Reflections: Capot Entitled to Three-Year-Old Crown; May Clash With Ponder Again in Classic; Campbells Experimental Stands Up Well; Humanist Won Harbor Hill for J. F. Byers, Daily Racing Form, 1949-06-14

article


view raw text

REFLECTIONS by nel*on dunstan NEW YORK, N. Y., June 13.— Three-Dot Shorts: The Ascot Gold Cup, which is often called the number one race of the world, will be run on Thursday, and will be of great interest this year, as William Woodwards Black Tarquin will go to the post as favorite. . . . Woodwards trainer, "Sunny Jim" Fitzsimmons, #ill be 75 years young on July 23. . . . Hugh Fontaine, drainer for H. A. Grant, is planning to race on three fronts and will have Pat Dwyer and Johnny MacCabe handle the strings that he sends out of New York. . . . James Butler plans to renew the Gold Cup at the Empire City fall meeting, but has made no decision as to whether the value will be continued at 00,000 as in the past few years. . . . Col. John F. Wall, former chief of the United States Remount and author of "Thoroughbred Bloodlines," will soon release his new book, "Famous Running Horses." . . . After a year lapse, the Morven Stud of Whitney Stone will again be a consignor to the Saratoga Sales in August. . . . From a list of over 20,000 submitted, Mrs. Warren Wright selected "Unbelievable" as the name for the suckling full brother to Citation, and The Jockey Club has given its approval. . . . Charlton Clay will have the only Sir Gallahad m. colt and Grant Dorland the only Sir Gallahad III. filly to be offered at the Keeneland sales. . . . Miss Stephanie, the Requested filly who won the Miss America Stakes at the Lincoln Downs meeting on the week-end," was a sales ring bargain at ,300. AAA Capots victory in the Belmont Stakes entitled him to the three-year-old crown, if only temporarily. With Ponder going to Arlington Park, there is a question when the top three-year-olds will meet again, for it is r doubtful if the Calumet contingent will send this son of Pensive back east before the fall. Palestinian is an eligible for the Shevlin, which will be run at Aqueduct on Wednesday and the Jacobs horse is also named, along with Capot, Old Rockport, Halt, Going Away and Colonel Mike, for the 0,000 Dwyer which, at one and one-quarter miles, will be the Aqueduct feature on Saturday, June 25. There is a possibility, of course, of the Green- Capot Entitled to Three-Year-Old Crown May Clash With Ponder Again in Classic Campbells Experimental Stands Up Well Humanist Won Harbor Hill for J. F. Byers tree outfit sending Capot to Chicago for the Arlington Classic on July 30, for this event, which has an added value of 0,000, usually draws some of the top three-year-olds from the East. The Classic is at one and one-quarter miles, and that is the longest distance that three-year-olds will be asked to travel until the running of the Lawrence Realization at the Belmont Park fall meeting. This event is at one and five-eighths miles. The championship situation may change before the Realization running, as there are many rich events for this division in both the East and Midwest before the upstate Saratoga meeting comes to a close. AAA Capot, like many other numerous Belmont Stakes winners before him, has a pedigree which is in keeping with his performance on the race course. He is by Menow out of Piquet, by St. Germans — second dam Parry, by Peter Pan, and next dam Fair Feint, by Fair Play. Fair Feint did not race, but, when sent to stud, produced 11 foals who are credited with winning over 100 races. When bred to Peter Pan, she produced Spar, who was the winner of the 1931 Harbor Hill Steeplechase. Spars full sister, Parry, won the Rosedale Stakes in 1931 and, when she was sent to stud, her second foal was Capots dam, Piquet. John Gaver, the Greentree trainer, must have had great satisfaction in Capots victory, for he, also, was the trainer of Piquet, who, as a three-year-old, won the Diana Handicap, Test Stakes and the Delaware Oaks, in which she defeated such a high-class pair of fillies as Rosetown and Fairy Chant. Few horses, indeed, can boast a better bottom line than Capot, and, when retired, this horse should take a prominent place with Questionnaire, Shut Out, .Devil Diver, Amphitheatre and Bimelech, all of whom stand at the Whitney Stud in Kentucky. John B. Campbell, veteran secretary of the New York tracks, is certainly entitled to an orchid for his 1949 Experimental Handicap as a result of Saturdays racing. As everyone knows, his first three horses on this list were Blue Peter, Mr. Busher and Capot. Blue Peter did not engage in any of the spring classics due to an injury, and Mr. Busher, who did not get to the post all year, is permanently retired. Besides Capot winning the Belmont Stakes, Johns Joy, who was the sixth colt on the Experimental list, won the 0,000 Motor City Handicap at Detroit on the week-end, while Wine List, who was thirteenth on the list, was the winner of the Kent at Delaware. One of the toughest jobs in all racing is the compilation of the two-year-olds into an Experimental Handicap for the following year, and, while Campbells lists down through the years have stood up very well, his 1949 Experimental is one of the most accurate he has ever turned out. Like Capot, both Wine List and Johns Joy are fine stud prospects, for the former is by Questionnaire — Fizz II., by Manna, while Johns Joy is by Bull Dog out of My Auntie, by Busy American. Johns Joy is a half-brother to the stake winner, The Doge, and was bred by the Coldstream Stud of Dale Shaffer. AAA Racing lost another stanch supporter when John F. Byers died early Saturday morning of pneumonia. When the news reached Belmont Park, the veteran Clem McCarthy came over and told us the story of Humanist. For over a quarter of a century, Maj. Thomas H. Mc-Creery trained the Byers horses and it was some 20 -odd years ago when McCreery went to the Doncaster Sales in England that Byers told him to look for a horse capable of winning the Harbor Hill Steeplechase, which was his favorite race. A few weeks later, McCreery cabled, "I think I have the horse, but he will cost somewhere in the neighborhood of ,000." Byers promptly cabled back to buy him, and it was in 1929 that Humanist defeated Silver Jay and Stalker to win the Harbor Hill and earn ,875. Byers was a fine, all-around athlete, for not only was he a crack golfer, but, when in college, was also coxswain for the Yale rowing crew. He owned many well-known steeplechasers, and, among them, Carabinier, winner of the Meadow Brook Steeplechase Handicap in 1925.


Persistent Link: https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1940s/drf1949061401/drf1949061401_40_1
Local Identifier: drf1949061401_40_1
Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800