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KEIGH COUNT Winner of the 1928 Kentucky Derby when the largest field in the history of the Downs classic competed ThreeYearOld Crop ot 1928 One ot Most Unusual in History ot American Racing Reigh Count Victorian Misstep and Toro Were Under Silks That Year YearCRETE CRETE 111 May 26 While it may be a bit previous to concede Warren Wrights Whirlaway the championship at this time it seems that the 1941 racing campaign is going to be another onehorse year in the threeyearold division Of course the son of Blenheim II Dustwhirl still has the mile and onehalf of the Belmont before him but the manner of his winning the Derby and the Preakness was so decisive in those tests in which he met all the horses of his division who had made any pretense to class it is hard to imagine him doing enough of an aboutface in form to fail to receive rec ¬ ognition as the titleholder when this years races are agate lines in the American Rac ¬ ing Manual While no real racing fan re ¬ grets the appearance of a real champion on the scene it is to be regretted that there are not enough outstanding threeyearolds to go around At this time the sport of kings is enjoying the greatest period of prosperity in history in this country and it will be almost impossible for the threeyear old champion to run in all of the outstanding races in the country countryFlorida Florida Kentucky Maryland and New York have seen Whirlaway in action this year but what sections of the country will he invade during the remaining months of the campaign Who can tell It is be ¬ lieved that he will be at Arlington Park because his owner is a resident of this terri ¬ tory and is interested in winning such an important race as the Arlington Classic with his horse horseLARGEST LARGEST KENTUCKY DERBY FIELD FIELDHorse Horse racing has become such a big game however that what is needed more than anything else at this time is a crop of three yearolds such as that which campaigned up and down the land in 1928 An examination of the Kentucky Derby chart of that year will reveal that the largest field in the history of the race went to tho post to run for the roses that year Twentytwo lined up in front of starter Bill Hamilton and that number was never equalled before and has never been equalled since sinceNor Nor was that field just a lot of horses named Joe either because before they had retired no less than nine of them had earned more than 50000 before they looked through a bridle for the last time The proof of their quality also lies in the fact that not only were they successful from a monetary stand ¬ point but when their racing days were over most of them retired to the stud studJust Just as in the year 1941 a Chicagoan owns the horse who is likely to become the out ¬ standing threeyearold and possibly the out ¬ standing race horse of the year so too in 1928 the outstanding threeyearold owned by a resident of the Windy City Reigh Count by name won the Kentucky Derby in Mrs John L Hertz silks and was shipped to England the following year to compete in the important stakes in Blighty Land LandReigh Reigh Count whipped his Derby field in decisive fashion but two of the horses who ran against him that day earned more money before they retired Sun Beau was only an also ran at Churchill Downs but until Seabiscuit came along he was the lead ¬ ing moneywinner of all time with earnings of 376744 to his credit creditBIG BIG MONEY WINNERS WINNERSMisstep Misstep who finished second to Reigh Count at Churchill Downs earned 182815 before he retired Which is more than the Hertz stars record of 178170 for his career From that same Derby field the records of Toro in earning 142530 PeteeWrack 98 990 Vito 82330 Distraction 67760 Sor ¬ tie 65509 and Blackwood 54244 before retiring are not to be sneered at atNor Nor were those who ran In the Derby that year the only outstanding threeyear olds of their class The most notable ab ¬ sentee at Louisville that day was Victorian who won 253425 before his racing plates were pulled off for the last time timeThen Then there was the famous oneeyed geld ¬ ing My Dandy He was of that class As was his shadow Brown Wisdom These two horses probably were among the most pop ¬ ular to ever race in this sector My Dandy earned 137923 and a reputation as a hon ¬ est and dead game campaigner before he retired Brown Wisdom had 91226 chalked up to his credit when he called it quits quitsThere There was no such thing as a triple crown winner that year Reigh Count won the Derby but in the Preakness it was Vic ¬ torian who shaded Toro in one of the most thrilling renewals of that fixture Vito ac ¬ counted for the Belmont Stakes in advance of a couple of horses named Genie and Diavolo DiavoloTwo Two other members of that crop were worth more than 100000 in purses to their owners The good race mare Bateau earned 120760 before she retired and only three members of her sex Top Flight Princess Doreen and Esposa ever won more The aforementioned Diavolo has 107540 to his credit in the record books in addition to a reputation as one of the outstanding dis ¬ tance horses of our racing racingFAIRMOUNT FAIRMOUNT DERBY DERBYThere There were no such races as the Arling ¬ ton Classic the Hollywood Derby the Fla ¬ mingo Stakes or the Yankee Handicap when the class of 1928 were receiving their three yearold racing diplomas In addition to the more famous races which make up the American triple crown there was the Amer ¬ ican Derby at Washington Park Toro won that race defeating Misstep and Solace Fairmount Park in St Louis held a mile and a quarter race that year called the Fair mount Derby which was won by Misstep and was worth 24950 to him Reigh Count proved his mettle as a cup horse by win ¬ ning the Jockey Club Gold Cup and the Lawrence Realization Sun Beati won the Latonia Championship Stakes the Mary ¬ land Handicap and the Potomac Handicap for his more important victories that year One yearOne could go on at greater length with more detail about the outstanding achieve ¬ ments of the members of an outstanding class of threeyearolds but the above mate ¬ rial serves to prove that in this class all were outstanding in the fullest meaning of the word and each and every one of them the type of horses who would have probably been more famous had they not been com ¬ pelled to compete against each other for their more important stakes victories victoriesWhile While Our Boots King Cole Market Wise and Porters Cap are good campaigners who can say at this time of year that they are worthy tobe classed with such as Reigh Count Misstep Victorian Toro Petee Wrack Bateau Diavolo and those other members of a group of threeyearolds prob ably entitled to be known as the greatest class in the history of modern racing While it can be understood why most racing au ¬ thorities are high on Whirlaway on what basis can we rate those who are behind him
