Here and There on the Turf: On the Championship. Sandes Handling of Zev. a Time Analysis a Great Day for Kentucky, Daily Racing Form, 1923-11-06

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Here and There on the Turf On the Championship. Sandes Handling of Zev. A Time Analysis. A Great Day for Kentucky. Just as track condition and plating of Papyrus has been blamed by many for his poor showing against Zev in the international match, just as the track condition was blamed for the hollow victory of Sarazen over Happy Thoughts at Laurel, so will there be alibis offered for the defeat of Zev and My Own by In Memoriam in the Latonia Championship. It will be charged that the drizzle of rain put the track in a condition that prevented My Own from showing to his best advantage. While there will be the criticism that Sande made too much use of Zev. In answer to the track condition it need only be said that in the six furlongs that preceded the big race Great Jaz ran the distance in which would surely indicate that the track was fast. Then a cheap lot of platers ran a mile and half following the big race in 2:351s, and in the last race of the day King Gorin II., a two-year-old, ran a mile in 1:40 under 110 pounds. All of this hardly offers an excuse for My Own on the score of track condition, and as a matter of fact In Memoriam, winner of the Latonia Championship, has always been considered a colt that did not like other than fast going. So much for the track condition. In the matter of Sandes riding of Zev it must be admitted that while Zev was showing the way he was in front under stiff restraint and at the end of the first six furlong-Sande had his mouth pulled open in an effort to take him back. The half mile was run in 49 and the six furlongs in 1.14. In the Lawrence Realization Stakes the first half was run in 47 and the six furlongs in 1:12. Saturday the mile was reached in 1:41, which could hardly bs considered a suicidal pace when it is remembered that the mile in the Realization was run in 1.37. The mile and a quarter was reached in 2:08 Saturday and in the Realization it was covered in 2:03. On to the mile and a half the Realization war run in 2 :30 and Saturday it took Zev 2 :34-and to reach the same post. Of course, there is a wide difference between the going at Belmont Park and at Latonia, but not as wide a difference as the pace of the races would indicate. The reason Zev was beaten in the Latonia Championship Stakes was because In Memoriam ran the last quarter in 26 seconds. In the Lawrence Realization the last quarter wa3 timed in 30 seconds. It was an infinitely faster pace, but it must be admitted that Zev begins to dow down at the end of a mile and a quarter, and he cannot be rated as a cup distance champion. All of this time analysis of the Lawrencs Realization Stakes and the Latonia Championship Stakes also applies in a comparison of the Kentucky race and the Saratoga Cup of a mile and three-quarters, in which My Own took the measure of Bunting, but it does not apply with the same force, for in the Saratoga race the early pace was slower than that of the Lawrence Realization, but at the same time considerably faster than the pace in the Latonia Championship. The time for the big race of Saturday was slow when the final time was 3:00 for the mile and three-quarters, just five and a fifth slower than the American record of 2:55 made by Rockminister in the same race last year. In that race the winner ran his last quarter in 26, and after all it is that last quarter that tells the tale in all of these grueling races. In Memoriam qualified handsomely as a cup possibility by his victory in the Latonia Championship Stakes, for even though the pace was slow it was fast enough to make both Zev and My Own tire, while the son of McGee was still able to set in the most important quarter of them all in 26 seconds. He was at no time far from the lead, and when it has been shown that there was no good excuse of track condition and that the time in the early racing was certainly not too fast the conviction is forced that, at least last Saturday, In Memoriam was the best colt in the field. While In Memoriam was upholding the honor of Kentucky against New York and Virginia there was another Kentuckian that invaded Maryland and carried off the rich Pimlico Futurity in a field of sixteen of the best two-year-olds that could be mustered from its entries. This one was Edward R. Bradleys Beau Butler, a home-bred son of Black Toney and Santa Ana II. This colt overcame some interference in the big field and his victory was such an impressive one that he at once takes increased importance. The race was worth 4,030, and it gives him a money winning as well as a race winning importance. At this time Kentucky has two potential candidates for the Kentucky Derby in this same Beau Butler and J. S. Wards Wise Counsellor. It is generally agreed in Kentucky that Wise Counsellor is the master of Beau Butler, but the son of Black Toney is a colt of undoubted good class, and his Pimlico Futurity was won in a fashion that suggests his going higher up the ladder of fame. In the Kentucky Derby it is likely that both Wise Counsellor and Beau Butler will ba opposed by the unbeaten Sarazen, Mrs. Vandcrbilts speed marvel, and it is expected that Edward F. Simms Happy Thoughts will be another in the field. The Kentucky Derby is a long way off yet, but it will not be long before the chances of the various eligibles will afford interesting discussion.


Persistent Link: https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1920s/drf1923110601/drf1923110601_2_3
Local Identifier: drf1923110601_2_3
Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800