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MAN 0 WAR Most notable Derby absentee Greats Missed Shot at Derb Famous Absentees List Reads Like Treatise on Whos Who Man WarTom Foo Armed Equipoise Among Those That Didnt Hear Big Bugle Blow BlowBy By BYRON SCHOEMAN SCHOEMANStaff Staff Correspondent Sports sometimes have a sorrowful side Ever so often during a generation a chosen few who stand out as legendary usually come along in every sport Among them were Jim Thorpe and George Gipp in football both of whom died before any of the legends caught up with them There were George Sisler and Ted Lyons in base ¬ ball And there is Byron Nelson who be ¬ came a living legend in golf But Thorpe and Gipp never played in the Rose Bowl Sisler and Lyons never got into a World Series Nelson has never com ¬ peted in the British Open And the im ¬ mortal Man o War top thoroughbred titan of the past half century never ran for the roses in Americas premier racing classic the Kentucky Derby DerbyNaming Naming all the Derbys celebrated ab ¬ sentees in reality is a partial but preten ¬ tious roll call of turfs Whos Who Office workers laborers and executives most of whom dont know a fetlock from a feed bag annually delight in trying to pick a dia ¬ mond gem at costume jewelry rates the Derby winner So they still remember many winners runnersup thirdplace finishers and also rans Conversely some of them may recollect a great number of famous horses who missed the May parade such as Man o War WarNumerous Numerous Reasons Advanced AdvancedThis This particular sports saga of those big blue bloods who couldnt win Americas most appealing horse race because they werent there enrolls besides Man o War such tartars as Tom Pool Equipoise Sea biscuit Stymie Armed Pavot Sarazen Battlefield Colin and Sysonby just for capsule comment commentNumerous Numerous reasons have been advanced and prevail for the absence of many famous horses from the Derby fields Some greats hadnt proved themselves stayers nor did they until they became four years of age Seabiscuit grandson of Man o War and at five the conqueror of the 1937 Derby winner War Admiral in the Pimlico Spe ¬ cial is one outstanding example who falls into this specific category Another is Armed Calumet Farms hardhitting geld ¬ ing who stands third on the alltime world moneywinning list with 817475 As a matter of fact Armed never started as a juvenile juvenileThere There remain today conflicting reports why Man o War didnt go postward in the Derby The Teal reason was that his owner the late Samuel D Riddle just didnt choose to run Big Red or any of his other firststring colorbearers anywhere except in the East All of Man o Wars 21 ap ¬ pearances under silks came at New York and Maryland tracks with the exception of one That would be his victorious by an official seven lengths race against Sir Barton 1919 Derby victor in the Kenil worth Park Gold Cup at Kenilworth Canada on Columbus Day 1920 1920In In retrospect Man o War figuratively could have earned little more gold and glory if he had raced in the Derby per ¬ haps far less would have been his fame had he been defeated That latter cerebra ¬ tion is conjectural of course courseSysonby Sysonby and Salvator SalvatorColin Colin Commandos greatest son bred in 1915 by James R Keene and raced by him also was confined by his master to Eastern competition Colin whom many diehards still claim was greater than Man o War won all 15 of his starts 12 as a juvenile three as a sophomore His threeyearold triumphs came in the Withers Belmont and Tidal Stakes in that order orderTwo Two others fall into the Man o War Colin Eastern limitation division They are Sysonby and Salvator SalvatorSysonby Sysonby brilliant son of Melton Optime by Orme who came to the races in 1904 was victor in 14 of his 15 starts Sysonbys lone defeat something in common with Man o Wars sole upset by Upset came at the heels of Artful a stout filly and Tra ¬ dition FuturitySalvator in the Belmont Futurity Salvator won 16 of 19 starts back in 188890 After capturing four of six oute as a twoyearold he won seven at three including the Lawrence Realization then contested at Coney Island in which he turned back Tenny Salvators sophomore gleanings totaled 74920 a tidy sum in those days Moreover the mighty Domino winner in 19 of 25 races and 193550 from 189395 tried for the American Derby at Chicagos Washington Park but passed up the Kentucky Derby Tom Fool 1953 Horse of the Year as a fouryearold didnt make the Derby be ¬ cause he had the misfortune of a training accident The Greentree Stable champion after grabbing top twoyearold honors in 1951 not only missed the Churchill Downs classic but later opportunities the follow ¬ ing season But he certainly made up for it last year getting to the post 10 times all victories five of them stakes and earn ¬ ing 256335 to vault into seventh place among the worlds money winners with 570165 before being retired retiredThere There are those without a thimbleful of ego about authoritativeness in their make ¬ ups who will tell you that the Derby would have been at the mercy of Tom Fool Thats a moot question However any horse that accomplished what Tom Fool did must have had something on the ball Yes he had speed and class you define the latter on a race course But its there in some nevertheless neverthelessCornelius Cornelius V Whitneys Equipoise the undersized Chocolate Soldier with a touch of Midas in his spindly legs suffered a quarter crack practically on the eve of the 1931 Derby Equipoise a strong stretch runner who once again proved the ol say ¬ ing good things come in little packages had enjoyed a brilliant twoyearold cam ¬ paign during which he won 16 races and earned 156835 156835Following Following a fourth to Mate Twenty TwentyContinued Continued on Page FortyEight V i U V Many Famous Horses Missed Chance at Derby Gold Glory Various Reasons Prevented Such as Tom Fool Equipoise Man o War Racing for Roses RosesContinued Continued from Page TwentyFour TwentyFourGrand Grand and Ladder respectively in the Preakness Equipoise split a front hoof and was relegated to the sidelines Twenty Grand went on to Derby fame beating Sweep All by four lengths and Mate in rotation in 201 fastest Derby then on record and a mark which stood until the great Whirlaway came along with 201 still a record in 1941 1941Willis Willis S Kilmers apparent sour luck turned sweet as champagne when his sec ¬ ondstring ugly duckling Exterminator substituted for his mighty and highlyrated Sun Briar and romped home at handsome odds in the 1918 renewal of the Derby Sun Briar sire of Sun Beau once the worlds leading money winner was the preDerby favorite but with him rounding to form slowly Kilmer was forced to purchase Ex ¬ terminator about a week before the Derby DerbySun Sun Briars misfortune recalls another substitution in 1949 when Calumets Ponder took over when the stables main reliance De Luxe came up with miseries before the race Ponder won all right but any similarity between Sun Briar and De Luxe ends right there De Luxe never dis ¬ played the ability that Sun Briar did be ¬ fore or after the Derby The happenstance merely is mentioned to show a parallel 31 years later laterStymie Stymie who jockeyed for position with Citation Assault and Armed for the worlds moneyearning record for two seasons and who currently stands second to Citation the turfs only millionaire with 918485 was slated for Derby duty But owner Hirsch Jacobs decided against the trip to Louisville for the Cinderella son of Eques ¬ trian Stop Watch by On Watch Eques ¬ trian was by Equipoise Jacobs preferred to reserve Stymie for the Preakness one week later after he ran second in the Wood Memorial then fourth in the Chesa ¬ peake Stakes beaten off seven and one half lengths in the latter event on the Saturday preceding the Derby DerbyStrategy Strategy Backfires BackfiresJacobs Jacobs customary sagacious strategy backfired though Stymie ran a miserable 12th in the Preakness and won only the Bowling Brook Handicap at Jamaica in 16 starts later that year But he piled up earnings of 763800 at four five and six And just to prove his durability and Jacobs faith in him he collected 95275 in purses as a sevenyearold in 1948 After Stymie earned 7150 with a second and two show awards at eight years of age Jacobs retired him to stud studTime Time and sentiment oftentimes affect pore lil memory However you cant deny the everincreasing records which play for keeps While Regret 1915 has been the only filly to win the Derby and will hold that laurel at least until next year Bewitch the Calumet miss who is eighth in the world moneywinning stand ¬ ings certainly belongs among the famous names who failed to hear the Derby bugle So does Gallorette another distaff runner who is ninth on the money list And still another lady Busher cer ¬ tainly belongs in that class Busher won 15 of 21 races and 334035 334035Other Other formidable fleet fillies who failed to make the Derby roll call include Twi ¬ light Tear Bed o Roses Nellie Morse who won the Preakness Anita Peabody and Top Flight FlightTop Top Flight owned by C V Whitney and whose seven straight successes in as many races set a twoyearold moneyearning mark of 219000 in 1931 Hasty Road broke it last year also faltered in prepping for the big race Whitney then decided against sending her against the colts later in 1932 1932Stagehand Stagehand Suffers Attack of Colic ColicStagehand Stagehand who as a three yearold nosed out Seabiscuit in the Santa Anita Handi ¬ cap and beat Dauber in the Santa Anita Derby was sidelined on the very eve of the Derby when he suffered an attack of colic Owned by the late Col Maxwell Howard and trained by the handy guy Earl Sande Stagehand had been the future fa ¬ vorite Sande winner of three Derbys but as jittery as a thief in a henhouse and rightly was forced to go alone with Sceneshifter But the best Sceneshifter could do was wind up fifth in that year of 1937 War Admirals son of Man o War year yearBattlefield Battlefield eleventh among the money gleaners never saw the glamor and clamor of Derby Day Nor did Moonrush Next Move Honeymoon Better Self To Market Pavot Donor Solidarity Noor Fervent Alerted Vulcans Forge and the formidable Whitney onetwo punch of 1930 Which one and Bopjum BopjumOutstanding Outstanding Preakness victors who werent Derby starters were among others Pillory Victorian Coventry Dr Freeland High Quest and the aforementioned Nellie Morse MorseBelmont Belmont Stakes winners of note missing from any Derby lineup include One Count Horse of the Year in 1952 Pavot Faireno flhance Sttott Crusader and American Flag both sons of Man o War Grey Lag Sweep Hourless Friar Rock The Finn Luke Mc Luke Peter Pan Hanover Spendthrift Commando and Colin ColinParenthetically Parenthetically Sir Barton 1919 was the first Belmont Stakes winner ever to try for the roses rosesNever Never forget that Sarazen didnt make a Derby try for it either Neither did Pom pey Chance Play Crafty Admiral Spartan Valor Eight Thirty MarkYeWell Mighty Story Jamestown Intent Diavblo Occu ¬ pation Occupy One Hitter Sun Again Three Rings Thumbs Up and Top Row RowWhen When theyre off and runnin in the 80th edition of the Kentucky Derby Saturday some with the golden chance their owners probably theorized they never would get plus the thought that somebody some ¬ time has to be first their affiliates n be thankful for the opportunity to see their colors flying anywhere at the finish As one genius admitted admittedYou You cant win em all allAs As a matter of fact and record racing is like raising camellias and chinchillas Youve got to have luck a unique observa ¬ tion on the Sport of Kings Many equine stalwarts that not only earned the right but deserved it didnt even get the Derby chance And history has a singular way of repeating itself
