San Francisco Great Race: Specify Noses Out Ligaroti in Long Exciting Stretch Duel, Daily Racing Form, 1938-12-20

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; SAN FRANCISCO GREAT RACE Specify Noses Out Ligaroti in Long Exciting Stretch Duel. A. A. Baroni Wins ,400 Through Victory-Main Man Chief Disappointment of Tanforan Stake. SAN BRUNO, Calif., Dec. 19. In a wild and wooly contest featured by magnificent riding by two of Americas best jockeys, Charlie Corbett and Spec" Richardson, Specify, three-year-old from the Silver State Stable of A. A. Baroni, won the sixth renewal of the San Francisco Handicap, at Tanforan Saturday afternoon. The son of Jamestown and Ligaroti, brilliant South American six-year-old, from the Binglin Stable finished scant noses apart to race the mile and one-sixteenth distance in one fifth of a second slower than the track record. Advocator, stablemate of Seabiscuit was third, nosing out W. E. Boeings Piccolo. So hard were the jockeys riding through the stretch in a determined effort to win the 0,000 purse that slight interference came about and Richardson, rider of Ligaroti, claimed a foul, at the conclusion of the contest before the numbers had been posted. His claim was based on the fact that Specify came out from the rail to bother him a trifle in the stretch, but his plea to the officials did no good as Specify was declared the winner. MUCH EXCITEMENT. All was excitement at the conclusion of the contest. Ligaroti coming from fifth place had caught Specify in the last sixteenth and as they approached the wire was inches in front, then Specify took a last desperate bound to get a scant portion of his nose to the fore as they went under the wire. Opinion was divided as to just which animal had won the event and both horses Continued on eighteenth page. SAN FRANCISCO GREAT RACE Continued from first page. were loudly acclaimed as they jogged back to the judges stand. Specify, which had not had a race since the summer meeting at Hollywood Park, displayed remarkable speed and stamina in winning the San Francisco. He must have had something taken out of him by his bad actions at the post, while Ligaroti was standing perfectly still and took the worst of it when he was started from the outside, but after going away, quickly flashed dazzling speed to race to the lead on the first turn. As the field straightened out on the back-stretch, jockey Corbett took a nice hold on Specify and did not become perturbed when Mr. Blaze moved up to challenge near the half mile post. Approaching the stretch turn, Corbett let out a notch on Specify and the colt opened up a three lengths lead. Specify turned for home in front, but meanwhile Ligaroti had been making his move. After entering the final furlong he moved up to challenge and the rest of the story has already been told. Main Man was the disappointment of the contest and Advocator the surprise. Main Man lacked early speed and racing wide in the stretch, was never a serious factor, finishing fifth. Advocator ran a much better race than Main Man. He was badly outpaced early, but made a strong charge through the stretch to nose out Piccolo. The latter, when it is taken into consideration that he had not had a race in some time, showed to good advantage. Comet II., stablemate of Ligaroti, had speed for six furlongs, while Olimpo, another "Binglin horse, met with early interference, and was never a contender. Mr. Blaze quit after going six furlongs. The time for the mile and a sixteenth was 1:43, and the winner paid .40. He was second choice in the wagering. The winners share of the purse was ,400. a


Persistent Link: https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1930s/drf1938122001/drf1938122001_1_11
Local Identifier: drf1938122001_1_11
Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800