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Ireflections I By Nelson Dunstan Alsab Another Man o War Theme Col. Matt Winns Advice Ignored Whirlaway Was Early Winter Racer Sabath Colt Has Long Way to Go NEW YORK, N. Y., May 12. A few days before the Preakness, Sarge Swenke, trainer, is credited with4iaving said: "Alsab will not be beaten again this year." When we arrived at Belmont on Monday, every one seemed to be talking about the great race the courageous little Sabath colt had run. Some went so far as to revive the talk of last fall that he was "another Man o War." It was our opinion last fall, and even more so today, that Man o War was a far better colt than Alsab ever was. When you ask these people how they explain the first eight defeats before Alsab won the Preakness, the majority of the answers are to the effect that he needed to be raced to top condition. To our way of thinking, that is about the weakest excuse that could be offered. For, if a horse had to be raced eight times to be brought up to his first triumph, why was it that Colin, Domino, Equipoise, Exterminator, Gallant Fox, Hindoo, Man o War, | Omaha, Sarazen and others came out to win their very first start as a three-year-old, j and in a good many cases going on to win race after race? They did not need any eight races to get in condition, and how anyone will accept this reasoning for Alsab is quite beyond understanding. We make claim to only our own opinion. In Joe Williams column on Monday he tells how, in a conversation between Al Sabath and Col. Matt Winn last fall, the Colonel advised the Chicago owner to rest the colt during the winter months, and that if he did so, Alsab could win the Derby, the Preakness, the Belmont and other rich three-year-old races. As you know, Sabath did just the opposite. After a short stay in Kentucky, the colt was taken to Florida and then to Maryland for eight straight defeats before he won the Preakness. Those who do not agree with the advice that Colonel Winn gave, could point to Whirlaway as proof of their contention that a horse may not be kept from winning the Derby, or even the "Triple Crown," by early winter racing. It will be remembered that Whirlaway won the Walden Stakes at Pimlico as his last start of 1940, and then came out on Feb. 8, 1941, to win the Cocoanut Grove Purse at Hialeah Park. Ten days later he ran third in the Arcadia Purse, and some two weeks later was again third in the running of the Miami Springs Purse. It was about that time that racing fans began to shake their heads and wonder whether the Calumet colorbearer was to be the champion they had thought he would be as a three-year-old. Whirlaways story after those first three races in Florida is a far more pleasant one. He was to race four times more before he started in the Derby and was to win two of them and finish second in two. From that point on, he was the real champion, winning 10 of his remaining starts of the year and finishing second in the other one. But, there is one glaring weakness in pointing out the career of one horse as justification for the career of another. It might be, from this point on, that Alsab will emulate Whirlaway and be first or second in all of his remaining starts. But, to go back to early January, it remains that Whirlaway attained the normal growth which comes between the two- and three-year-old career, even though at no time can it be said that he was a big horse. The difference is that Alsab did not develop in the same way, and that, had he been rested, rather than raced in those early months, he might have been a far more developed and fresher horse. If Sabath and his trainer, Sarge Swenke, did the right thing in racing the colt, the way they did, then Alsab must be removed forever as another Man o War, for three-year-olds, of the calibre of "Big Red" have never been known to lose the first eight races. Much criticism has been aimed at Alsabs owner and trainer during recent weeks. We have no desire to be pointed out as one who is endeavoring, on paper, to train another mans horse. But, when we hear people revive the theme of "another Man o War" — we wonder just what good there is in keeping racing records if a horse who lost 15 of his first 30 starts can earn comparison with one who lost but one race in his entire career of 21 starts, with that one defeat more or less of a fluke. We have been as quick as the next one to voice our admiration for the courageous little colt who came from out of nowhere to burn up the Pimlico stretch and win the Preakness in stake-record time. Yet, if just one brilliant race made a horse as good or better, than Man o War, then certainly War Admiral was far more entitled to that distinction than Alsab, for his Belmont Stakes of 1937 was even a better race than Alsabs Preakness of 1942. It must be remembered that War Admiral won his first eight starts ms a three-year-old, where as Alsab lost his first eight. On the cold records, which would you say was the better three-year-old?
