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I * ► ■MINIMI I. I Ml. .... I. ......11.11. I . I . - ■ ■■■■■■■■■■- ■ ■ ■ ••■•- ♦ I * ♦ — : Story of Climb to Greatness Of The Master/ Eddie Arcaro ; I ! ■ 1 j . ! 1 I . i J 5 . _" l _. 3 I a ;. F i i e i * •• 3 0 " t - - 5 - Is Worlds Most Successful T ► Athlete; Almost 10 Pet. of Wins Were in Stake Races By BOB HORWOOD Staff Correspondent NEW YORK, N. Y., June 24.— The racing career of jockey Eddie Arcaro embraces almost 23 years from the time he first picked up a rake on the Latonia shed-row in 1929 to this afternoon when he guided his 3,000th winner into the charmed circle. It is a long and fabulous story to compress into the limited columns of a newspaper — the rise of this fiery, tempestuous boy of Italian stock to the leadership of his bitterly competitive profession. Eddie Arcaro is today the worlds most successful athlete, living the life, away from the racetrack, of a successful businessman, engrossed in his wife, his children and his home, with golf and reading his chief recreations, except for an annual month of festivity at Saratoga. But the Arcaro story is essentially that of a great artist — a throwback to those full-blooded, brawling, personally proud and spiritually humble, shrewd yet reckless masters of the Italian renaissance whose voice was Benvenuto Cellini. It is no accident that today, Eddie Arcaro is commonly referred to as "The Master." Increasingly, regulars at the nations racetracks dont say "Arcaro is riding," but "the master is on this one." In his 19 years as a race rider, Eddie Ar- caro probably has spent more time on the ground for rough riding than any other jockey now active. Most of those suspen- sions were incurred a decade ago. He has ridden more great races than any living rider. He has also ridden his share of bad ones, including his victory on Assault in the Butler Handicap of 1947, when he did everything wrong, then, in the final yards fused the fury of a great rider and a great horse into the most sensational finish this scribe has seen. Told Story in Book Form Arcaro told his stry in book form a little more than a year ago. The book is an ab- sorbing account of the life of one of the greatest athletes of this century and should be read by everyone remotely interested in horseracing. Incidentally, Arcaros book is the most in demand in veterans hospitals throughout the nation. But it bears an unfortunate title. The book is called, "I Ride to Win." Of course, Eddie rides to win. The horse owners know it. The train- ers know he rides to win. The stewards, who have sometimes grounded him for lengthy periods for trying too hard, certainly know it. The public, which invari-jj ably makes his mounts a shorter price than their past performances warrant, demon-" strates in legal tender that it knows it. Who, then, is he trying to convince with this defensive title? That small, but faith-ful band of lunatics at large that gathers near the finish lines of the New York tracks to hurl obscenities at George Edward Arcaro, win or lose? Possibly. It is more likely that Eddie had no more to do with selecting the title for his auto-I biography than this writer has with the headlines above this story. The. choice of that simple, declarative statement, T Ride to Win," is not like Eddie Arcaroor another reason. It suggests that perhaps some of his fellow riders dont always ride to win. Some of them have taken it that way and resented it. He is the last man on earth to point a finger at a colleague. There have been times in the not-too-distant past when in the heat of a roughly run race. Eddies temper has caused him to do much more drastic things than finger pointing, The classic instance was in the Cowdin Stakes of 1942, when, astride Occupation, he did his best to put Vincenzio Nodarse and Breezing Home over the fence. That was in retaliation for being deliberately cut off at the start and resulted in a year on the ground, the severity of the punishment being largely due to Eddies candid fury before the stewards. Eddie is not given to implications — he says what he thinks, openly, precisely and with an expressive choice of words. Has Mellowed Considerably Today, 10 years and 1,523 winners since that episode with Occupation, Eddie Arcaro has mellowed considerably and that maturity has made him a better rider. Some years ago, a story circulated about the eastern racetracks to the effect that a certain unidentified heavy bettor had con- trived to always be informed if Arcaro was betting on his mounts in the early races. This possibly apocryphal individual was said to have paid liberally for this infor-e mation, not because he thought it gave further proof that Arcaro was riding to win, EDDIE ARCARO, as he appeared shortly after he began his riding career. ► e _ , .. ,r j tl ._ |s e •s ,_ .e s ;s ■e !_ £ jj „ lX! n or r r rg ie , • :e • j2 n but because he had become convinced that, if Eddie lost such a bet in an early race, he also lost his judgment for the rest of the day and became a poor risk on his subsequent mounts. That such a story could even be invented, suggests that for many years Eddie at least gave the impression that his Latin temper — or is it temperament? affected his riding. Until quite recently, this writer felt that Eddie Arcaro had at least as much natural ability as any jockey who ever lived, that he frequently rode as though inspired, rising to occasions in the manner of a genius — and that he made more mistakes, some of them also on important occasions than a great rider is entitled to make. Eddies mistakes have become rare, indeed, a circumstance that would seem the result more of maturity than experience. The record makes opinion superfluous. Eddie Arcaros record of stake victories speaks for itself. Almost 10 per cent of his 3,000 winners 295 to be exact were stake winners. The ratio of stake races to overnight races has varied over 4, e seasons, but in 1951 a record number of 594 stakes and feature events were offered in this country, while the total number of races that year was 27,856. Thus, only slightly more than 2 per cent, of all races run are stakes features. Has Won Triple Crown Twice Lets look into the record a little further. Eddie has won five Kentucky Derbys, five Belmoitt Stakes and four runnings of the Preakness and won the "Triple Crown" twice, with Whirlaway and Citation. He has won Americas most significant handicap, the Suburban, three times, with Devil Diver, Assault and Vulcans Forge. He won the best of the juvenile races, the Futurity, with Our Boots, First Flight and Battlefield. He showed that fillies respond to his touch by winning the Kentucky and 4 Coaching Club American Oaks the past two 0 years with How and Real Delight. Nothing could have been less prophetic iC than the name of Eddie Arcaros first stake :e winner. It was an animal calledNo More." » Eddie won the Quickstep and Washington n Park Handicaps with him in 1933 while le under contract to Clarence E. Davison. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on February •y 19, 1916, and baptized George Edward Arcaro r. at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church in n that city, Eddie spent most of his childhood 1_ across the Ohio River in Newport, Ky. y There was no racetrack in Eddies background. c_ His father sold sheet music and id phonograph records and his mother was an n Italian immigrant girl. But when a disgruntled 3_ golfer for whom he was caddying ig suggested that he would do better as a a jockey, both parents encouraged him. After sv failing to catch on with Roscoe Goose, "Rome" Respess and Kay Spence, Eddie 1! was hired by T. H. McCaffrey, a shoe manufacturer who was wintering a few horses es at Latonia. That winter of 1929-30, young lg Arcaro walked horses, carried water r buckets, filled feed tubs, washed saddlecloths *" and bandages and raked the stable le shed under the direction of Ray Rayling, g» Continued on Page Forty-Three I i Story of Climb to Greatness Of The Master/ Eddie Arcaro z i ! 8 a a g tl tl g s] g ti f y, t to 0 L ■ £ ? ■ j t] S K n t: e- y 50 * -] J r , J " j ■ j * c c m t c b 5 5 b 3 j b J t b ! ■ J ■ 3 * 3 b s d 3 b b i i and id ] « y- ke i ! b I h h i l b j b £ b , . b ■ • P b b D ice le" was •ne a a ice d *n In in" won on w" her *er do d° her ieT V1" and nc* she was yas the ne ride ide inv sop on on ws on e _ was 115 Ja nee Park ark filly. lly. an- nd ivi- next kdi- ; to to Is Worlds Most Successful ♦ t Athlete; Almost 10 Pet. of I Wins Were in Stake Races t c Continued from Page Five p former blacksmith. After a time, he was I v thrown up on horses and allowed to walk v them endlessly under the shed. When | t spring came. Odie Clelland, McCaffreys I trainer, came with it from Florida and the I a former star rider began giving the 13- . fc year-old boy his first lessons, teaching him e shorten his irons and how to use his ; v over-size hands. c That summer of 1930, Eddie never left [ c Latonia, but he had begun to ride exercise i » and when the stable went to Hialeah in i the winter, Clelland took the boy along. However, he wasnt riding races and, when j they came back to Latonia, Clelland sug-E gested that he should find another job with I more opportunity. He had no written con-L tract with McCaffrey. Youkilis Takes His Papers Eddie didnt find it easy to get a regular r job and soon was exercising free-lance at t cents a horse, extending frequent credit. That continued through most of 1931, until 1 Pasquale Arcaro finally arranged for Paul 1 Youkilis to take his papers. That local 1 owner had a few horses in the care of Alvin i Booker, a former jockey, Soon after, Bill Brennan took three of f Youkilis Tiorses and Eddie over to the ? Thistle Down track in Ohio. Brennan re- g calls that young Arcaro rode his first race e on a two-year-old filly named Aunt Kate, who was supposed to be getting "educa-J tion" along with her rider. Eddie forgot his s orders and knocked the filly out for the el [ year. Soon after that. Eddie rode a filly named 1 | Bella Napoli for Youkilis and Booker, and ; this one was to be a melon cutting, with ; j | the elder Arcaro taking part. In his anx- ; iety to win. Eddie crossed over to the rail 1 | so sharply that the filly was cut down be-1 hind so badly she had to be destroyed. Youkilis. Booker and the elder Arcaro re-3 strained their own impulse to also destroy young Eddie Arcaro. Eddie cannot recall now exactly how many races he rode before he finally got home first with the aptly for the occa-and• sion named Eagle Bird at Agua Caliente e [ on January 14. 1932. He does remember T ; that it was more than 100, probably many v j i more, and that he had learned every conceivable _ ! way to lose a race before he discovered i- the thrill of winning one. Things ;s ! were not all "cakes and ale" after Eagle j Bird won. however. Eddie managed to win j j a dozen races that winter, but Booker had d Ody that one winner and at the end of the ie j j meeting, Eagle Bird went to the feed man n I in payment of his bill. Eddie went to Clar-" ■_ ence E. Davison, but not until he had d "messed up" a race for that horseman by ,y following riding orders too explicitly. Davison i_ and his wife took young Arcaro under ;r their wings in 1932 at Tanforan and he went with the stable to Chicago, Canada. a, New Orleans, back to Chicago, where he ie , had his first serious spill, then to Maryland d j and around the wheel again. J ! Draws Wrath of Stewards j While Eddie was becoming a race rider under Davisons tutelage, he also was be-— :- coming anathema to some of the stewards, s, notably judges Murphy, Nathanson and id pitzGerald who set him down repeatedly ly for rough riding. Finally in 1934, the Hli-ras i- nois stewards told Davison he had better »r send his rough-riding boy elsewhere. Soon after, however, Roy Carruthers ar-"s r- ranged his reinstatement and not too long ig after that Eddies cotnract was bought by y Warren Wright of Calumet Farm for ,000. 0, with an increase in salary from the 0 50 monthly he had been getting from Davison to 50. B. B. "Bert Williams was the ie Calumet trainer at that time. Eddie stayed »d with Calumet Farm until his contract ex-5a" .- pired on December 1, 1936, then joined ;d Greentree Stable. j Eddie was on the ground, serving a six- .- [ ] month suspension when he reported to to Greentree, but John Gaver, then assistant at trainer, obtained newsreels of the 1936 Pim-ine i- lico Futurity in which he was supposed, to to have fouled a rival and. with this evidence, :e, which anticipated the film patrol, obtained ?d a modification of the suspension, While With Greentree, Arcaro incurred id another long, and controversial suspension, n. The occasion was the Hopeful Stakes of of i 1941. in which he rode Shut Out, who was coupled with Devil Diver and Amphithea-°n tre. At the finish. Devil Diver, who was in JJJI to make a fast pace, went on to win, with Shut Out and Amphitheatre second and d . third. The entry was not disqualified, but Arcaro was suspended for the balance of j the season for what were described as "rodeo . tactics. This suspension followed by 2 only 10 days a 30-day suspension imposed by Marshall Cassidy on evidence provided ed by the "Binocular Camera," a fore-runner er of the film patrol. Eddie exercised horses ;es at half salary until the 1942 season. The he "Occupation" incident occurred in the fall all of that year and was the last major sus-ext is- pension meted out to Arcaro. The Arcaro story for the past 10 years irs has been almost entirely a success story, ry, | not only from the glory of many great vic- ic- ♦ t I t c p v I v | t I a I . fc e v ; c [ c i » ! tories on great horses, but also in the obvious view of material gain and develop-! ment of a man. George Edward Arcaro. j husband of Ruth Arcaro and father of Carolyn and Bobby Arcaro has become a poisedt relaxed, thoroughly mature man. with aeen mind and a ready wit that always seems to find the right word, rarely the conventional word, for any situation. Eddie probably will still be around to ride another 1.000 winners. He is now in the best form of his long career and enjoys] excellent health and has stabilized his weight. And, like all genuine artists, he will continue to produce because it is his way of life, Eddie Eddie Arc; Arcaros aros lifetime lifetime r record ecord follows: follows: i » i j I r t 1 1 1 i f ? e Eddie Eddie Arc; Year. 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 Arcaros aros lifetime lifetime r Winners. 62 132 161 138 118 153 189 152 132 117 123 43 194 100 160 156 188 194 195 182 111 record ecord follows: follows: Winnings. $ 40,845 84,839 191,025 207,935 164,475 205,874 346,310 252,100 343,611 388,856 481,949 136,868 773,850 520.055 1,036,825 1,221.479 1,686,230* 1,183,309 1.410,160 1,265,455 966,106 s el [ 1 | 3.000 2,889,736 ? *A11-Time High
