Seabiscuit-War Admiral 00,000 Match Race: Interesting Facts in Connection With Clash of Champions on May 30; Review of Careers of Son and Grandson of Mighty Man o War--Complete Past Performances of Each Horse--Other Pertinent Facts, Daily Racing Form, 1938-05-23

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SEABISCUIT-WAR ADMIRAL 00,000 MATCH RACE 9 « Interesting Facts in Connection With Clash of Champions on May 30 — — * Review of Careers of Son and Grandson of Mighty Man o War — Complete Past Performances of Each Horse — Other Pertinent Facts Two dreadnaughts of the turf will focus the nations Interest on Belmont Park for approximately two breathless minutes on Decoration Day, May 30. Its War Admiral versus Seabiscuit; son and grandson of the super-dreadnaught, Man o War, famous throughout the globe as the greatest horse ever produced in the New World. Two great fortunes will be pitted against each other, represented by two great horses, champions of their class. Two minutes is the worlds record time for the oe mile and a quarter over which they will contend. This meeting, which is giving the turf world the ecstatic jitters heretofore only enjoyed by devotees of swing music, almost occurred last year at Pimlico in the Washington 8 Handicap, but was prevented by an off-track, only to become the bigger and better match race now scheduled for 00,000, a fortune to almost anyone but the two owners whose wealth is counted in the multi-millions of dollars. Being sportsmen, however, they will be more nervous than any fan in the country because they love their horses and want them to win, with the money prize a secondary consideration. CLOSELY RELATED. War Admiral is four years old, Seabiscuit five. War Admiral is by Man o War— Brush-up, by Sweep. Seabiscuit is by Hard Tack -Swing On, by Whisk Broom II., the latter incidentally the horse that holds that two-minute record for one mile and a quarter, doubtful or otherwise though it may be. Hard Tack is a son of Man o War. Both will carry 126 pounds. Charley Kurtsinger, the so-called "Flying" or "Lucky Dutchman," will be astride War Admiral. John "Red" Pollard will guide Seabiscuit. They are the regular riders of the two horses and thoroughly familiar with all their quirks and fancies. Both can make 110 pounds, including their regular equipment. Therefore both horses will carry approximately sixteen pounds of dead weight in the form of lead pads. Belmont Park, the great Westchester course near New York city, will be the scene of this memorable race for 00,000. The winner* taking the entire purse, will move up within easy striking distance of worlds premier honors as a money winner, now held by Sun Beau. Belmont Parks main course is a one mile and a half oval, but the match race will be started and run out of the one mile and a quarter chute, which traverses the training track adjoining the main course. TOTAL WINNINGS. If War Admiral wins his total winnings will amount to 31,623. Seabiscuit will have winnings of 51,155. Sun Beaus totai is 7«.744. Physically both horses are as evenly matched as if those staging the race had selected them with that point in view. They are almost identical in height and weight. Both stand fifteen hands two inches o a fraction higher and tip the beam just over the thousand-pound mark. Their weight-carrying ability has been tested under fire and 126 pounds is a comparatively light burden for such star horses. War Admiral is the moi« finished horse of the two in appearance. He is one of the most beautiful horses ever to appear i in American racing. His beauty being almost feminine is deceptive to those not aware of his racing prowess. He is what is known as a seal brown in color running almost to black. Seabiscuit is a bay and more masculine appearing horse of the two. His temperament is also a bit more docile than that of War Admiral, and he conserves his nervous energy by acting more gentlemanly at the barrier. However, with only two horses to align at the gate, starter Cassidy should send them away almost immediately, a point in War Admirals favor. WAR ADMIRAL FAVORITE. Wherever odds are being quited War Ad-miral is the favorite at 3 to 5, Seabiscuits odds being from 6 to 8 to 5. Impartial ob- fConHnued on nineteenth pagej 00,000 ADMIRAL MATCH RACE ISEABISCU1T-WAR Continued from first page. servers believe that the true odds should be even money and take your choice. Elsewhere in thi3 edition of Daily Racing Form the complete past performances and racing records of the two stars are shown. Seabiscuit has been the busiest campaigner of the two. As a two-year-old he went to the post thirty-five times, more than double the number of starts in War Admirals entire career. Out of the thirty-five juvenile starts the Howard horse won only five. During his entire racing career he has carried colors seventy-seven times in competition and won a total of twenty-seven races for a j percentage of .38, while War Admiral, with thirteen victories in sixteen starts, has averaged .81 per cent. i War Admiral has never been unplaced. Seabiscuit has finished outside the money in twenty-seven races. Only once in his L sixteen starts has War Admiral been farther back than second. BEATEN BY BLACK LOOK. On October 10. 1936, in the Richard Johnson Stakes at Laurel, the public made War Admiral the favorite, but he was beaten by Black Look. It was his final juvenile appearance. The following season. 1937. he came out for a preliminary race in a purse affair at Havre de Grace and the public I backed him again. This time he obliged, winning over three-quarters in easy fashion. Since that race at Havre de Grace he has been the favorite in every race in which he has started and has never disappointed. He has won ten straight races and since ■ that Black Look defeat has never finished behind another horse. His triumphs include the Kentucky Derby. Preakness. Eastern Shore Handicap, Belmont, Chesapeake, Widener Cup, Washington Handicap and Pimlico Special, in addition to minor purse races. War Admiral has won one race over a mile and a half, incidentally equalling the American record of 2:28 M for the distance, but carrying 126 pounds, whereas the co-holder of the record, Handy Mandy, car-: tied only 109 pounds. Man o War, War Admirals sire, held the record befo e Handy Mandy. running the distance in tne Jockey I * Club Stakes at Belmont Park in 1920 in fl 2:28*. under 118 pounds. Three triumphs I scored hv the Riddle star were over the , mile and a quarter route, the Kentucky Derby, Washington Handicap and Widener Cup. His only defeats have been over sprint distances; three-quarters or under. Since April 24, 1937. he has not been asked to run under one mile and a sixteenth. LOSES MANY CLOSE RACES. Seabiscuit, on the other hand, has never won beyond one mile and three-sixteenths He has lost many close races at one mile and a quarter, never quite getting up. His twin defeats by Rosemont and Stagehand, both by nose margins in the rich San Anita Handicap, have cost him Sun Beaus place in the sun as the worlds greatest money winning horse. He lost 0,700 when Rosemont beat him and 1,450 when Stagehand outfinished him this year. The total amounts involved was 82,150. Judging by his past record Seabiscuit likes one mile and an eighth. He has won twelve races over this route since August 10. 1936. not losing a single start over the route. On the other hand ho lost both those mile and a quarter races in the Santa Anita Handicap and was beaten by Espo a. a mare, over one mile and five eighths in the Bowie Handicap, November 11, 1937. Seabiscuit has been favorite in his last twelve appearances and won eight times. In twenty-one races, all of them recent starts, he has been the public choice and won fifteen times. LATE DEVELOPMENT. A factor the public may overlook, something very much in the Howard horses favor, is that after apparently reaching his full development late in his three-year-old season, he became very much of a race horse, winning twenty-two of his last thirty-eight races, for a percentage of .58, all this under burdensome weights running up to 133 pounds with 130 the common, everyday weight piled on him by handicappers. In June of 1936, when he was three, Seabiscuit began to really show what he could do and in Match of 1937 he was in the 120-pound bracket, never again carrying weight below that figure. In his last ten races he has carried 130 pounds or more in all but one. the Laurel Stakes, in which he was dead-heated by Heelfly Out of those ten races, despite the high weights, he has won six times, a feat that certainly stamps the son of Hard Tack a worthy foe for any horse in the world. Among Seabiscuits major stake triumphs are the Brooklyn, Bay Meadows Handicap twice, Riggs, Yonkers, Butler, Marchbank and many others. POINT OF COMPARISON. A point of comparison between the two horses that will result in many arguments is the time each has made over the mile and a quarter distance, despite the fact that War Admiral won and Seabiscuit did no,. In that respect Seabiscuit looks best until the fact that War Admiial won his races in such fashion that he was not pressed is taken into consideration. The race will be run on a fast track. If the footing is otherwise it will be postponed. This reacts in iavor of Seabiscuit, who is not at home on anything but fast going. Something about the two owners may not be amiss at this point. Charles S. Howard, owner of Seabiscuit, is a San Franciscan, founder and owner of the Howard Automobile Company, exclusive agent for Buick automobiles in California. He has agencies all over the Golden State. In recent years the business has been conducted by his assistants. Howards wealth is estimated anywhere between 0,000,000 and 0,000,000, all depending upon the source. HOWARDS METEORIC RISE. The San Francisco man started from scratch. He was a poor boy. He opened up a bicycle shop in the Coast city when a youngster, then turned to automobiles when that industry began to prosper, gathered together enough money to take over a Buick agency and he was on his way to wealth. He is considered very democratic and since turning over the business to his assistants to run has become very much interested in horses and horse racing. He purchased a ranch in a wild section of northern California, not far from the town of Willets, and has been gradually converting it into a thoroughbred nursery where Seabiscuit will be premier stallion when his racing days are over. Howard has two sons, the oldest. Lindsay, also deeply interested in racing, being ■ partner of Bing Crosby in the ownership of certain horses, among them Ligaroti, a South American importation. Samuel D. Riddle, of Philadelphia. Penn , is among the veteran American turfmen. His career, because of his racing and ownership of Man o War, hardly needs recount-. ing. His fortune and that of his wife, amassed In textiles, when combined, has been estimated as being near the 0,000,-000 mark. Riddle purchased Man o War for ,000 at the Saratoga yearling auction sales of 1918. when August Belmont offered the produce of his famous nursery stud because of his activities in the World War. Mr. Riddle has refused offers up to one million dollars for the son of Fair Play. His stable lias never been numerically large, but has always been formidable because of the high quality of its performers. Among his star perfoimeis have been Crusader, American Flag. Mars. Scapa Flow, Edith Cavell and others, besides Man o War and War Admiral. SEABISCUIT-WAR ADMIRAL 00,000 MATCH RACE Continued from first page. servers believe that the true odds should be even money and take your choice. Elsewhere in this edition of Daily Racing Form the complete past performances and racing records of the two stars are shown. Seabiscuit has been the busiest campaigner of the two. As a two-year-old he went to the post thirty-five times, more than double the number of starts in War Admirals entire career. Out of the thirty-five juvenile starts the Howard horse won only five. During his entire racing career he has carried colors seventy-seven times in competition and won a total of twenty-seven races for a percentage of .38, while War Admiral, with thirteen victories in sixteen starts, has averaged .81 per cent. War Admiral has never been unplaced. Seabiscuit has finished outside the money in twenty-seven races. Only once in his sixteen starts has War Admiral been farther B back than second. BEATEN BY BLACK LOOK. On October 10, 1936, in the Richard Johnson Stakes at Laurel, the public made War Admiral the favorite, but he was beaten by Black Look. It was his final juvenile appearance. The following season, 1937, he came out for a preliminary race in a purse affair at Havre de Grace and the public backed him again. This time he obliged, winning over three-quarters in easy fashion. Since that race at Havre de Grace he has been the favorite in every race in which he has started and has never disappointed. He has won ten straight races and since ■ that Black Look defeat has never finished behind another horse. His triumphs include the Kentucky Derby, Preakness. Eastern Shore Handicap, Belmont, Chesapeake, Widener Cup, Washington Handicap and Pimlico Special, in addition to minor purse races. War Admiral has won one race over a mile and a half, incidentally equalling the American record of 2:28% for the distance, but carrying 126 pounds, whereas the co-holder of the record, Handy Mandy, carried only 109 pounds. Man o War, War Admirals sire, held the record before Handy Mandy, running the distance in the Jockey Club Stakes at Belmont Park in 1920 in 2:28**, under 118 pounds. Three triumphs scored bv the Riddle star were over the _ mile and a quarter route, the Kentucky Derby, Washington Handicap and Widener Cup. His only defeats have been over sprint distances; three-quarters or under. Since April 24, 1937, he has not been asked to run under one mile and a sixteenth. LOSES MANY CLOSE RACES. Seabiscuit, on the other hand, has never won beyond one mile and three-sixteenths. He has lost many close races at one mile and a quarter, never quite getting up. His twin defeats by Rosemont and Stagehand, both by nose margins in the rich San Anita Handicap, have cost him Sun Beaus place in the sun as the worlds greatest money winning horse. He lost 0,700 when Rosemont beat him and 1,450 when Stagehand outfinished him this year. The total amounts involved was 82,150. Judging by his past record Seabiscuit likes one mile and an eighth. He has won twelve races over this route since August 10, 1936, not losing a single start over the route. On the other hand he lost both those mile and a quarter races in the Santa Anita Handicap and was beaten by Esposa, a mare, over one mile and five eighths in the Bowie Handicap, November 11, 1937. Seabiscuit has been favorite in his last twelve appearances and won eight times. In twenty-one races, all of them recent starts, he has been the public choice and won fifteen times. LATE DEVELOPMENT. A factor the public may overlook, something very much in the Howard horses favor, is that after apparently reaching his full development late in his three-year-old season, he became very much of a race horse, winning twenty-two of his last thirty-eight races, for a percentage of .58, all this under burdensome weights running up to 133 pounds with 130 the common, everyday weight piled on him by handicappers. In I June of 1936, when he was three, Seabis- , cuit began to really show what he could do and in March of 1937 he was in the 120- 1 pound bracket, never again carrying weight below that figure. In his last ten races he has carried 130 pounds or more in all but one, the Laurel Stakes, in which he was dead-heated by Heelfly. Out of those ten I races, despite the high weights, he has won six times, a feat that certainly stamps the son of Hard Tack a worthy foe for any horse 1 in the world. Among Seabiscuits major stake triumphs are the Brooklyn, Bay Meadows Handicap twice, Riggs, Yonkers, Butler, Marchbank and many others. POINT OF COMPARISON. A point of comparison between the two horses that will result in many arguments is the time each has made over the mile and a quarter distance, despite the fact that War Admiral won and Seabiscuit did noc. In that respect Seabiscuit looks best until the fact that War Admiral won his races in such fashion that he was not pressed is taken into consideration. The race will be run on a fast track. If the footing is otherwise it will be postponed. This reacts in favor of Seabiscuit, who is not at home on anything but fast going. Something about the two owners may not be amiss at this point. Charles S. Howard, owner of Seabiscuit, is a San Franciscan, founder and owner of the Howard Automobile Company, exclusive agent for Buick automobiles in California. He has agencies all over the Golden State. In recent years the business has been conducted by his assistants. Howards wealth is estimated anywhere between 0,000,000 and 0,000,000, all depending upon the source. HOWARDS METEORIC RISE. The San Francisco man started from scratch. He was a poor boy. He opened up a bicycle shop in the Coast city when a youngster, then turned to automobiles when that industry began to prosper, gathered together enough money to take over a Buick agency and he was on his way to wealth. He is considered very democratic and since turning over the business to his assistants to run has become very much interested in horses and horse racing. He purchased a ranch in a wild section of northern California, not far from the town of Willets, and has been gradually converting it into a thor-oughored nursery where Seabiscuit will be premier stallion when his racing days are over. Howard has two sons, the oldest, Lindsay, also deeply interested in racing, being a partner of Bing Crosby in the ownership of certain horses, among them Ligaroti, a South American importation. Samuel D. Riddle, of Philadelphia, Penn., is among the veteran American turfmen. His career, because of his racing and ownership of Man o War, hardly needs recount-1 ing. His fortune and that of his wife, amassed in textiles, when combined, has been estimated as being near the 0,000,-000 mark. Riddle purchased Man o War for ,000 at the Saratoga yearling auction sales of 1918, when August Belmont offered the produce of his famous nursery stud because of his activities in the World War. Mr. Riddle has refused offers up to one million dollars for the son of Fair Play. His stable has never been numerically large, but has always been formidable because of the high quality of its performers. Among his star performers have been Crusader, American Flag, Mars. Scapa Flow, Edith Cavell and others, besides Man o War and War Admiral.


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