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I 3 1 On the Trot I 1 1 By MORRIE KURLANSKT Wilburn Highly Respected Horseman Stresses Loyalty to Owners, Public £ Billy CorbittCured of Moon Blindness I MAYWOOD PARK, Maywood, 111., May 2. - — Met Tom Wilburn, the southern gentle- man from Mississippi, currently one of Maywood Parks leading drivers with six wins since opening night. Although training and driving harness horses since 1939 it was riot until 1949 that the young man, now in his early thirties, happily married and father of two lovely children, first appeared at the Chi-cagoland harness t tracks. Since then he not only has gained c the respect of his fellow-trainers and quite | a following among the race-going public. - but also has brightened backstretch life on countless occasions with that priceless gift of his, a wonderful sense of humor that made someone say, he is the Herb Shriner of harness racing. If appearances are sometimes deceptive it is definitely so in the case of Tom Wilburn. The man with the ruddy complexion and the crew cut, for all his joking and jesting, is one who gives much thought and endeavor to improving himself constantly in his chosen profession. He rules over his public stable in somewhat of a patriarchal manner, betraying his firm grounding in the traditions of the South, but his stable help, all colored lads from his home state, admire him, as attested by the fact that most of them have been with him since he started out as a public trainer. Wilburns views about modern day harness racing are influenced by two factors, his loyalty towards his patrons and the feeling of responsibility toward the wagering public that after all pays the bill. Regarding his relationship with the owners of the horses trained by him, he is of the firm opinion that the owner deserves a return on his investment and what with purses what they are, especially for the slower variety of harness horses, Wilburn cannot see how an owner can break even if the trainer cuts out too big a part of the prize money. Therefore, he trains and race drives all the horses in his stable not fully or part-owned by him for a nominal training fee, leaving whatever purses are won by these horses in full to the respective owner. Once on the race track with one of his charges he regards it his first duty to give the wagering public the fairest break possible, i. e., he tries to win at all times, and if his particular mount just doesnt have it, he strives to get at least "in the money." Tom Wilburns record bears out his sincerity and sportsmanship. Best campaigner in Wilburns barn at present is the fast trotter. Billy Corbitt 2:06. Last year Billy Corbitt swept the Illinois fair circuit, racking up 13 consecutive wins before engaging at the Chicagoland night tracks. Wilburn, confident he could win a goodly share of the better-class trotting races at Sportsmans Park and during the Aurora Downs meeting, was in for the biggest disappointment in his training career. Billy Corbitt would leave the gate alright but as soon as he reached the first turn he broke gait and the race was practically over for Tom and Billy. After this had happened a few times in succession. Wilburn consulted a veterinarian and the latter found out that Billy Corbitt was blind in one eye. Diagnosis: Ophthalmia periodica, or Moon Blindness in backstretch vernacular. Billy Corbitt was immediately retired and after lengthy treatment, mainly with Riboflavin, a vitamin of the B group complex, regained full sight in the affected eye. As most fans know by now Billy Corbitt came back to the races this year full of trot and was an easy winner in bqth of his starts at Maywood Park. Another "good" one trained by Wilburn is the four-year-old pacer, Jedge Davis by The Abbot, but that not all horses are like those two may be seen from a poster put up by Tom Wilburn in the racing secretarys office. "For sale at public auction. "Junior Colleen, "Six-year-old brown gelding — Breeding immaterial. "We wish to announce with great joy the sale of J. J. Jumping Junior. We dont wish any grief off on anyone, but Junior doesnt take to our ways, nor us to his. "In good faith we staked him at Springfield for ,000 paid up, at Du Quoin for ,000 paid up, and at Maywood Park for approximately ,000 also paid. Now of course Junior did not know about all this our first mistake of failing to notify him I and evidently had made different arrangements about his 1953 racing campaign, which he very quickly began to demonstrate by jumping and running and shat- tering our dreams of a great race horse from hell to high water. He shook our faith clear down to our pocketbook and lodged there — emptying same. "He can trot around good horses like they had their transmissions in reverse. Distance — no object. "But we cleaned his harness and packed his boots "Now hes for sale to some galoot. "Tom Wilburn and Junior Colleen are resting in Barn 5 now, but not for long." E. C. Moriarty, district 4 director and vice-chairman of the United States Trotting Association, currently is visiting the North Avenue oval to watch the progress of his stable. The Wichita, Kans., notable has his stock under the expert guidance of Everett Osborn and Earl Doc Mc-Millen . Pete Fleming, editor of Hoof Beats, official organ of the USTA, and Dick James, program director of the Trotting Association, compared notes and will witness the week-end cards at the local half-miler . .Did you know that there are 501 harness tracks in the nation, 32 of which are of the extended pari-mutuel variety? That eight horses equalled or bettered 2:05 during the 52 Maywood meeting? Doctor Cooper 2:30*5, 2:05, Atomic Might 2:04*r,, Gene Hayes, 2:04, Good Time 2:03U, Guest Star 2:05, H. D. Hanover 2:04, Red Sails 2:03%, and Scottish Boy 2:0425. All, incidentally, were pacers. State Steward C. J. "Pete" Langley certainly means business this season. Either horsemen race all out and according to the rules or they find themselves up on the carpet. Further indications that Langley intends to enforce the rules to the letter by his latest suspension notices. He meted out 10 days and 0 fine to Fred Buckeridge for his handling of the trotter. By land. Jake Schafer was grounded for 10 days on his performance with the pacer, Step, while Russ Herringer was sidelined for 5 days for an infraction with his pacer, John Soukup.
