Saturday, June 11, 1898, Sly Fox won the 23rd Preakness Stakes , going 1 1/16 miles in 1:49 ¾ to win $1,150 on a good track. Jockey Willie Simms, with this win, became the only African American jockey to have won the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont. The Belmont ran 16 days earlier.
Wednesday, June 11, 1919, Sir Barton won the 51st Belmont Stakes . He became the first horse to win the Derby, Preakness, and Belmont in the same year. Johnny Loftus also became the first jockey to win the same three races in one year. Owner J.K.L. Ross and trainer H. Guy Bedwell completed the winning connections. The term “Triple Crown” had not been coined yet.
June 11, 1926, Deputy Sheriff John Henry Binion, Elliott County Sheriff’s Department , died from an ambush while walking near his farm. He was waiting to meet another deputy before leaving for the federal courthouse in Cattletsburg to obtain a warrant against several moonshining suspects.
June 11, 1927, Chance Shot won the 59th Belmont Stakes , going 1 ½ miles. From this point forward, the race would always be 1 ½ miles. Jockey Earl Harold Sande won his 4th of five Belmonts. The winner received $60,910.
June 11, 1951, Marine Corps CPL George H. Cline from Whitesburg in Letcher County died in the Korean War.
On June 11, 1952, the largest body of water, entirely located in Kentucky, Lake Cumberland, opened . Covering 65,530 acres at the maximum pool, it has 1,255 miles of shoreline, while the main lake is 101 miles long and over 1 mile across at its widest point. With a capacity of 6.1 million acre-feet of water, Lake Cumberland holds enough water to cover the entire state with three inches of H2 0.
June 11, 1953, Army CPL Virgil K. Baker from Campbell County , Army CPL Leslie J. Fitts from McLean County , Army PVT Willis G. King from McLean County, and Army PFC Leon S. Stewart from Clark County , died in the Korean War.
Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Danville native Frank X Walker , born in 1961, Kentucky’s Poet Laureate from 2013-2015.
June 11, 1961, the dedication of Kingdom Come State Park in Harlan County , atop Pine Mountain, near the city of Cumberland took place. The name came from the 1903 best-selling novel The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come by native Kentuckian John Fox, Jr.
June 11, 1971, Roscoe Tarleton Goose died. The Golden Goose stunned the world when he won the 1913 Derby paying his backers $184.90 for a $2.00 bet. He was the first hometown jockey to win the roses and was in the inaugural Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame’s class.
On June 11, 1974, Governor W.H. Ford and five department secretaries visited Maysville to talk about current events and civics with area locals , who responded with compliments and complaints about the state government. The visit was part of Ford’s plan to bring Frankfort to the people in what he termed the “portable capital.”
June 11, 1977, watch the 109th Belmont Stakes and Seattle Slew’s impressive talents on display to capture the 10th Triple Crown.
On June 11, 1987, the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled, 4–3, that the Toyota incentive package provided to build the Georgetown plant served a public purpose and, therefore, was constitutional . The court and the governor continue to be proven correct to this day.
On June 11, 1990, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, 5-4, that the new federal law making it a crime to burn or deface the American flag violated the First Amendment ‘s free-speech guarantee.
June 11, 1994, Tobasco Cat, owned by Overbrook Farm & D. P. Reynolds, won the $653,800 Belmont Stakes . D. Wayne Lukas and Pat Day completed the winning connections. Tobasco Cat also won the Preakness but finished 6th in the Derby. Derby winner Go For Gin finished 2nd .
June 11, 2000, federal authorities arrested Dr. Rodolfo Santos in Greenup County for operating a pill mill. Seven of his patients died within a year, allegedly from overdoses. The drug dealer, with a diploma, saw 40 to 60 patients a day, all supposed drug addicts, who paid in cash. The 65-year-old garnered a 16-year prison sentence.
He looked defiant and stated he would do it all over again if he could. The U.S. government executed Tim McVeigh by lethal injection at 7:14 a.m. on June 11, 2001. He became the first person to be executed by the U.S. since Victor Feguer in Iowa in 1963.
June 11, 2005, Keeneland graduate Afleet Alex won the $1,000,000 Belmont Stakes drawing away from ten others by seven lengths in 2:28.75 . He became the 11th horse ever to fall short in the Kentucky Derby but come back and win both the Preakness and Belmont.
June 11, 2011, Loretta Lynn performed at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival.
June 11, 2016, a Kentucky bred and Keeneland graduate won the $1,500,000 Belmont Stakes by a nose in the 148th edition. With no TC on the table, it still drew 60,114. Steve Asmussen conditioned Creator for the $800,000 check. The Derby winner did not run, and the Preakness winner finished 11th out of 13 starters.
June 11, 2017, Paducah native Phil Maton made his MLB debut with the San Diego Padres .
On June 11, 2019, the U.S. Justice Department formally asked Britain to extradite Julian Assange to face charges of conspiring to hack government computers and violating an espionage law. Assange embarrassed both the Democratic and Republican Parties by exposing their lies and manipulation. Obama initiated the attack on freedom of speech, and Trump continued it. Many people had hoped Trump would issue a presidential pardon after he teased he might, but instead, Trump and the Uniparty re-declared their war on journalism, making it a horrible day in American history.
June 11, 2020, Lexington police expressed regret over how they handled an incident where they assaulted two teens trying to cash their bonds in a Lexington bank. The police department stated, “We regret any fear, anxiety, and injuries this incident caused.”
On June 11, 2021, Governor A. Beshear gave his last “regular coronavirus briefing,” telling his loyal followers they no longer had to wear masks, which he mandated in July 2020. After 16 months, the popular briefings ended. He also lifted other restrictions, including restaurant restraints. Meanwhile, Kentucky Supreme Court Chief Justice John D. Minton Jr. listened to courtroom testimony on limiting the governor’s emergency powers.
At 6:44 p.m. on Saturday, June 11, 2022, eight horses sprung from the gate in the 154th Belmont Stakes. The favorite, We The People, had odds of 2-1. Kentucky-bred Mo Donegal, who finished 5th in Louisville, laid at 5-2, while Derby winner Rich Strike was the 3rd choice at 7-2. Nest, the only filly in the field, looked to become the 4th filly to win the historic race. Todd, the man, finished one and two.
On June 11, 2023, as Kentucky celebrated its success in restoring the Elk population, the MIC became so desperate for soldiers to fight their endless wars that they let illegal immigrants join the ranks by offering citizenship if they did. Meanwhile, insurance companies doubled their premiums in one of the poorest regions in America, Appalachia, a year after devastating floods wrecked the region.
In other news, for June 11, 2024, Louisville takes the adage, “It’s never too late to do the right thing” to heart.
