Highlights in Careers of Derby Eligibles: Interesting Facts About Three-Year-Olds Soon to be in Public Gaze, Daily Racing Form, 1930-04-11

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3 Highlights in Careers of Derby Eligibles Interesting Facts About Three-Year-Olds Soon to Be in Public Gaze. 5 S LONGUS I Juvenile Itccord By lVaygood Jane Trances, owned hjl Starts.. .1st. 2d. 3d. Unp. Won. It. C. Stable j 15 1 3 2 9 ,500 If the handlers of this colt entertained the idea, when he first began racing, that Longus would be a Kentucky Derby candidate of some little merit they must have suffered keen pangs of disappointment for a long time, only to he comforted considerably when Longus developed so rapidly as a three-year-old as to be second in the Agua Caliente Derby and fifth in the very strong field of aged horses that went in the ?100,000 Agua Caliente Handicap. Longus had to run an even dozen races before he won. He went through the metropolitan racing season and then dropped down to the new Arlington Downs track in Texas before finding a "spot" in which to. graduate. When he did win, he made it a good one, leading his company, all maidens, by ten lengths. The Waygood colt ran some good races before that, but not until he ran nine times unplaced. He was improving gradually, and always finishing strong during the Jamaica meeting. Finally he ran a bang-up second to Flying Fantom, closing fastest of all after being away in a tangle. He had up 122 pounds, and Flying Fantom beat him by only a nose. From then on he ran real races. In his first -at Arlington Downs he finished third to Line Rider and By Product, carrying 120 pounds. With a drop to ninety pounds the next time out, on a heavy track, he was third to Excess Baggage and Tonto Rock. Then came his maiden victory, by ten lengths, at three-quarters of a mile, on a good track. He closed his first season at Jefferson Park running second in two events at more than a mile. Longus celebrated his advent at Agua Caliente by establishing a track record of 1:12 for six furlongs on the new border track. He made a really remarkable finish in this race, trailing all the way to the stretch and then running over his opposition to beat such fleet ones as Good and Hot and Norab. His next start found him in hard luck. He was in difficulty early and had no chance. In this race Good and Hot established a record for seven-eighths of a mile. His third start there resulted in a third to Hatrick and Sidney Grant. In his next two he was unplaced. Then he went into the Derby and was beaten a length by Creyola. This was a splendid effort. He was interfered with on the far turn but finished fast to beat Tonto Rock for the place by a nose. Longus was the only three-year-old that started in the Agua Caliente Handicap. He got in at 95 pounds. Again he was far back in the running until reaching the stretch. In the drive home he passed several good horses and was only half a length behind My Dandy at the end. When he finished his winters campaign he was very well regarded, although he had been able to win but one race, and that with maidens. He had shown remarkable improvement and had- acquitted himself nobly at Agua Caliente against the best that he could have been matched with.


Persistent Link: https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1930s/drf1930041101/drf1930041101_16_5
Local Identifier: drf1930041101_16_5
Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800