Success of in Memoriam: His Triumph over Zev and My Own Biggest Surprise of Year, Daily Racing Form, 1923-11-13

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s 8 t 3 " 1 1 ! ! " i , SUCCESS OF IN MEMORIAM His Triumph Over Zev and My 7 Own Biggest Surprise of Year. Outcome of Race Demonstrates That a Good i Horse Will Assert His Quality as Convincingly as It Is Unexpected. NEW YORK. N. Y., Nov. 12. The defeat of Zev and My Own by In Memoriam in the Latonia Championship Stakes has brought t about a condition in American racing not t seen in years. Usually the question of three- year-old supremacy is well established by r mid-season, and the critics spend the final 1 period of the sport in speculating how much J better the champion i than his rivals and how he compares with the best horses of other years. Before the running of the Latonia Cham--1 plonship it was generally accepted as a fact that Zev was the best horse of his age in this 1 country. His record of winning performances ! had surpassed that of any of his rivals. He had only been beaten once and then by a colt he had repeatedly vanquished. His 1 victory over the Epsom Derby winner Papyrus in the International race lent a glamor to his achievements and made him the most talked of thoroughbred of his day. Tho claims of My Own as the peer of Zev were advanced so assiduously that the Latonia race assumed unusual importance. It was to decide which of these three-year-olds should wear the crown. The horses were almost the sole subject of comment and discussion in connection with the Kentucky feature. Only an occasional voice was lifted to advance the claims of In Memoriam and Rialto. The proposal of Mr. Weidemann to match the former against Zev for 0,000 was regarded as tho optimistic expression of an owner whoso first successes as a turfman had made him oversanguine. The outcome of the race demonstrated once more with astonishing force tho fact that a good horse asserts his quality with a certainty that is as convincing as it is often unexpected. . Outside of his owner, Carl Weidemann, and trainer, Robert Gilmore, few had reason to believe that In Memoriam had a chanco of victory over colts like Zev and My Own. The Western colt having had no engagements in the East there had been no suitable test to furnish an accurate gauge. He had triumphed over mediocro opponents, and none but those closest to him suspected the potential prowess of the colt who had only been waiting for an opportunity to demonstrate the stamina to which his breeding so richly entitled him. Imported McGee, sire of In Memoriam, was not a long distance runner himself, but his sire White Knight came from a tribe that was fond of a long route. Tho dam of McGee was Remorse by Hermit, and he was brought from England by Edward Cor-rigan at the same time as he imported Scintillant II. and Rosetreo II., the latter afterwards the dam of Roamer. McGee was a good horse at a mile and like many other horses that couldnt stay well has sired good performers over a long distance of ground. ; Exterminator, the best of his get, was a con- spicuous success when it came to staying. Like In Memoriam he came to hand in his 1 three-year-oM form after displaying no par- 1 ticular ability as a two-year-old. . i Continued on twelfth page. 1 SUCCESS OF IN MEMORIAM Continued from first page. Through his dam, Enchantress, In Memoriam gets stout blood. She was by Collar, a son of St. Simon Ornament by Bend Or. Ornament also foaled Sceptre, one of the greatest mares of the English turf, whose battles with the colts are still talked about. Sceptre won the St Leger, Oaks, One Thousand and Two Thousand Guineas, the Jockey Club Stakes, and split Ard Patrick and Rock Sand in a memorable race for the Eclipse Stakes. As Sceptre was by the Derby winner, Persimmon, one of the best sons of St. Simon, she is almost a sister to Collar, whose famo in the United States has hitherto rested on the showing of his good son Frank Gill, which raced so well hereabouts twenty years ago in the colors of Jack McGinnis. There isnt a trace of anything but English blood in the pedigree of In Memoriam, which was bought for ,200 as a yearling by Frank J. Kelley at the Saratoga sales. Robert Gilmore, the young man who trains the hero of the Latonia Championship, was a jockey of more than ordinary ablity, riding in the "West and Southwest until increasing weight made him take up training as a lifetime occupation. The effort of the French turf authorities to bring about a meeting between their champion three-year-old, Epinard, and Zev is one of the quick fruits of the International race. That the seed should have germinated so quickly must be gratifying to the Jockey Club, whose avowed purpose in framing the International race was to promote more cordial relationships between American racing authorities and those of other countries. "Whether the desire for a meeting between Epinard and Zev will be as keen as before the Latonia race remains to be seen. Now that the ice has been broken, however, the chance of other international contests being promoted would seem to be good. Time and a little diplomacy would seem to be all that is needed to bring about conditions that would have been termed visionary twelve months ago.


Persistent Link: https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1920s/drf1923111301/drf1923111301_1_6
Local Identifier: drf1923111301_1_6
Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800