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Whirlaways Retirement Announced; Jandtilfa Hvy «F Hk • " illttfV —M t a WHIRLAWAY — The Calumet champion ran his final race when he went unplaced in the Equipoise Mile at Washington Park last Saturday. t a Leaves for Farm Within Ten Days Worlds Top Money-Winner Goes Into Stud at Calumet With Earnings of 61,161 HOMEWOOD, 111., June 28.— Whirlaway is through racing. The brilliant son of Blenheim II. and Dustwhirl, the worlds greatest money-earning thoroughbred, with winnings of 61,161, ran his last race when he went unplaced in the Equipoise Mile at Washington Park last Saturday and within the next week will be sent to the Calumet Farm of his owner, Warren Wright, in Lexington where he, himself, was foaled in 1938. Announcement of Whirlaways retirement which will deprive the turf of its most colorful figure, was made jointly today by Wright and the horses trainer and developer, Ben A. Jones, when the 1942 handicap champion developed a filling in his left foreleg, on the inside just below • the knee, following his effort in the Equipoise Mile. He finished fifth in the race and it was the first time since he was a two-year-old that he failed to be placed in race. In his entire career, during which he started 60 times, he was unplaced only four times. Discussing Whirlaways retirement, Wright said that it probably would be possible to get the son of Blenheim II. back in racing trim, but that rather than take a chance of having him humbled by inferior horses and thus sully his brilliant record it was decided to send him to Calumet Farm where he will have the opportunity to further glorify himself Whirlaways complete racing record will be found on Page 24 through his sons and daughters. He will serve his first season at stud next spring at the age of six years. That Whirlaway was nearing the end of his racing trail was feared last winter when, after he won the Louisiana Handicap in New Orleans, he developed a leg ailment for which he was thrown out of training for several months. Transferred to Hot Springs and later to Louisville, the Calumet start began the slow process back to fitness and the program was continued when he was taken to New York. Brought to Chicago several weeks ago, Whirlaway made his first start of the year in an overnight race, the mile War Admiral Purse, in which he ran third to his stablemate, Mar-Kell, and Kings Abbey and then Continued on Page Twenty-Eight Retire Whirlaway From Competition Champion Money-Winner Enters Stud at Calumet With Earnings of 61,161 Continued from Page One came his engagement in the Equipoise Mile in which Best Seller, Thumbs Up, Some Chance and Rounders led him to the wire. The champion made a game try, for he trailed the big field over the early furlongs but when he hung near the end the crowd seemed to sense something was wrong with the horse who was the idol of racing fans everywhere. And there was. He pulled up very sore, and overnight the filling developed. Whirlaway will carry into retirement one of the most remarkable records of any thoroughbred in turf history, but paradoxically, neither a worlds nor an American speed record. He holds several track marks, however, notable among them being the 2:0125 he set at Churchill Downs in winning the 1941 Kentucky Derby. The Calumet flyer, who won 32 of 60 starts, finished second 15 times and third 9 times, is one of only six horses to hold the "triple crown." victories in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes, and twice, in 1941 and in 1942, was acclaimed the "Horse of the Year." Other accolades awarded him in nationwide polls were the three-year-old championship in 1941 and the handicap championship in 1942. Won Money Crown in Massachusetts Whirlaway became the worlds greatest money -winning thoroughbred on July 15 at Suffolk Downs in capturing the Massachusetts Handicap whose 3,850 value enabled him to pass Seabiscuits lifetime earnings of 37,730. Besides the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, Belmont Stakes and Massachusetts Handicap, Whirlaway lists among his achievements victories in such other outstanding fixtures as the Saratoga Special, Hopeful Stakes, Breeders Futurity and Walden Stakes as a two-year-old; the Dwyer, American Derby, Travers and Lawrence Realization as a three-year-old. and the Narragansett Special, Jockey Club Gold Cup, Washington Handicap and Pimlico Special as a four-year-old. Whirlaway reaches the end of the trail at the threshold of what might conceivably have been his biggest year, for here in Chicago alone there are three 0,000 stakes, the Stars and Stripes Handicap, the Arlington Handicap and the Washington Park Handicap, fashioned for horses of his type. Simultaneous with the announcement of his retirement, his name was revealed at the head of the weight assignments for the Stars and Stripes in which he would have carried 128 pounds. Meanwhile, Whirlaway is receiving treatment for his ailing leg and as soon as Jones is satisfied that he can be shipped without danger of further injury he will be sent to Kentucky to bask in the reflected glory of the achievements that have established him one of the greatest horses of .11 time.
