BY BROCK SHERIDAN
NOVEMBER 9, 1974—Returning to the races after nearly nine months away recovering from bone chips in her left foreleg, Florida-bred Susan’s Girl won an allowance race in late October before taking the Grade 3 Falls City Handicap at Churchill Downs on Nov. 9, defeating stakes winners Crystal Stone and Enchanted Native in second and third respectively third.
The victory capped the least productive of her five years on the track with two wins in six starts while earning $46,059. However, it pushed her to $889,717 in career earnings at the time and closer to owner and breeder Fred W. Hooper’s long-held goal of making Susan’s Girl the first filly or mare in North America to earn $1 million.
The bone chip injury to Susan’s Girl allowed the mares Allez France and Dahlia, both of whom raced primarily in Europe, to hit the million-dollar mark in earnings earlier in 1974, but Hooper was determined to give Susan’s Girl the distinction in North America.
As a 6-year-old in 1975, Susan’s Girl won seven of 17 starts, including Grade 1 victories in the Matchmaker at Atlantic City, the Delaware Handicap at Delaware Park, the Beldame at Belmont Park and the Spinster at Keeneland. She earned her third Eclipse Award and second as Champion Older Mare after taking that title in 1973. Susan’s Girl retired with earnings of $1,251,668 and just as Hooper wanted, became the first filly or mare in North America to earn six figures.
