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Whisk Broom II. Set Mark In 1913 Suburban Victory Traveled Mile and Quarter in 2:00 Under 139-Pound Impost BELMONT PARK, Elmont, L. I., N. Y.. May 29. — Thirty -three years ago the late Harry Payne Whitneys Whisk Broom II., carrying jockey Joe Notter and enough lead and trappings to make his impost a staggering 139 pounds, drove to a never-to-be-forgotten triumph in the Suburban Handicap. Speeding along like an express train on a special run, Broomsticks good looking son whirled the mile and a quarter in 2:00, establishing a worlds record which stood for 26 years and which still remains the American record for the distance. NO other Suburban winner, and the roster lists some of the most brilliant thoroughbreds of their years, has carried more than the 135 pounds Grey Lag packed in 1923, so Whisk Broom II.s claim to fame on that score is beyond question. However, there has been considerable dissension and discussion about his 2:00 standard ever since that memorable day in June, 1913. Many old-timers, including numerous veterans who were miles away from Belmont Park when the Suburban was run, insist that Whisk Broom II.s time "just wasnt right." Others maintain that the sturdy Whitneyite was at the peak of his form for the route classic and that his mark was what Varietys scribes call "strictly legit." No man was closer to Whisk Broom II. on Suburban day than Joe Notter — because he rode him. Still an inveterate racing fan, Notter believes the record should not be ignored. "I wouldnt be surprised if Whisk Broom II. actually ran in 2:00 that day," the former star rider says. "The pace was fast and Whisk Broom II. had plenty left when I let him run through the last half-mile. "He worked a mile and a quarter in 2:03 for the race with Mr. Rowe James Rowe, his trainer stopping him all through the last part of it. Before that, he had been a mile in 1:38, handily, at Brookdale. That was the fastest work ever on the farm track, and Mr. Rowe trained a lot of good horses there. Whisk Broom II. could run so fast that if you were on him you would not think 2:00 was beyond him." Most watches caught the six-year-old in 2:02 — which wasnt exactly standing still — and it was the general belief that the official timer stopped his watch at the wrong pole. Whisk Broom II. was purchased as a yearling by the late Andrew Jackson Joy-ner, who sold him to Whitney. He was shipped to England, where he was campaigned as a two-, three-, four- and five-year-old, then was returned to this country. Only a few weeks later, without being given too much time to become acclimated, he won the Suburban. He also captured the Metropolitan and Brooklyn Handicaps and is the only horse to achieve that "triple."
