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► i ; 1 ■wPL * Willis liB ** Jk s WILLIAM WOODWARD, JR. MRS. JOHN GALBREATH. ■Owners of Favorites Tops in Sport0 Jr., Mrs. Galbreath oot for Colorbearers Today f/oodward, Late Senior Woodward and Russell A. Firestone, Breeders Of Nashua and Summer Tan, Respectively, Passed On Before Colts Began Racing; Belair Class Label Is Well Known By BOB- HORWOOD Staff Correspondent K The white jacket and little red dots of he Belair Stud have become synonymous vith "class" in Anglo-Saxon racing. The vord Anglo-Saxon is used because William Woodward, father of the present master of ;he great stable and breeding farm, and who also bears this great name, was for many years more interested in convincing the English Jockey Club of the superiority of the American thoroughbred by racing what seemed in their yearling days to be his best horses in England, than in winning our own great stakes. The elder Woodwards determination to capture the English classics did not in the least stem from any snobbery, but from a desire, in which he ultimately succeeded to erase from the British rules the so-called "Jersey Act," which barred most of our best bloodlines. Tried to Ship Best to England This result having been achieved, through the successes of such horses bred by William Woodward, Sr., as Omaha, Flares, Black Tarquin and Prince Simon, the chairman of our Jockey Club continued to select what he thought were the three best of his yearling colts each year for shipment to England. For quite some time, in fact, since the time of Granville in the mid-30s, the elder Woodward, who despite his great eminence on the turf, appeared to enjoy being called "Uncle Billy" at a dinner given at the Racquet Club for the press in 1947, managed to pick his best colts for this venture. His quest, of course, was a victory in the Epsom Derby. While this victory was denied him, Prince Simon losing by inches in 1950, he did win most of the other major English stakes and this success of his horses undoubtedly did a great deal to Continued on Page Twenty-Four ► It is a curious coincidence and an indication of the continuity of thoroughbred racing through the human as well as the equine generations that both of the colts who will occupy the attention of the racing world in Saturdays 81st Kentucky Derby should have survived their breeders. William Woodward, Sr., did live to see Nashua as a yearling and to select him as one of three best bred at Belair Stud in 1952, but Russell A. Firestone died prematurely at the age of 50 on December 13, 1951, while Summer Tan did not see the light of day until March 22, 1952. Firestone, however, is the accredited breeder of Summer Tan, who was far and away the best colt or filly of either his breeding or ownership. The second son of Harvey Firestone, founder of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, the late Russell A. Firestones white silks with the green sleeves were carried on the major race tracks, particularly in New York, for 16 years, but never by a colt or filly comparable to Summer Tan. Perhaps his nearest approximation was The Diver, who finished third to Guillotine and Theory in the Futurity of 1949. The Diver failed vttv stand training as a three-year-old, however. More recently, Firestones colt, Brookridge, appeared to be a cut above the average, but he, too, was stopped by injuries. Carried On in Firestone Name For "more than three years after the death of Russell A. Firestone, his widow carried on the stable in the Firestone name and she continues to maintain it independently since her marriage last February to John W. Galbreath, master of the extensive Darby Dan Farm. When the news of the impending marriage became known last winter, a reported was asked to obtain some biographical data concerning Mrs. Galbreath. Assiduous research brought up only the fact she is the daughter of Morgan Bryan, of Fort Worth, Texas, but also brought out the universal opinion that she is "One of the loveliest ladies in racing." That opinion was expressed, and in almost identical terms, by owners, trainers and friends, numbering some dozens, contacted at Hialeah. Summer Tan, as is now well known, came within a few desperate breaths of sharing his breeders untimely death. Just two days after he scored his most brilliant victory in The Garden State, the worlds richest race, Summer Tan was stricken with what was then diagnosed as an "aneurism" or intes- tinal clo. This diagnosis, incidenally, has never been completely confirmed and could not be without resorting to an autopsy, which, happily, was not necessary. In discussing .his charges struggle for life, trainer Sherrill Ward is still obviously moved as he recalls the courageous struggle. As an instance of the colts complete cooperation, while suffering intense agony, he said that it was possible to administer oral medication while he was lying down, which is not ordinarily easy to give to a colt who is standing. Win or lose, it is safe to say that no gamer colt ever ran in a Kentucky Derby, and win or lose, no more deserving owner ever sent one out in that quest for what has tritely, but accurately, been called "gold and glory." ;lfidciir-:1ftoffi-: As Class1 Stable Woodward, Jr., Carrying On Tradition of Late Father; L Nashua Is Shining Example Continued from Page Fhe : bring about the ultimate repeal of the * "Jersey Act." ; It has been suggested by one, possibly ! too-close observer, that this result would J have been achieved sooner had not the ; completely independent Mr. Woodward in-; sisted on diluting his scotch whisky with ginger ale, even in Britain, where this was fc I" considered a sacrilege. | For many years it was generally assumed . around the racetrack that Capt. Cecil Boyd-I Rochfort, who trained the English division ; of the Belair Stud, was gifted with re-■ markable powers that enabled him, year ; after year, to select the cream of the crop, : leaving what were by no means "culls," but . certainly not the best, to the veteran Jim | Pitzsimmons. This was not true. It was, on ! the word of Mr. Fitz, Woodwards own un-i erring eye that picked out the three or four colts destined to go abroad. The last trio so selected were Nashua, Ambient and the ill-fated Sergt. Black. Nashua will go postward favorite in Saturdays Derby and has already earned almost half a million dollars: Ambient is endowed with almost, if not entirely, as much ability, but seems to be a rogue. Sergt. Black was destroyed in a training accident last year. Incidentally, one of the last stakes victories by a Belair horse witnessed by the senior Woodward was the triumph of Nashuas half-sister Sabette, in the Alabama Stakes at Saratoga in 1953. Sabette outfought Grecian Queen at the end of that mile and a quarter and Mrs. B. F. Whitakers gallant filly has never been the same since. It will be interesting to see Saturday if Nashua did the same thing to Summer Tan, who is also by Helopolis, like Grecian Queen, in the last desperate yards of the Wood Memorial. Streamlining Belair Stud The younger Woodward, in addition to abandoning his fathers quest for the Epsom Derby, also seems to have decided to some extent to streamline the Belair Stud. In line with this policy was the retirement to stud of Sabette after her sophomore campaign and the similar retirement of the relatively untested Hycilla. At the same time that these decisions were reached, several of the studs older mares were "culled," with an aim at keeping the farm down to a maximum of 20 producers with ah emphasis on youth and quality. This "cutting down" doesn" mean that William Woodward, Jr., is any less interested in thoroughbred horse racing than his father. On the contrary. Last winter, when it came time to make a decision as to whether or not Nashua would stay south for the Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park or go north with Mr. Fitz and the balance of the stable, the younger Woodward told the trainer: "Well, we cant just leave him here, capable as Bart Sweeny is. One of us will have to stay." To which Mr. Fitz replied, "Then you stay." And Woodward did. A banker, who was listed in the Manhattan telephone directory as a lawyer, which he was, Woodward, Sr., had been prominent in American racing for niore than 35 years, having been named a member of The Jockey Club in 1917 and succeeding John Sanford as a steward of that body five years later. It was a year .after that, in 1923, that he engaged Jim Fitz-simmons as trainer, a post the veteran continues to hold. In 1925, Woodward was elected vice-chairman of The Jockey Club, succeeding H. K. Knapp, and in 1930 he was elevated to the chairmanship, a post he held until early 1950, when he resigned because of ill health. That failing health, however, did not prevent William Woodward from attending the races on every possible occasion, or from visiting his stable on many mornings. Gallant Fox was the first horse possibly deserving the rare adjective "great" to carry Woodwards silks. It seems fitting that Nashua, who Mr. Fitz continually likens to the 1930 Triple Crown winner, should have been the last in whom he took in intense personal interest, though he lever actually saw him race. Or did he?
