Connors Corner: Report on New Hialeah Clubhouse Enlargement of 1920 Dwyer Finish Sam Fator Joins Owners Ranks --, Daily Racing Form, 1953-06-27

article


view raw text

► I Connors Corner ■ By "CHUCK" CONNORS Report on New Hialeah Clubhouse Enlargement of 1920 Dwyer Finish Sam Fator Joins Owners Ranks AQUEDUCT, L. I., N. Y., June 26— Hart Dernham, who is recuperating in Miami, Fla., following a siege of illness, apparently is managing director , of the Sidewalk Super- visors Association, for IPHNHL i-gfc, the construction of the * -w new clubhouse at Hia- W - « leah Park. Dernham, Jl. and w£ who has been associ- ,J* If, ated with racing for a v*" | m long time, he was a Jt r llL racing official around i||teJX the turn of the century, JjMm writes that the work is gM|P ahead of schedule and that the construction gangs are rushing along at a fast pace, evidently to beat the hurricane season to the wire and thus avoid a photo finish. In a recent letter he stated that the steel was in place, the structure will be three floors, and that the masons, bricklayers and concrete men have started to put up the walls and outer shell. This work he states will be stepped along, for every piece of equipment is on hand and ready to be placed in position. Dernham is of the opinion that when the building is completed it will be the most up-to-date and best appointed structure of its type in the country, and he has seen the majority of them. Another point of interest that he brought out was the construction of a subway under the roads that lead to the parking lot and this is in his opinion is one of the best ideas that has been placed in effect in many years. The subway will relieve congestion and at the same time reduce the possibilities of accidents to a minimum. Anyway, the veteran has okayed the clubhouse and it must be okay. And speaking of clubhouses something has been added to the Aqueduct lobby that leads from the train platforms to the mezzanine. This innovation is a blown up picture of the Man o War-John P. Grier finish of the 1920 Dwyer, which measures seven by four feet. The enlarged edition is taken from a print turned out by the veteran photographer Charlie Cook,-who was known to racing men as Cookie. The original picture finish is probably the only one in existence for that was before television and the newsreels of the day were devoted to other subjects. Cookie, by the way, is confined to his home, a victim of paralysis, and it is doubtful if he ever will snap another picture of a hectic finish. The enlarged picture was hung during the afternoon with appropriate ceremonies with Cyrus S. Julien, prexy of the Queens County Jockey Club, serving as master of ceremonies. For the Dwyer this year, the finish will be snapped by a dozen or more cameras, but 30 years hence it is doubtful if it will have the same sentimental value as that now enjoyed by the hero of the past, the only race that "Big Red" felt the sting of the whip and was called upon for a stretch drive to fend off the challenge of the H. P. Whitney representative. Harry LaMontagne, the internationalist, his Steel Blue recently accounted for a handicap at Lonchamp, conceding weight up to 45 pounds to his opposition, is due to sail back from France to be on hand for the Saratoga season. . .Mrs. Perinane, mother of jockey "Bobby, made her first appearance yesterday since being involved in an auto accident, her first. The car she reported will be ready tomorrow. . .Jockey Ovie Scurlock will ride at Delaware Park tomorrow for Bert Mulholland and his mount will be No Score... Mrs. Joe Palmer, widow of the Herald-Tribune sports writer, left for Lexington Ky., where she will make her future home.* However, her first trip will be to visit a sister in Sioux Falls. Jess Higley checked out for Monmouth Park to ride Hyphasis, owned by the Belair Stud, in an engagement there on Saturday. Horse and rider are due back shortly after the event. . .The valets soft ball team accounted for their third straight game last night when they trounced the backstretch 18 to 6. Leroy DuBois is establishing something of a record for batting and is credited with 10 straight hits in his recent appearances at the plate. . .Trainer H. "Buddy" Jacobson, who saddled The Straw to account for the first race for Rita Costello, is a concert pianist. He studied under several teachers put prefers hoof beats to the more soothing tones of the instruments made famous by the old masters. . .Nelson. Continued on Page Forty-Eight Connors Corner By C. J. CONNORS Continued from Page Fhe Strang, who after many years of service with The Jockey Club, retired to a life of ease, encountered a couple of racing men in town the other afternoon. He threatened to come out for a look-see at one of the big stakes. Luke OBrien was out yesterday and radiated optimism over, the homeless Empirc-at-Jamaica meeting1, which, by the way is of one week duration, and follows this session. . .Race track jealousy reared -its ugly head yesterday and spat invectives through its poisonous fangs. The reason the naming of Max Hirsch as chairman of the committee who will help pick Miss New York for the Atlantic City contest. The veteran James Fitzsimmons wanted to know if Max can go around feeling ankles, knees and lifting their feet, looking for defects. In this he was abetted by Jack Campbell, Bob Boyle and George Odom...Pete Issaris, the Saratogian, came down from his upstate home to witness his Paramount Pete race the other day. He reported that everything at the Union Avenue course was in beautiful condition. The name Fatora magical one in jockey annals, that flashed across the nation in the hectic twenties, borne by Laverne, Mark and Elmer, the three brothers who came out of the west, will again be seen on New York racing programs but this time in a different category. Sam, the eldest son of Laverne, joined the owners ranks when he purchased the three-year-old Woodys Boots that was bred and raced by the Woodford Farm. The three-year-old is at present in care of Frank Daugherty and the racing colors, yet to be decided upon, of the second generation of Fators will be shown in the near future. Sam Fator was unlike his father, built along the lines of a football player, instead of a jockey but racing was in his blood and following his graduation from school, decided to become a trainer. He started work as a groom under Bert Blume and following a brief association, moved over to Walter Kellys menage in the same capacity. He has for the past four years, mucked stalls, walked "hots" and studied the conformation, injuries and habits of horses. He believes that he is now about ready to start out on his own and in his opinion the best way was to buy a horse and be responsible only to himself. He will later this summer apply for a trainers license and, if he can scale the heights as a trainer that his father and uncles achieved as race riders, there is no telling how far he will go.


Persistent Link: https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1950s/drf1953062701/drf1953062701_5_4
Local Identifier: drf1953062701_5_4
Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800