Native Dancer in Excellent Workout; Vantage Defeats the Eagle by Head: Goes Five Furlongs in 1:01 as Planned, Daily Racing Form, 1953-08-21

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Native Native Dancer Dancer in in Excellent Excellent Workout; Workout; Vantage Vantage Defeats Defeats The The Eagle Eagle by by Head Head Goes Five Furlongs In 1:01 as Planned Champion, With Arcaro Up Breezes Exactly to Orders In Prep for American Derby WASHINGTON PARK, Homewood, HI., Aug. 20. Eddie Arcaro and Native Dancer were formally introduced this morning. They had been antagonists no less than eight times, with the famous jockey showing a batting average of zero. He lost all eight battles. This time, they joined in a friendly warm-up for Saturdays forty-third running of the 00,000 added American Derby. The bronzed Italian, who is to ride the brilliant gray three-year-old champion, was hoisted aboard the big fellows broad back, and they engaged in a leisurely f fve-l eighths of a mile spin around the Washing- ton Park course. The time was 1:01, flat. It could have been much faster, but trainer Bill Winfrey wasnt so much interested in speed as he was for Arcaro to "get the feel" of the horse he had never ridden. They went the first quarter in :24, the half in. :48, and after completing the main part of the trial in 1:01, they galloped out an extra eighth of a mile to register a total of 1:15 for six furlongs. Beachcomber, a lanky bay who is to form the second half of the Alfred G. Vanderbilt duo in the Derby, accompanied Native Dancer in the trial. Doug Dodson, who is to pilot Beachcomber, was aboard. Both horses made a circuit of the mile and one-eighth course galloping and then they were halted just above the five-eighths pole and they broke together for the more serious part of the workout. Beachcomber was allowed to move along on the lead until they had made the bend and were straightened out in the stretch. There Arcaro, as he later reported, Continued on Page Forty-Six Native Dancer Breezes Splendid Five Furlongs Goes Distance in 1:01 Exactly As Trainer Winfrey Had Ordered Continued from Page One "clucked" to Native Dancer, and the champion went to the lead and was drawing away as the finish line passed. Both Winfrey and Arcaro were extremely pleased by the trial. Arcaro grinned and said after dismounting: "I think Mr. Winfrey was breezing the jockey instead of the horse this morning." In a more serious vein, Arcaro said he was tremendously impressed by the manner in which the colt responded to the reins. "You can gallop this horse with a silk thread," Arcaro observed. "Most horses when they are feeling good will try to run away from "you when you are trying to gallop them. Native Dancer seems to know what you want and he does his best to follow instructions. "I thought hed be a problem, but when I broke him into a gallop it was not at all necessary to tug at the reins. I just sat there and he moved along. "Then we stopped and broke off nearing the five-eighths pole," he added. "At first it seemed that he was going to get away from me, that he would run much faster than Mr. Winfrey wanted, but I reached down, took a light hold, and he came back to me like I was driving an automobile. He has perfect manners and a wonderful way of going." Prior to the workout, Winfrey instructed Arcaro to "go five-eights in about 1:01" Arcaro, whose judgment of pace has been important in his success through the years, hit it right on the button. "I guess thats what makes him such a good horse," Winfrey said after Native Dancer had been washed off and was cooling out in a monotonous 45-ininute walk around the shed. "Most fast horses have bad habits and their chances of becoming great are impaired because they prefer to do things their own way. Our gray colt does what we tell him to do. Of course, he gets a little frisky at times, but this is an indication he is feeling good. He feels good now." Winfrey said Native Dancer will gallop twice around the course Friday morning, and Saturday he will be "blown out" a short distance down the stretch. That will complete his training. Other training activity for Derbyjeligibles this morning found Duntreath Farms Van Crosby going six furlongs in 1 : 14, handily, and Hasty House Farms Stan breezing the same distance in 1:1 8. No effort was made at generating speed by Stan. The real purpose of the move was to acquaint the English-bred gelding with the dirt course. All of his races, both in this country and in England, have been on the grass. It was trainer Harry Trotseks desire to give Stan the feel of having dirt kicked back in his face, so he broke Inseparable in front of Stan and kept him there. Trot-sek reported the gelding, who last week won the Grassland Handicap from older horses, handled himself perfectly, and that j he is definitely regarded as a starter.


Persistent Link: https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1950s/drf1953082101/drf1953082101_1_5
Local Identifier: drf1953082101_1_5
Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800