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► : __ — Some of Americas Greatest Won Belmont From 1920-30 Man o War, Grey Lag, Zev, Crusader, Blue Larkspur and Gallant Fox Among Champs By LEON RASMUSSEN Stat J Correspondent The Roaring Twenties have been called Americas Golden Age of sports, and without poetic license. Consider Bobby Jones, Jack Dempsey, Babe Ruth and Bill Tilden, in goJf, boxing, baseball and tennis, and in racing, in 1920, there was Man o* War, still regarded as the "mostest hoss" in the history of American racing by the "mostest" people. In 1920 "Big Red" made a farce of the Belmont Stakes, trouncing an overmatched Donnacona by 20 cantering lengths. From then through 1930 when Gallant Fox coasted home there were several other mighty thoroughbreds who won the Belmont and whose memory should be toasted on the anniversary of this fixture which, in more cases than not, points out the years three-year-old champion and assures the winner a flying start on a career in the stiid. For the next few paragraphs, let us recall Grey Lag, Zev, Crusader, Blue Larkspur and Gallant Fox. In their day they were the Citations, the Middlegrounds, the Assaults and the Count Fleets of more recent days. Their exploits wrote headlines just as big and just as black as those commanded by our stars today. All won Bel-monts, so let us turn the hour-glass upside down and have the reversing sands of time take us back to Grey Lag and 1921, Zev and 1923, Crusader and 1926, Blue Larkspur and 1929 and Gallant Fox and 1930. Grey Lags Cinderella Story The complete story of Grey Lag Is a Cinderella story in reverse, a "Black Beauty" of the thoroughbred world. He was bred by John E. Madden, with a silver bit in his mouth, and then, after many notable triumphs disappeared from view, finally emerging at the age of 13 in the lowest of claiming races in Canada where he was saved from further humiliation by his former owner, Harry F. Sinclairs Ran-cocas Stable, and returned to his home of past and better days. He showed he remembered by acting like a kittenish colt. His stmt was pathetic. It was the kind of scene that, would bring tears to almost any cold, cold heart. At two, Grey Lag won three stakes, the Champagne, the Remsen and the Autumn Day. The son of Star Shoot— Miss Minnie was not the best of his year, but trainer Sam Hildreth bought him for Rancocas after his Champagne victorywith the 1921 Kentucky Derby in mind, and but for suffering a stone bruise while preparing for that classic, Hildreth might » have been right, because the Derby winner, Behave Yourself, was never in the same class with Grey Lag. Hildreth had Grey Lag back in shape by the end of May. He won a sprint prep and then finished third to Leonardo n. and Sporting Blood in the Withers. For the Belmont he was co-choice with the fleet Leonardo H., but he was much the best, coming to the end of the then mile and three-eighths three leisurely lengths in the van. Earl "Handy Guy" Sande rode him. Won Four Big New York Races Despite always being bothered with shelly feet, the bane of many of the Star Shoots, Grey Lag ran other memorable races, and his winning the Belmont,. Brooklyn, Suburban and Metropolitan is a feat par excellence. Madden thought him the best he ever bred, but unfortunately he proved a shy foal-getter. One of the first horses to be compared to Man o* War and Zev, and although this comparison soon withered, the brown son of The Finn did tilings with a flair that endeared him to racing fans. Whatever "color" is, he possessed it. At two, he had been a swift colt, winning stakes and running second in the Futurity. But it was not believed that he would stay, and when he barely won the Paumonok in his first start at three, it appeared that the pundits were right. Nevertheless, the colt, like Grey Lag. owned by Rancocas, trained by Hildreth, ridden by Sande and bred by Mad-|den, was made the choice for the Preak-iness, which then preceded the Derby, but finished a wilted and miserable 12th. The only reason he was sent after the Kentucky classic was due to the pleas of Sande, who insisted that the colt had been kicked at the gate in the Preakness and was not able to show his real worth. Neither trainer Hildreth nor owner Sinclair thought enough of Zev or Sandes evaluation to be present at Churchill Downs, but with the "Handy Guy" on his back and an assistant trainer to care for him, Zev, at 20 to 1, was never headed. Returned to New York a hero, he suddenly became the big horse in the Rancocas — the Calumet of the Twenties — barn. On May 26, he led throughout the Withers and then on June 9 went postward for the 55th Belmont. Although his stamina was still doubted, he was 4 to 5 for the race and never gave his many backers a moments worry, leading at every pole and crossing the wire a length and a half before Chickvale with his Kentucky Derby rival, Martingale, a deep and distant fifth. " First to Earn 00,000 Other great stakes fell to Zevs flying hoofs, but worship of the horse reached its peak when he whipped Papyrus, winner of the Epsom Derby, in the famous International, the first race ever broadcast by radio. The colt was the first to win 00,-000, and although he was well bred and a handsome individual, he never reaped the success expected of him at stud. It is pleasant to reminisce about Crusader, for he was not only a horse of remarkable beauty and remarkable accomplishments, he was one of the first Man o Wars to come to the races and ease the minds of those who wee afraid "Big Red" might not be able to pass along to his offspring in some measure, his remarkable ability. Walter S. Vosburgh, then handicapper for The Jockey Club, was unstinted in his praise of the colt, saying: "As a matter of opinion, he was not as great a colt as his sire. But as a matter of record, he was greater, for Man o War did not go out of his class. This, Crusader did. He boldly went out to race the all-aged class for the Suburban, and defeated them. Crusader set the seal to his greatness by winning the Gold Cup." Vosburghs praise came in words, but Frank J. Bryan, handicapper at Bowie, said it with figures. For the Bowie Handicap he assigned Crusader, as a three-year-old, 135 pounds, an estimate of ability that is still a record for a sophomore in an all-aged event. After being one of the few sophomores to capture the historic Suburban, naturally Crusader was an odds-on favorite for his Belmont Stakes, increased to a mile and a half with this 1926 renewal. At home "n any type of footing, he was a handy winner under Albert Johnson in the sloppy footing, catching Haste in the stretch and holding off Espino without undue pressure. The latter had been left at the post and there was speculation that he might be a better stayer than the son of Man o War, but in the Dwyer a short time later, then also at a mile and a half, he gave that colt 15 pounds and beat him into third place. Crusader could never approach his sire as a sire, mainly because he was never given the opportunity, but his race track record speaks for him, and loudly. Blue Larkspur Successful at Stud Blue Larkspur, hero of the 1929 Belmont became almost an immediate success as a sire when he was retired by Col. E. R. Bradley to Idle Hour Farm, and Blue Man, his grandson, now appears to be the choice in this race for champions. Should Blue Man be the success he is expected to be, it will add a unique breeding double to Blue Larkspurs fame as a progenitor, for the Continued on Page Forty-One Top Horses Belmont * Victors, 1920-30 Man o War, Grey Lag, Zey, Crusader, Blue Larkspur and £ Gallant Fox Among Group - Continued from Page Eight son of Black Servant was also the sire of Si Blue Delight, dam of Real Delight, Calu- 3 met Farms winner of the Coaching Club American Oaks, the "fillies Belmont." £ At two, Blue Larkspur was brilliant and * some observers rated him over High Strung 2 and Jack High, even though he ran un- v placed as the choice for the Futurity in £ which he rapped an ankle. During the -winter he reigned favorite for the Ken- £ tucky Derby, but ran an inexplicably dull c race behind the moderate Clyde Van Dusen over one of the worst tracks in the history «T of the race. «_ Following this unflattering effort he was % sent to Belmont where he flashed the form p that was expected of him and caught Chestnut Oak and Jack High with a thril- * ling burst of speed in the last eighth of the Withers. He was immediately installed the £ choice for the Belmont, although many astute horsemen questioned the ability of a Domino line colt to get a mile and a half against top company. Blue Larkspur again caught a track similar to the one at Churchill, but this time it failed to daunt him. Romped in Classic An over-confident ride by Mack Garner cost him the Dwyer, but he just romped in the Classic at Arlington, then went wrong and was retired for the year. He came back the following year, won the Stars and Stripes and Arlington Gold Cup and stamped himself as a colt of unquestioned class and ability. He possessed all the requisites for sire stardom — intense speed, the capacity to carry it a mile and one-half and the will to win. HI luck and a tendency to unsoundness kept him from ever reaching the acclaim his talents warranted. However, at stud, he proved his greatness without any reservations. When William Woodwards Gallant Fox — the Fox of Belair — burst upon the racing scene as a three - year - old in 1930 and squandered all his classic foes at every turn and in every race he started, with the exception of Jim Dandys unbelievable upset in the Travers, the inevitable comparison with.Man o War was made. When the best son of Sir Gallahad m. was retired at the end of the season after winning the Wood, the Withers, the Triple Crown, the Dwyer, the Arlington Classic, the Saratoga Cup, the Realization and The Jockey Club Gold Cup, he was unanimously accepted as the best since "Big Red," if not his equal. He was without apparent limitations on the racetrack. As Woodward said of him: "He could go five furlongs or five miles." In most of his races it almost seemed as though Gallant Fox was playing with his rivals. He would, invariably, cross the wire with his ears pricked, seeming to glide along with, ease while his foes labored to get close enough to see what color he was. Even when he won narrow decisions, as in the Classic and the Realization, he semed to be indulging his opponents as those ears were always priced — the sign of a horse who is still not down to the business of doing his best. Meeting With Whichone There was a tidal wave of enthusiasm for the 1930 Belmont, as it was to bring Whichone, winner of the richest Futurity the preceding year, and Gallant Fox, who had been a charging but well beaten third, together for the first time since that September meeting. Although "The Fox" had taken the Wood, the Preakness and the Derby, H. P. Whitneys colt was preferred among the punters on the basis of some startling workouts, his obvious class and his dominance of Gallant Fox at two. It developed that there was more excitement before the race than in the race itself. Earl Sande, riding what proved to be the last of his five Belmont winners, sent Marguerites extraordinary son to the front immediately. Held there under restraint, The Fox was so completely in command of his field — Whichone, Questionnaire and Swinburne — that he was able to take two breathers along the route and pull away to three lengths at the end. When he was retired at the end of - the season he was the first horse in history to win over 00,000 in one campaign. At stud his success was as instantaneous as such things can be. From his first crop came -Omaha, who emulated his sire by becoming a Triple Crown winner; from his second crop came Granville, the best of his year, and from his third crop came Perifox, a huge success in England. After this, his stud star went into eclipse. It is one of the most regretable enigmas, in American bloodstock history.
