view raw text
— i— 1 1. .■■■■ . . ■ ... . .. », ,. ► i j. Pimlico Memos I By FRED GALIAM Alec Gordon Recalls Nellie Morse Was Last Filly to Win Preakness Could Beat Most Colts of Her Day PIMLICO, Md., May 23.— Just 29 years ago, on another Preakness Day, cartoonist Bud Fishers Nellie Morse belted home in — i— 1 1. .■■■■ . . ■ ... . .. », ,. the the mud mud at at 12 12 to to 1 1 to to i the the mud mud at at 12 12 to to 1 1 to to i become the last filly to win the famed Pimlico i race. This very afternoon, . Alec Gordon, trainer of Nellie Morse ; and one of the real I veterans of the turf, , watched his 35th Preakness and it wasnt , hard to get him to reminisce about Nellie Morse. "I started-her five five times times over over this this , i ; ; , [ J ; ; , , I • , ■ five five times times over over this this , very track and she was never beaten," re- marked Gordon. "I ran her as a two-year - old in the fall here and she beat Transmute and Mad Play. The next spring in the Preakness they finished one-two-three in that same order. She was a real tough horse. She could beat most of the colts of her day, at scale weights, but she lost by a lot of noses and heads when she had top weight. After the Preakness I took her to New York, but Mr. Vosburgh kept putting 130 and 132 on her and she was getting beat by lightweights. One of Mr. Wideners horses beat her three times, always under light weight, so I packed up and went to Kentucky. There wernt too many places you could race in those days. There I ran her in the Kentucky Oaks; she had 121 pounds on her. The disqualified the first horse and gave the race to that good mare of Audley Farms, what was her name now — oh yes — Princess Doreen. We got second in the race." The man from Lexington pulled a sack of Bull Durham from his pocket and rolled a cigarette, not a fleck of tobacco falling from the cylinder as he twirled it in gnarled fingers. "When Nellie Morse won the Preakness, that was the richest purse up to that time. It was worth 4,000. I dont think any other race in the country was worth that much then. Bud Fisher didnt even know the horse was in the race. He was on the ocean someplace. He used to travel back and forth with his friend Captain Hartley on that big liner. I forget which one it was right now. "Nellie Morse wasnt the only filly to win the race. There was one other, but it wasnt a stake then. It was only an overnight race and the purse was worth ,200." "When did you stop training horses?" he was asked. "When the mutuels came in," retorted Gordon, "Thats when I stopped. Mutuels are a Communist game. Everybody gets the same thing. Nowadays you never hear of anyone making a big hit. Years ago you would hear of such and such a person taking 0 and running it up to a couple of thousands. No now. You bet 00 in the machine and you only get action on 3. Things were different then. Another thing I noticed. They took down the jumps. I dont like that. If it werent for those steeplechase people there wouldnt be any racing today. They put up the money and took the fight for racing to court and won it. The tracks ought to give them at least one race a day." As you can see, Alec : Gordon is a man of strong convictions and outspoken on them. Which is every mans right, and his long experience on the turf has given him reason whereof to speak on such matters. Nellie. Morses race will also never be forgotten by Walter Haight, the rotund man from the Washington Post. Haight wagered 0 across the board through a friendly runner, on the entry of Nellie Morse and Mr. Mutt. When it came up mud, Mr. Mutt was scratched, but Nellie Morse sloughed home at 6.20 for .00. His erstwhile friend came back to the press box and informed Walter he hadnt bet the money, since they scratched Mr. Mutt. "I never believed him," sighs Walter now, "especially when he came around the next couple of days in new suits and shirts. Do I remember Nellie Morses race!?" "Squint" Stevens, the 76-year-old starter, is back on the job handling the flag for Eddie Blind. Stevens was just released from a Washington hospital where he had a growth on his lip removed. He wasnt out one day when he was back on the job. . A delegation from Chitlin Switch comprising ; Dixie McKinley, Alex Gordon, Joe Keith, • who founded the Golden Horseshoe in Lex- Continued on Page Thirty-Three Pimlico Memos By FRED GALIANI Continued from Page Four ington; Ernie Thompson and Owen Campbell was out for the Preakness and figuring out how to make train connections back to the Blue Grass. Trainer Kenny Holmes received a deep cut under his right shoulder when he was kicked by a horse yesterday . . . Jockey Tommy Barrows cap blew off just as he went under the finish line and all of the following 10 horses passed over it except the last, who ground it into the mud. . .Freddie Krieger, agent for Sammy Boulmetis, is spending time home with his family in Baltimore while his rider is recovering from injuries received in a fall at Garden State. The committee which selects the American horses to compete in the Washington, D.C., International at Laurel this fall held their first meeting in the old clubhouse today. Palmer Heagerty, of this paper, was added to the selection board, which now consists of Nelson Dustan, chairman; William Boniface, Snowden Carter, Gaby Haugh-, Raleigh Burroughs, Walter Haight, Joe Brocator, Chuck Egan and Ev Gardner. Raleigh Burroughs was named secretary of the group .
