been successful; in fact, it might never have been.  Period.

In 1923, the International Olympic Committee sought to find the host city for those ’32 Games.  There was only one applicant:  remote Los Angeles.    It wasn’t much different in the 1970s.  After the calamities of Munich terrorism and Montreal’s financial disaster, only two nations were interested in the 1984 Games:  Iran and the United States.  

If memory serves, the first for me was Swaps, that mind-boggling California bred, winning the one in Kentucky in 1955. I didn't even hear of Santa Anita's until years later, and Kentucky's was on the radio. Who knows why I was listening to it, but I guess that winner stuck with me because of the "funny name."

I became more and more horse crazy as the years went by, so the Kentucky Derby was mandatory listening for me, and then watching on television. I particularly remember Carry Back in 1961, probably because I had him in one of those barn-pools and won some cash, when he beat Crozier ... but there was also that fascinating pedigree (by Saggy out of Joppy) and, later, all the ridiculous moves of his owner Jack Price that somehow he survived. No wonder Red Smith, the legendary Pulitzer Prize winning sportswriter, loved racing above all others: "there are more stories at the track than anywhere else."