Famous Dead Heats In Turf History: One Occurred in Cesarewitch Handicap, Another in Epsom Derby--Some Noted Ones in This Country., Daily Racing Form, 1919-04-07

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FAMOUS DEAD HEATS IN TURF HISTORY One Occurred in Ccsarewitch Handicap Another in Epsom Derby Some Noted Ones in This Country BY CHARLES E BROSSMAN BROSSMANDead Dead heats are of rare occurrence in racing and it seems almost inconceivable that over a long distance of ground there should be any Yet when we remember that a good jockey will always reserve something for the finish and make the supreme effort from the eighth post to the winning line and there is oftentimes so little difference in the merits of the different contestants we must con ¬ clude that a race win never be considered as won until the numbers are hung up by the judges no matter what the outlook may be when the horses are racing around the for turn into the home ¬ stretch One of the most famous dead hrats in history occurred in the great Cesarewitch Handicap at Newmarket race course England when the American mare Prioress El Hakim and Queen Bess finished so close together that the judges were un ¬ able to separate them therefore a dead heat was rung up for the three horses A dead heat can either be run off or the stakes divided as the own ¬ ers elect This time the three owners each think ¬ ing he had the best horse decided to run it off offPrioress Prioress was by Sovereign dam the famous Keel by Glencoe the same blood that is as potent today as it was then and could then as now be depended upon to run fast far and repeat if necessary Mr Richard Ten Broeck who with Mr Francis Morris were the owners of Prioress not being satisfied with the ability of the jockey to properly ride the mare in so long a race on account of his youth and lack of strength applied for a change of jock ¬ eys and secured the services of George Fordham a much more vigorous stronger and more experi ¬ enced race rider Mr Ten Broeck had backed the mare in the books from 100 to 1 down to 30 to 1 before the race Now with Fordham up after the dead heat she was favorite at even money In that day any good American trainer knew how to properly take care of a horse after a hard race and have it ready to run the next heat or more if re ¬ quired in about as good time and without injury to the horse as the first On account of heat racing and the mode of training then prevalent in the United States the American mare was in her own brier patch when it came to racing the second heat and consequently came to the post in the bost of condition of the three Prioress won the runoff easily Fordham sitting still with a good hold of her head and letting her gallop freely El Hakim was second three lengths back and Queen Bess was beaten off forty yards Mr Ten Brocck made a great cleaning up on this race he had backed the mare liberally from 100 down to 30 to 1 So when she went to the post for the runoff at even money he laid enough against her to make him a big win ¬ ner either way the race came eventually he gath ¬ ered in about 300000 to the good as a result of the race raceDEAD DEAD HEAT IN EPSOM DERBY DERBYIn In 1884 Harvester and St Gatien ran a dead heat for the Epsom Derby with Queen Adelaide third Queen Adelaide had been the winter favorite for the Derbr and her owner Sir John AVilloughby had backed her heavily to win this famous classic event The great sale of Lord Falmouths horses in train ¬ ing occurred in the latter part of April of that same year Much to the surprise of all English racing men Sir John AVilloughby purchased Har ¬ vester at the sale for 43000 It was immediately surmised that he was purchased to get him out of the way of Queen Adelaide In the Derby and the public continued to back the filly with more confi ¬ dence than ever Busybody the only threeyearold in England that it was thought had a chance to beat Queen Adelaide was not nominated for the Derby that year However Sir John AVilloughby was wise in his generation for he backed Harvester to win more money than he could win on the Queen at the attractive odds of 0 to 1 He therefore had two strings to his bow Harvester slightly stumbled just as they came to the judges box That per ¬ mitted St Gatien to make si dead heat otherwise the former would have won was the opinion of many All kinds of fabulous sums were reported to have been won by Sir John AAilloughby but how ¬ ever that may be he had the satisfaction of know ¬ ing that he ran two mighty good horses in that race raceThere There never has been a dead heat in the Ken ¬ tucky Derby although in 1SSO it came so close to being one that only the judges could decide There are a number of men living today who witnessed the contest and still contend that Proctor Knott won Tfatrjndgcs liowevgrTgayertherracetp Spokaiieuiiil they were the only ones that were in a position to absolutely know Proctor Knott was backed down to 1 to 3 while Snokane went to the post at 10 to 1 the former therefore had more rooters than the latter and the wish was likely father to the thought with many manyIn In 18S8 Los Angeles and AVhite ran a dead heat for the Latonia Derby with Gallifet third Los Angeles winning tlie runoff runoffOne One of the most famous dead heats that was evcr raced in this country and one that has attracted attention all the way along down the line was tlie lead heat between Springbok and Preakness for the Saratoga Cup in 1875 with the good horse Grinstead third over the regular cup course of two and onequarter miles There have been other dead heats that were sensational but these stake races for a lot of money honor and fame stand out and demonstrate the fact that many times there is little difference between the best horses


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