On a rainy and gloomy Memorial Day afternoon, Earlie Fires put on the most brilliant riding performance in the 60-year history of Arlington Park.

Competing in eight of Arlington's nine races before a crowd of 11,428, Fires guided seven horses to the winner's circle to equal the track record he set on Aug. 16, 1983. But that was a weekday card without a major race.

He won it with Explosive Darling, a champion Illinois-bred carrying the royal blue and gold colors of Arlington Park owner Dick Duchossois, and he did so in an unconventional way, putting a come-from-behind horse on the lead and clinging to it all the way.