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Two Officials Linked With Pfeakness Davis and Doyle Each Rode Winners of Pimlico Classic Former Guided Cairngorm In 1905 While Latter Had Mount on Effendi in 1909 1909PIMLICO PIMLICO Baltimore Md May 14 To ¬ morrows running of the historic Preakness will bring back fond memories to thousands of thoroughbred enthusiasts but it is doubtful if any will get more of a thrill out of the event than will two of the Maryland Hockey Clubs officials Willie Davis and Willie Doyle Small of stature but sharp as tacks when it comes to reminiscing of days g ne by fcofh Travis and Doyle are credited with having ridden winners in past renew ¬ als of the important Maryland classic Davis had the leg up on Cairngorm in 1905 while Doyle was the successful rider of Effendi four years later laterDavis Davis who is now 61 years old was born in St Louis Mo and like many of top men in various phases of the thoroughbred sport was introduced to the race tracks of our country by the late Edward Trotter A 12 yearold youngster at that time it was not until four years later that Davis accepted the first mount of his career Incidentally the horse Gin Spray finished second and in the opinion of Davis should have won The lad weighed only 87 pounds at that time and found it impossible to rate his mount mountAfter After being introduced at New Orleans Davis proceeded to the St Louis Fair Grounds where after his contract was sold to Mickey Harris he rode his initial winner a filly named Molly T WhHe Trotter gave Davis only limited chances to break his maiden during the four years he employed him it was only two days after riding his first winner that Davis was astride four horses for his former employer two of them being returned victorious victoriousRode Rode for August Belmont BelmontDuring During his eight years of saddle activity Davis rode for the outstanding stables in the country including those of August Bel ¬ mont and Sydney Padgett It was for Bel ¬ mont that Davis won the first race ever run over the Belmont race track that vic ¬ tory being astride Blandy in 1905 1905Besides Besides winning the Preakness of 1905 Davis also won the Carter Handicap with Ormonde downing the mighty Roseben by a mere nose In a subsequent race astride Ormonde at Jamaica Davis and four other riders went down in a bad spill right at the wire in a race which was won by Santa Catalina with Walter Miller in the irons ironsOne One of the better mares Davis rode was Hamburg Belle with whom he won the Sheepshead Bay Futurity for A J Joyner Davis also won the Alabama Stakes with Tradition and the Belmont Filly Stakes with Tiptoe both trained by Joyner JoynerDavis Davis enjoys telling the story of an in ¬ cident in California where he rode Master son to victory in the Los Angeles Derby beating Good Luck trained by the late Henry McDaniel The latter was so im ¬ pressed by Davis ride that he immediately engaged him to handle Good Luck in a stake the following week Its not hard to understand why Davis enjoys this tale for as you have probably guessed Go6d Luck was the winner while Masterson finished up the track trackShortly Shortly after that time Davis entered the Navy where he served for four years dur ¬ ing World War I Following his discharge he became a racing official and has served in various phases of that department prin ¬ cipally as a patrol judge judgeKnown Known as Little Willie WillieDoyle Doyle affectionately known on the East Coast as Little Willie istsfie of the busiest men in the various secretaries offices arid is a veritable fountain of information in regard to thoroughbred breeding Doyle now serves in Maryland Delawarex New Jersey and Florida FloridaBorn Born in 1883 Doyle made his first visit to the race course when he was 14 years of age and joined the stable of trainer Johnny Miller with whom he was associated for about oneyear Doyles first mount came at BenningsPark Washington D C His first winner came at Narragansett Pier R lt astride a plater named Mexicana While it takes much probing patience and persua ¬ sion to get Doyle to admit the fact that first winner Mexicana was disqualified During disqualifiedDuring his entire career Doyle was not a busy rider but managed to do a share of the saddle work for P J Dwyer and F D Beard Quite naturally Doyles greatest thrill while riding was in winning the Preakness for F C Frisbie with Effendi Doyle is also credited with having booted Pharoah to victory in his first race the Wakefield Stakes and in his last race as a tenyearold Incidentally the last race rid ¬ den by Doyle also resulted in a victory with John W Dine at Hagerstown in 1918 Joining 1918Joining the official family for the first time in 1920 Doyle takes great pride In having worked the Man o WarJohn P Grier race at Aqueduct in one of his early days in that capacity
