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THE SPEED LIMIT AT ONE MILE SERIES I. By SALVATOR. A.. ----------------------- The American Racing Manual, the official and standard authority on the statistics of the American thoroughbred turf, was first published in January, 1897, and covered the results of the year 1896. It was at that time called the American Sporting Manual, and was a little booklet which slipped into the coat pocket and left room there for an assortment of mail, a bill-book, etc., if desired. It was avowedly an experiment along the line of providing the public with a handy volume of sporting statistics for ready reference, as there was nothing of that kind then in existence the old-time "Clipper; Almanac," the original one, having ceased to appear some seasons before. Its reception was such as to assure its annual publication thereafter. And soon the name was changed to the present one, and everything eliminated from the contents but matter pertaining to the turf. As scarce needs be said, its progress ever since has been steadily "onward and upward.". It became by unanimous assent the official authority over twenty years ago; and today, with over 950 pages between its covers, it is the veritable encyclopedia of racing and breeding information and statistics which cannot be dispensed with by anybody interested in racing that wants to know the whats what, or whos who of the sport. In its original form, owing to its small compass, the Manual contained only a modest assortment of tables covering the main features of racing. Then as time passed, and its popularity and assured status became self-evident, there were gradually added the almost bewildering variety of features which now make it up. From the first the Manual paid great attention to the careful keeping of speed records. One of the. features which first gave it great popularity was the department giving the track records. This was originally introduced in the second issue, that of 1898. Later on a subsidiary table, showing the comparative records of all tracks at one mile was appended. And, owing to the fact that this was the unit of distance and interest in the mile record exceeded anything else of the same kind, another feature was added in the shape of a table showing all the fastest miles thus far run in America. As originally compiled, this table included all miles which had been run in 1:39 or better For at that period a mile m 1:40 was considered a brilliant performance, and no -horse had as yet run eight furlongs over a cfrcular track as fast as 1:37 But about that time there set in an attempt to increase the speed of almost all American race tracks, with the avowed purpose of produc- ing new records at all distances. A big factor the building of Belmont in this was in 1905. Owing to Park where racing began its superior size and scientific construction, it speedily became a place of record-breaking feats. Another big factor was the advent tracks a few seasons of two far-western later: Santa Anita, in California, in 1908, and then Juarez, Mexico, in 1910. Miles in 1:39 or better soon grew so plentiful that they no longer wer e se nsational of the Manual s down paring So began a table That for 1916, giving the returns for the season of 1915, shows that the standard had been raised to 1:88 r bettejand even less than 162 dil-ferent then the table included o performances. But it kept growing and, having at the end of .1922 and growing, total of no less than 256, the minted to a Tuning knif J was again called into play and a new limit of 1:37 erected. whathad Tnto caused a big slaughter -of hitherto ranked as outstanding fast miles. with the addles and Tinder the 1-37 standard, foTthe season of 1923. the list n the Manuaf for 1924 stood at but seventy-one sixty-six different p horses different miles by five Audacious, Lucullite, My Play, Naturalist and Yellow Hand, being credited with tWAndaCnow the passage of time and the accreditions of another decade have caused In the new still another "revision upward. Manual, for 1935, with all results up to the of 1.36 has close of 1934, a new standard been erected and under it the table now stands. As presented upon pages 470-473, "Fastest Races at One with the caption, Mile," it includes a total of just fifty-four different miles, of which six were run by three .horses as Lady Broadcast Mary O. and Morsel are each credited with two different miles, leaving the net total of horses that have run in 1:36 or better fifty-one. As originally presented in the Manual, the table of fast miles was arranged alphabetically according to tracks, beginning with Aqueduct and ending with Worth, while the miles credited to each track were arranged according to date of performance. But several abandoned and the years ago this was entire list rearranged according to time, irrespective of place or date, and so it now stands, with the exception that miles run in the same notch are listed according to date. As it-stands, the table shows this: 1 mile in 1:34. 3 miles in l:344i. 1 mile in 1:35. 1 mile in 1:35. 2 miles in 1:35. 8 miles in 1:35. 12 miles in 1:356. 26 miles in 1:36. Total 54 miles; average time, 1:35.74. The first mile ever run as fast as 1:36 was the historic one of Salvator, made against time in 1890 over the so-called "straightaway" at the Monmouth Park track, Long Branch, N. J., which disappeared from the map over forty years ago. That mile was run in 1:35, official, for time was still at that period being officially announced in fractions of quarters and halves of seconds, instead of fifths, as has since become the custom. That having been due to the fact that formerly split-second chronometers did not split on fifths but on quarter-seconds. In fact, many of the old-style watches split not on quarter-seconds, but on eighths, as old-time horsemen well recall, but eighth-seconds were considered too minute for any practical purpose. The splitting into fifths was due to the general European usef the decimal, or metric system, by which everything is always computed, according to divisors of 100. Almost all fine watches being made in Switzerland. In the new table in the Manual, this mile of Salvators is given as 1:35 and not 1:35, in order to conform to the fifth-second standard of timing, it being the only exception thereto, as all other miles tabulated were run under the modern timing system, i Arranged according to the chronological record, the fifty-four miles were run as foli lows: In 1890..... 1 in 1929 3 In 1918 1 in 1930 7 In 1920 2 In 1931... 5 In 1921 3 In 1932 17 In 1922.... 2 In 1933 2 In 1923 .. 2 In 1934... 7 In 1926 2 It will be seen that progress has been spasmodic and by no means orderly. There is a great gap of no less than twenty-eight years between the first mile in 1:36 or better, in 1890, and the second, which was not run until 1918. The explanation of this is, of course, that, to begin with, Salvator as a "speed marvel" was far ahead of his time; that, secondly, he did not have to run over a circular track, and that, thirdly, he ran against time, with pacemakers, which, however, did not give him much help. While, on the other hand, these conditions did not again obtain. The nearest approach to them accounted for the next sensational mile below 1:36. In 1918 Roamer was also started against time, carrying the same weight as Salvator 110 pounds over a circular track Saratoga, but out of a chute, which made it necessary for him to circle only the upper turn of the course. He also had a pacemaker, and also as in Salvators case it was of little help. Two years elapsed, and then in 1920, with the help of another speed marvel far ahead of his time Man o War and a course Belmont Park allowing a start out of a chute and with only one turn, and that the largest 1 and most gradual in America, we saw a mile race in 1:35, with later in the same season one over the same track in 1:36, flat, by Naturalist.. Followed three seasons each with spectacular miles. In 1921 there were three, and Audacious lowered Man o Wars 1:35 to 1:35, also at Belmont Park; in 1922 there were two more, but nothing faster 1 than in 1:35, by Snob II., and then in 1923 came another splash when Cherry Pie still at Belmont cut the mark to 1:35. We then reached a sudden cessation, and i for no less than five seasons thereafter not a single mile was run anywhere in America faster than 1:36, andjust two in 1:36, flat, both by the same mare Mary O. The cause for this singular state of af- fairs was singular and worth mention. The carnival of record breaking that began about 1918 and continued until 1923, over the great New York tracks, especially 1 .Belmont Park, Saratoga and Aqueduct, led to one of those periodical crazes or obsessions which from time to time afflict the turf world. An outcry was raised against , so-called "pasteboard" tracks which, it was claimed, were the sole reason for the record breaking. Those quaint, irrational and supposedly obsolete denunciations of the time test as a "fallacy," a "fraud," etc., etc., which modernism had scrapped long ago, were once more resusciated and put through their paces. It was alleged that by making our race tracks as fast as was humanly possible they were being converted into vehicles for murdering our race horses by breaking them down in vast quantities. Such a din was raised that it became deafening. As a result the track managers who, as a class, are almost as timorous as shareholders in the stock market took fright and "went into a huddle." It was solemnly announced that record breaking was perni- 1 cious and was ruining both the sport and the breed of horses, and must be stopped immediately; and in obedience to this behest all the great tracks, with few excep- , tions, were deliberately "slowed" so effectually that, as stated, not a single mile as good as 1:36 was run over one of them for the next five years! How long this state of affairs might have 1 continued can only be guessed, had it not been that the West, as usual, somewhat indifferent to eastern turf tempests-in-a-tea-pot, "spilled the beans" if the mixture of metaphors may be allowed. The revival of racing in .the Chicago terrain led to the building of several new and very fast tracks which the "pasteboard" hullabaloo had. not yet affected. It was over one of them Lincoln Fields that Mary O. rah her two 1:36 miles, the only ones that fast seen during the whole half dozen years between 1923 and 1929. By 1929 it had been decided that a lack of record-breaking was not adducing to the glory of the sport in the eastern sector, and it was also established that precisely as many horses, good, bad and indifferent, were breaking down and going wrong under the "safety first" dispensation, as ever had when the so-called "pasteboard" courses were in vogue. So that season there were a couple of 1:36 miles at Belmont; but again the honors went to Lincoln Fields, where Brown Wisdom did one in 1:35. These occurrences not having caused the sport to totter on its foundations, track managers once more began to suggest to track . superintendents that a little speed in the going might be a good thing. So in 1930 we saw Jack High cut the race record to ; 1:35 flat, at Belmont Park, while six other : miles in 1:36 or better were run at various places during the year, including the fastest one that has ever, to this date, been run by a mare that by Lady Broadcast in 1:35, at Arlington Park. : Even this shock was successfully with- i stood, and the sport went right on! , In 1931, five more miles were added to the roster, with 1:35 the highwater mark, the honors being divided between Knight 1 Commander and Sunny Lassie Arlington Park and Mr. Sponge Belmont. Then, in 1932, came the deluge. Leading off with Equipoises phenomenal mile in ; 1:34, "on the bit," no less than seventeen i different ones in 1:36 or better were turned ; in, of which Arlington Park was responsible t ; : : i , 1 ; i ; t for all but two, which were scored at Washington Park. This, however, was too, too much! Once more the embattled croakers, calamity-howlers, Aunt Nancys and Lord Dundrearys rose on their hind legs and raised such an ulufation as might have shivered the walls of Jericho. And once again the track managers did their previous scuttle to cover, of ten years before. It was virtually complete. So effectually were the courses "slowed" before the campaign of 1933 set in, that when it was over just two mile3 as fast as 1:36 had been turned in, as against the seventeen of the previous season. And they were, Joth of them, in 1:36 flat, just scraping the bottom. This was so ridiculous that even a blind man could see its farcicality. There was less of a crowd at the wailing-wall than a twelvemonth agone; and the track managers, peeping warily out of their holes and seeing no black shadows, felt emboldened to venture into the open a bit once more. As a result, the past season of 1934 saw seven miles in from 1:34 by Wise Ways, at Lincoln Fields, down to 1:36, the other tracks concerned being Hialeah, Churchill Downs, Belmont and Arlington Parks. Editors note This is the first of a series of articles in which the general subject of the reduction of the mile record will be considered from various angles by Salvator.
