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BRYAN FIELD— Will describe the running of the Derby over both television and radio. HI .. * Ijll B||: K i"liiHHl I w EUGENE CONSTANTIN, JR.— The Texas sportsman holds high hopes that his Chesapeake winner, Royal Bay Gem, will do the honors in todays Derby renewal at Churchill Downs. Fate Finally Caught Twenty Grand5 Top Thoroughbred Had Hectic Career Dame Fortune First Smiled, Then Frowned on Fast# Game Whitney-Owned DerbyVictor By HENRY MAHAN Staff Correspondent CHURCHILL DOWNS, Louisville, Ky., May 1. — Renown and oblivion, although in direct opposition, often travel hand in hand around the race tracks, each ready and eager to take over whenever the other shows any sign of faltering. Thus, goes the story of Twenty Grand, a truly grand thoroughbred. Twenty Grand made his debut to the turf world during a vintage year when every horse had to fight — and fight hard — for every victory. And he was no favored child of old Dame Fortune. The road to fame was no primrose path that April afternoon away back in 1930 when he first paraded postward, and although the pitfalls took a heavy toll, he was to be the toast of all lovers of a fast and game horse before he was through with the tracks. After overcoming adversities that would have left an ordinary horse heartbroken, Twenty Grand received the unkindest cut of all from the fates. He was retired to the breeding paddocks and all turfdom was anticipating a symphony in speed when the baby grands began to arrive. But Amen, that ancient god of life and reproduction, 1 nodded in the negative. Twenty Grand was impotent — sterile . His Sire Imported It all began in 1925 when Payne Whitney, younger brother of Harry Payne Whitney, imported a stallion from England. This horse was St. Germans, who was a confirmed lover of the longer distances and passed this penchant along to his son, who was conceived by the All Gold mare, Bonus. Payne Whitney had held high hopes for his importee, who had won such stakes as the Craven, Lowter, Royal, Limekiln, Liverpool St. Leger and Hampton Court on the other side of the Atlantic as a three-year-old. The fates soon took a hand and the rising sportsman came to an untimely demise in 1927, bequeathing all his racing stock and broodmares to his widow, Helen Hay Whitney, and leaving St. Germans to his brother. However, the stallion was returned to Mrs. Whitney and soon was heading the Greentree stud. While St. Germans made his earlier covers, in 1926 and 1927, in New Jersey, Twenty Grand was a Kentuckian, for all the foals of 1928 were born in the Blue Grass. Thomas W. Murphy, long a leading har- . ness driver on the Grand Circuit but a con- , vert to the thoroughbreds, brought out j Twenty Grand in April of 1930, and the bay colt scampered home first in a dash at Aqueduct but met his first setback, suffering bucked shins and various other ailments. It was fall before anything much could be done with him again, although he did finish second at Empire City in July. After winning and then losing a couple of more races, he reached his first big objective, the Junior Champion Stakes at Aqueduct on October 4. Meets Ekky First Time Twenty Grand met Equipoise for the f irst time in the Junior Champion. The Chocolate Soldier looked all over a winner racing toward the wire, but the Greentree colt surged alongside him and then went on to win by a length, completing the mile in 1:38 while in receipt of 11 pounds. ► 4 Next came the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill Downs on October 16. Both carried 122 pounds this time. "Ekky," with "Sonny" Workman up, and "Grand," with Charley Kurtsinger in the irons, entered the stretch heads apart and there began one of the epic two-year-old stretch duels of the century. They hooked up at the head of the home lane and sped along with noses and tails on a straight line while both riders fought with all the skill at their command. Neither horse would toss in the towel. They were at each others throat like a pair of bulldogs and their duel carried them some 10 lengths in froi t of the rest of the field, with Twenty Grand finally reaching the finish with the tip of his nose in front of his rival. Time, 1:36, till then the fastest mile ever run by two-year-olds — and the late Col. Matt Winn, the Derby impresario who had witnessed i every running of the classic, said it was the most thrilling race he ever had seen. Pimlicos Futurity brought about the next meeting of the arch rivals. It was over a mile and a sixteenth and was run in mud. | Mate, another fine colt, was the leader until 50 yards or so from the wire, then both Equipoise and Twenty Grand went by j him. The Chocolate Soldier was the winner | this time, scoring by half a length even j though he had lost both front shoes. The time was 1:48%. Retired After Futurity Retired for the season after the Futurity, Twenty Grand went from victory to victory j as a three-year-old and was beaten but twice in 10 starts. He won the Wood Memorial by half a length, then met repeated interference in the Preakness and was de- feated a length and a half by Mate, who set a new time record of 1:59 for the stake. Twenty Grand now was ready for the supreme test, the Kentucky Derby of 1931. Equipoise had been injured and relegated Continued on Page Forty -Eight j- ■ "■ f~ ji" «» n"", ■:"ljji OWNER AND RIDER— Alfred G. Vonderbilt, owner-breeder, and Jockey Eric Guerin, rider, of favorite Native Dancer. Fate Finally Caught Mighty Twenty Grand Dame Fortune First Smiled, Then Frowned on Game Derby Victor Continued from Page Twenty -Seven to the sidelines by this time, but Mate was back in the line-up. This was the first time the Derby was radiocast internationally and it was reported that many listeners in England remained up till past midnight just to hear the description. Twelve horses started. "Grand" was tenth at the half-mile pole but then he shifted into high gear. By the time the field was at the mile marker, he was second and soon went into the lead to gallop home four lengths in front of Sweep All, who beat Mate by another three lengths. The time of 2:01% was the fastest Derby then on record, and a mark which stood until the coming of th3 great Whirlaway. With Equipoise sidelined and Mate put away, Jamestown remained as Twenty Grands main stumbling block. He took care of Jamestown in the Belmont, winning in a canter by 10 lengths; Sun Meadow, second and Jamestown third. Time, 2:29%, another new stakes record. Then he won the Dwyer from Blenheim in hollow fashion but wrenched the lumbar muscle on his right side, apparently as a result of being restrained and not from overexertion, as he never was extended. After a short recuperative period he lost the Arlington Classic to Mate and then returned East to win the Travers, Saratoga Cup, Lawrence Realization and Jockey Club Gold Cup in succession — all in easy fashion. During the season he had won the fastest Kentucky Derby and the fastest Belmont Stakes. Murphy had left Green-tree the previous fall and had been suc ceeded by Jimmy Rowe, Jr. Shortly after life of an honored pensioner. The "First Lady of the Turf" had owned many cham-the colt won the Gold Cup his trainer died suddenly at Baltimore. Twenty Grand then passed into the hands of trainer William Brennan and when serious work began early in 1932, his near front ankle, which had shown signs of soreness, fevered and filled and he was fired for a low splint. Thereafter he was a cripple and but a shadow of his former great self. Only his extreme gameness enabled the son of St. Germans to win an overnight race at Belmont in the fall and he pulled up very lame. In his second try he was beaten by Mad Frump and then came the announcement of his retirement to the stud. Keen disappointment was evident in the racing world when Twenty Grand was declared impotent after two seasons in the stud, but racing fans hailed the announcement that he was sound and would race again, and would go to Santa Anita for the first 00,000 race there in February of 1935. Hard training brought back the old weakness, but he kept on and in two prep races finished third and then second, being awarded the latter purse when his old rival, Equipoise, was disqualified for swerving in the stretch. The two renowned rivals, both now cripples, started in the Santa Anita, with Equipoise finishing seventh and Twenty Grand tenth. A trip to England was decreed in the hope that the change in climate and to the grass courses would bring Twenty Grand back to his former glory. He boarded the S. S. American Banker in March and special water drums and hay went along. He made his English debut in the Queen Anne Stakes at one mile, finishing seventh, then could not finish among the first eight in the Rutland Handicap. He couldnt stand the rigors of training, but remained on the other side of the ocean for two years, fin- ally going to Ireland for stud duty, but proving impotent there, too. Mrs. Whitney brought her champion back to Kentucky, where he was retired to the pions before, but none had given her more satisfaction than Twenty Grand. He had everything. He could sprint and he could stay. No gamer horse had ever lived and he was as honest as the day was long. It is a tragic loss to the American turf that there can be no "baby grands" beating out a rhapsody with their flying hoofs.
