Headley Course is Short: Survey Reveals First "Furlong" to be Only 620 Feet, Forty Feet Short of Distance, Daily Racing Form, 1937-04-21

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HEADLEY COURSE IS SHORT Survey Reveals First "Furlong" to Be Only 620 Feet, Forty Feet Short of Distance. LEXINGTON, Ky., April 20. Surveying instruments having discovered that the distance is forty feet less than a full half mile with all of the shortage in the first furlong, Keeneland officials today revised records for the four races run over the Headley chute course since the opening of the meeting. The discovery deprives Shandon Farms speedy young DIckerville of the honor of sharing with Donau and Amon, the American record of :464 for a half mile over a course having a turn. Dickerville was clocked in that time while winning the first race of the meeting. And, at that time, Keeneland officials believed the distance negotiated by the Shandon star to be a full four furlongs, but when the winners of subsequent races over the same course also turned in exceptionally fast time, though none duplicated Dickervilles performance, H. P. Headley, Kcenelands president, ordered the distance re-checked. As the short "furlong" is not a part of the main track, all distance indicators on the mile and a sixteenth main course are properly placed. As a deep culvert prevents immediate lengthening of the chute, no change will be made, the short distance prevailing for subsequent races for two-year-olds during the meeting, Headley said.


Persistent Link: https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1930s/drf1937042101/drf1937042101_24_4
Local Identifier: drf1937042101_24_4
Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800