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"- -.-■: REFLECTIONS fiy NELS0N dunstan NEW YORK, N. Y.. May 21.— Native Dancer lost little if any prestige by his defeat in the Kentucky Derby, but he lost listing on the "Triple Crown" roster and the small bead-roll of horses who were never defeated. This one setback has not denied him the chance for recognition as one of the "great" hofses. That will be determined by his showing in the Preakness and the races to follow. The late Jefferson Davis Cohn, owner of many famous horses, once said to this writer: "The best time to judge a sire is five years after his death." It might also be said that the best way to judge a race horse is when he has been retired from the race course and his record is considered as a whole. Last fall newspapers throughout the country were publishing lists of juveniles who had never been defeated, and, of course, the gray son of Polynesian was in the group. Prior to the running of the Kentucky Derby, lists of horses who had never met defeat in their entire careers were compiled. The legion of Native Dancers admirers wondered if he would be included. The defeat by Dark Star ended all that. But when the colt came back to make the Withers little more than a workout for the Preakness, hope was revived by his followers that he would go on to compile a record that would not only stamp him the best horse of his years, but one worthy of joining the exclusive group who can be described as "great" without straining the word. AAA Since the Derby we have been digging through the records to compile a list of horses who were defeated but once in their careers. There were some, such as Common and Blandford on the other side, who were beaten but once, and Falsetto in this country. As these horses raced less than six times in their careers, we exclude them from our record and consider only those who started six or Native Dancer at Another Crossroad Can He Join the List of Only One Losers? American Horses With One Setback Scarce Count Fleet-Citation Remarkable. Pair more times. It was something of a task, but when we had completed the job we were amazed to learn that over a span of 100 years, and including all countries where the thoroughbred has raced, only 13 had suffered but one defeat. That number is even smaller than the list of unbeaten two-year-olds. At some time in their careers horses will suffer a setback for one reason or another. This is especially true in the later years, when a horse who has compiled a great early record is placed at the mercy of the handicappers in the matter of weights. Exterminator raced 100 times and lost 50 of his starts, but there are few who will deny his right to be listed among the 20 or 30 who are regarded as the best horses ever developed in this country. AAA The 13 horses of the world who were defeated in only one start, include five who raced in this country — Man o War, Sysonby, Anita Peabody, Lexington and Chase Me. Three were bred in France, and the remainder in England, but space limits us to any discussion beyond the American horses. The oldest of these was the famous Lexington, sometimes called "the greatest American stallion that ever lived," and one of our great race horses. Yet, he was one of the most overrated horses that ever lived. It has been questioned whether he ever defeated a truly great horse, but our reaction always has been that a racer does not pick his opponents and is in no way responsible for the weakness of his opposition. Sysonby and Man o War came next, but their careers have been so thoroughly reviewed through the years that it would simply be repetition on our part if we were to go into details here. What we wish to stress is that although both were defeated as two-year-olds they went on to be considered among the greatest horses that were ever raced in this country. Sysonby met his only defeat in the Futurity, and Man o War was beaten by Upset in the Sanford Stakes at Saratoga. Willie Knapp, the jockey on Upset that day, wrote a guest column for this writer on how that setback of Man o War came about. "Big Red" was gaining rapidly when he found racing space, but failed to catch Upset by half a length. What Man o War did to his nemesis in later races showed that the Riddle colt was much the better of the two. Will Native Dancer go on to be unbeatable like Sysonby and Man o War? AAA There have been many top two-year-olds who continued their superiority at three. Man o War simply laughed at his opposition. While there has been considerable criticism that he did not continue to race as a handicap performer, his owner, Samuel D. Riddle, knew that the handicappers would put a freight car on his back as a four-year-old. Count Fleet was defeated in five of his 15 starts as a two-year-old, but then came forth at three to win six straight races, including those of the "Triple Crown," before an injury sent him to the sidelines after the Belmont Stakes of 1943. How good he was we will never know. Then along came Citation in 1947. Like Man o War and Sysonby, he suffered only one defeat as two and that in the a -year -old, was Washington Park Futurity, in which he ran second to his stablemate, Bewitch. As a three-year-old, he was defeated by Saggy in the Chesapeake Trial, but in the Chesapeake Stakes five days later he handled Saggy just as Man o War did Upset in the races that followed the Sanford. Collectively Continued on Page Forty REFLECTIONS By NELSON DUNSTAN Continued from Page Forty-Four Man o War, Count Fleet and Citation started 37 times as three-year-olds and won 36 of their races. That bespeaks the powers of three great horses who raced within the time of present-day fans. AAA The fact that a horse is beaten once or 10 times does not exclude him from the list of greats. Hindoo came along before the present generation in racing. He compiled the remarkable record of 19 straight victories as a three-year-old before he met two defeats at the end of the season. When he was retired at the end of his four-year-old career, he had won 31 of his 36 starts and was never out of the money. There were others, including the remarkable Hanover, a horse that many say should have never been defeated. He won 36 of his 50 starts and was unplaced on but two occasions. It is now up to Native Dancer. He has been defeated but once, and the Preakness, as we have said, may add to his remarkable record. As in the case of other horses, full judgment cannot be passed on him at this time. He is to be judged now on each individual start and then at the end of his career sum it up and determine whether his record warrants his being rated with the thoroughbreds who have written history during the past 100 years.
