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JOCKEY W EMERY IS reported doing nicely following a tonsilectomy per ¬ formed in Chicago Heights hospital Many Outstanding Horses Revealed First Signs o Greatness Over Chicago Tracks Whirlaway Shot Put and Porters Cap Cited is Good Modern Examples ExamplesCRETE CRETE 111 May 20 Here in the Chicago area theyre rather proud of the fact that so many good horses first gave indications of heir goodness right here on the Windy City ovals Not the least among those who served warning that he was to be a good one they point out was Warren Wrights Whirlaway That speedy son of Blenheim H and the Sweep mare Dustwhirl graduated from the maiden ranks right here at Lincoln Fields where Chicagos current major track season had its inauguration Whirlaway came up from Kentucky with the reputation of being a good one arriving ahead of him but he was all out to win his first start in the Chi ¬ cago area by a nose from Beau Brannon at the end of five furlongs in a maiden special weights event Word had been passed around lowever that he was so good that he was made the favorite and when he won he justi ¬ fied that confidence but he made those who wagered on him pay for that victory in extra heart beats his verdict was so close closeBefore Before shipping to Saratoga where he received the recognition of the eastern ex ¬ perts after his victories in the Saratoga Special and the Hopeful Whirlaway went to the post five times at Arlington Park after picking up his first purse at Lincoln Fields In those five appearances under silks he entered the winners circle only once but he urned in several good races and showed that he had a high turn of speed He accom ¬ plished his only victory at Arlington Park when he whipped De Kalb and Valdina Groom in an allowance race but he also made a respectable showing in finishing third behind Swain and Valdina Groom in the Arlington Futurity considering the fact that the track was muddy and he was in close quarters when he started to make his move moveVICTOR VICTOR OF WASHINGTON FUTURITY FUTURITYWhirlaway Whirlaway was not the only development of the 1940 campaign It was at Washing ¬ ton Park in the Futurity featuring the two yearold program at that course that Por ¬ ters cap first proved he was capable of meeting high class opposition On that oc ¬ casion the son of The Poiter and The Blonde picked up 117 pounds to whip Silvestra and Valdina Groom under a hard drive from Carroll Bierman The Howard colt had pre ¬ viously won two races on the Coast but what the fans thought of those two victories is indicated in the fact that in the Wash ¬ ington Park Futurity he went to the post at 1320 to the 100 after having been made a favorite in a previous effort at Hol ¬ lywood Park when he finished sixth in a race won by such as Lady Bosn BosnGoing Going back further than the 1940 cam ¬ paign and the juvenile perfprmaricesrf the current threeyearold crop we find that Chicago racing also cast the spotlight on several outstanding race horses in the years that have gone by For instance it was in the first running of the Arlington Classic that Blue Larkspur the horse which Colonel Bradley called his greatest until JBimelech came along redeemed himself for his un ¬ fortunate defeat by Clyde Van Dusen in the Kentucky Derby a few weeks earlier In the 1929 renewal of the Arlington Park stake the son of Black Servant and the Preakness winner Blossom Time won by five lengths lengthsIt It was in the 1934 renewal of the same race that Cavalcade and Discovery hooked up in one of their famous duels in which the Vanderbilt ace earned the title of The Shadow because while he always gave the son of Lancegayea good argument he never could whip him The roster of Classic win ¬ ners also includes such good ones as Gallant Fox Omaha Mate Granville and Challedon It was in the Classic that Challedon looked Johnstown in the eye and gave him a sound thrashing Prior to that race the son of Jamestown and La France had won the 1939 Kentucky Derby but had finished behind Challedon in the Preakness and so the Clas ¬ sic was the rubber match of their three yearold rivalry Johnstown who had been showing evidence of a throat ailment never ran again after that defeat defeatOn On the distaff side Chicago has seen such good racers as C V Whitneys Top Flight Tred Avon Marica and Mata Hari Top Flight made a victorious appearance in the 1931 renewal of the Lassie Stakes That was the year she won seven stakes in a row and 219000 to break the record as a money winning juvenile juvenileIn In the 1932 Matron Stakes Tred Avon made a winning appearance before Chicago fans The gray daughter of the imported Sir Greysteel and La Muiron also distin ¬ guished herself by whipping two such stout hearted members of the male sex as Equi ¬ poise and Mate in the Washington Handicap the same year at Washington Park If youre partial to upsets you need look no further than the American Derby of 1930 at Washington Park John A Best the Memphis grocer drove up to the gates of Washington Park that year and asked for stall space for a horse he had riding in a trailer That horse was Reveille Boy and he was good enough to whip Gallant Knight who had finished second to Gallant Fox in the Kentucky Derby DerbyPLUCKY PLUCKY PLAYS UPSET UPSETThe The Stars and Stripes Handicap of 1931 provided another upset when Plucky Play whipped Mike Hall The Nut and Gallant Knight Again in 1938 the race was pro ¬ ductive of another surprise when Mrs Emil Denemarks War Minstrel whipped Charles S Howards Seabiscuit War Minstrel had served warning that he was nearing the peak of his form when he finished third behind Menow and Busy K but in front of War Admiral as the Riddle ace ran out of the money in the Massachusetts Handicap at previousThe Suffolk Downs a few days previous The list of winners of the Lincoln Handi ¬ cap which will be renewed during the pres ¬ ent Lincoln Fields nleeting affords an excel ¬ lent estimate of the class and caliber of horses which have played at the Crete track and other courses since the sport was revived Among the heroes of that fixture are such notable stars as Sun Beau Toro Chance Play Supremus Blackwood Lady Broadcast Esseff Sweeping Light Mucho Gusto Dellor Chance Play and Shot Put In winning last years race Shot Put made the first step in a drive which carried him to the national long distance championship of the season seasonWhile While these items are taken at random one could roam through the American Rac ¬ ing Manual and be reminded of a thousand and one stories which illustrate the quality of the sport offered in Chicago over the years at Lincoln Fields Arlington Park Hawthorne and Washington Park To prove the point to ourselves we merely turned the book and came up with the name of Colonel Bradleys Black Helen
