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Miss Woodford Honored By Stake at Monmouth Great Race Mare Was First to Compile Earnings of 00,000 OCEANPORT, N. J., June 7.— Miss Woodford, " among the greatest race mares in American turf history, really started some-, thing on June 7, 1886 when she flashed home in front of Volante and Modesty to win the Eclipse Stakes at St. Louis. Her purse earnings in that event made her the " first thoroughbred in this land to win 00,000, a stunning figure which turf sages of the era opined would stand forever. Her performance literally brought down the house. As she crossed the finish line, the press box, carrying nearly three times its usual cargo of newsmen, "caved in with a crash, but that noise was like the flapping of a sail in the storm of acclaim which welcomed Miss Woodford back to the winners circle. Now, 66 long years afterward, Miss Woodford is remembered, anew with the running of the Miss Woodford Stakes, one of three brand new stake events to be decided during Monmouth Parks summer racing season which starts June 14. The conditions — for three-year-old fillies at three-quarters of a mile — revive memories of her own days of glory, for it was as a three-year-old that Miss Woodford achieved her finest laurels, becoming the first horse to win over 0,000 in a single season. That year she started in 12 races and won 10 of them. After winning four straight, she was shipped to Saratoga for the mile and a quarter of the Pocahontas Stakes, a race considered-so completely at her mercy that she was posted at 1 to 10 odds. She then was beaten a length by Empress, leaving a stunned grandstand in her wake. After losing one more race, she went on to win her last five starts of the year, galloping home on each occasion with consummate ease. Miss Woodford was owned by the glamorous Mike Dwyer, who dearly loved a short price. As a four-year-old, the mare was entered in a race in which she was held at odds of 1 to 60, Dwyer betting 0,000 on her to win a mere ,000. Miss Woodford, suffering from an over-confident ride, was whipped a short head on the post. It was over the old Monmouth Park track that the fine mare won many of her most important races, and it seems fitting that the new Monmouth posthumously recognize her achievements with the first running of the Miss Woodford Stakes this season. The 5,000 event is scheduled for Wednesday, July 23, as a major prep for the 0,000 Monmouth Oaks, to be decided a week later. The twin events for members of the sex and age group promise td be among the most interesting of the 49 -day summer racing season.
