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► Name Famed Count Fleet , For Triple Crown Award Mrs. Hertz Will Receive TRAs Trophy at Miami Winter Dinner By EVAN SHIPMAN BELMONT PARK, Elmont, L. I., N. Y., May 13. — When Mrs. John D. Hertz receives Thoroughbred Racing Associations Triple Crown trophy retroactively awarded to her great horse, Count Fleet, the American turf, at the Miami dinner next winter to celebrate the occasion, will pay fitting homage to one of the most remarkable thoroughbreds of the present century. Since the retirement of Man o War, back in 1920, only Calumets Citation is mentioned in the same breath with Count Fleet as a race horse, while Count Fleet five years older than Citation — has already established himself at Mrs. Hertz Stoner Creek Farm as without peer among our Continued on Page Fifty-Six d r g k J — y m J n ■■■■■i-— j — I Weighing In By Evan Shipman — — -— — — — Award Count Fleet Triple Crown Trophy Mrs. Hertz to Accept TRA Cup at Dinner Colts Champagne Mile Remains a Record Continued from Pago One younger American-bred stallions. A dozen years have passed since Count Fleet went undefeated as a three-year-old, winning the Derby, Preakness and Belmont n that that form form the the basis basis for for TRAS TRAS that that form form the the basis basis for for TRAS TRAS award — a dozen years, and many present-day turf followers are too young to have seen Count Fleet in action; to have been thrilled, as we were, by an incomparable style. Many others, who might normally have applauded Count Fleets brilliant victories, spent the period including his brief turf career in one or another of the armed services, far from the scene of of the the colts colts triumphs. triumphs. In In that that re- ■■■■■i-— j — I of of the the colts colts triumphs. triumphs. In In that that re- respect this observer was lucky since, after following his sensational two-year-old campaign on the printed page, a furlongh coincided with his Jamaica debut in 43, while, a little later "in the line of duty," we drove our colonel to Churchill Downs on the occasion of Count Fleets Kentucky Derby. The cold record — eloquent enough — of what Count Fleet accomplished is common knowledge. In its stead, we will offer you here a few personal impressions of the horse and his career. Count Fleets fame grew gradually during his initial season of 1942. The homebred son of Mrs. Hertz Kentucky Derby, Jockey Club Gold Cup and Coronation Cup winner, Reigh Count, from the Haste mare, Quickly, was rumored among horsemen to be an especially good one before he ever came to the races. He justified all the enthusiastic predictions that had been made from the start, but he was not invincible as a juvenile. Over the sprinting distances asked of two-year-olds in early and mid-season, Count Fleet occasionally met defeat. Occupation, an extremely swift son of Bull Dog, led him to the wire in both the Washington Park Futurity and the Belmont Futurity, these setbacks due to greenness. A little later, in the mile Champagne Stakes at Belmont, Count Fleet set a track record of 1 : 34% that stands to this day, while it is also the fastest eight furlongs ever run anywhere in the world by a two-year-old. Mrs. Hertz colt closed that season by taking a complete revenge, decisively defeating Occupation in the mile and a sixteenth Pimlico Futurity. A Familiar Figure on Belmonts Program Let us linger a moment with that extraordinary mile shown in the 42 renewal of the Champagne Stakes. By now, you may have become fairly accustomed to seeing the familiar figures on Belmont Parks programs, but on that October afternoon, almost thirteen years ago, Count Fleets unprecedented performance was greeted with open mouthed amazement. A dozen years before that, Twenty Grand had nosed out Equipoise at Louisville in the mile Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes, and when the time for 1 : 36 flat was announced, it was regarded by the entire American turf as a "seventh wonder." We were there that day at Louisville. We can assure you that we firmly believed we had seen a record established that would last our life time. Then, just a year previous to Count Fleets performance and in the same Champagne Stakes, Alsab, another extraordinary thoroughbred, reduced the mile record to 1:35%. This time surely the limit of speed for two-year-olds had been attained. And yet Count Fleet not only lowered Alsabs mark by three-fifths of a second but — believe it or not — the Reigh Count colt did it with consummate ease, completely fooling his jockey, Johnny Longden. When we returned to Long Island to see Count Fleets debut as a three-year-old in the mile and seventy yards St. James Purse at Jamaica, the colt was already recognized as "great," his feats of the previous autumn assuring him that rare title no matter what might befall him during any subsequent campaign. This was our first close look at him, and you may believe that we looked hard. Frankly, had we not checked with our program to assure ourselves that this was indeed Count Fleet, there was nothing, but nothing, to distinguish this colt from any other sound, healthy individual who might have attracted our gaze. To be precise, his quality was not apparent in the walking ring. Now when you first saw Twenty Grand, you did not need to be told that you were looking at a champion; it stood out all over him. Count Fleet, at least as seen in the saddling enclosure, was "just another horse." Ah, but when he stepped on the track, it was then that the difference became evident! Derby Not Much of a Contest As a contest, that St. James Purse was hardly memorable. Longden and Count Fleet tolerated the pace -setting Bossuet until midway of the home-stretch, and then that superb stride imperceptibly lengthened and poor Bossuet was left floundering in Count Fleets wake. Nor was the Derby much of a race. Later, we learned that Mrs. Hertz colt had rapped himself while disputing the Wood Memorial, this causing him to miss a work, and that the Kentucky Derby was not regarded as one of his most impressive efforts. At the time, we knew nothing of this, and all we can say is that he polished off Blue Swords and the others with limitless authority, his very presence commanding such respect that you were hardly aware of the opposition. That was our last glimpse of him in action. He went on to greater things, winning the Belmont Stakes — his final appearance in public — by "a distance," or, to be exact, by a sixteenth of a mile. Interpreted, such a victory means to a horseman that Count Fleet was a colt apart, that nothing of his generation could extend him. And that is the definition; that is what we mean by "great." We can leave him there.
