The Special started at the top of the Narragansett stretch with a run of 3/16ths to the wire and then one full lap around the one mile dirt oval.
Across its history, the "Special" was run in late summer and fall, over fast and sloppy tracks, and even in the snow one year (Wise Margin – 1955).
The 'Biscuit was made the betting favorite by his fans, but proved his dislike for "off" going and saw a seven race winning streak snapped when he finished third on the sloppy track under high-weight of 132 lbs.
[4] Top jockeys Eddie Arcaro, Ted Atkinson, Johnny Longden, George Woolf, and Jack Westrope are among the riding stars that won the "Special".
The outbreak of the disease, with an official title of Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA), had caused the death of 77 horses at Rockingham Park that summer.
The 1948 edition had Rhode Island in the middle of a record late August "heat wave" with temperatures of over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
[7] On September 19, 1953, Sailed Away, with New England riding legend Anthony DeSpirito "up" for trainer R. E. Harper and Rhode Island–based Vigilant Stable, became the only local outfit to win the Special.
Social Outcast broke from the 15 hole and as jockey Eric Guerin made the lead he lost his right stirrup in deep stretch.
Finally, in 1963, one last future Hall of Fame horse, Gun Bow (inducted HoF:1999), won his first stakes race in the Narragansett Special.