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— — — r-— , j Jill • r ThistleDown ! By Joe Hirsch Ohio Derby Has Historic Background First Staged at Chester Park in 1876 Now Top Stake on ThistleDown Agenda THISTLEDOWN, Ndrth Randall, Ohio, June 2.— Matching strides with other sections of the country where stakes values have been steadily increasing, r-— — — — , management management here here has has boosted boosted the the management management here here has has boosted boosted the the value of its big race, the Ohio Derby, to 0,000. The Derby, a mile and an eighth affair, will be run on June 25. Nominations close this Saturday and while the official list will be withheld until all outlying districts report, Lou Pondfield tells us that prospective candidates include many of the nations top sophomore campaigners. Theres quite a history to to the the Ohio Ohio Derby Derby which which research research • r to to the the Ohio Ohio Derby Derby which which research research has traced back to 1876 when a horse named Bombay won the initial running at old Chester Park in Cincinnati. The Derby, then run at a mile and a half, thus followed its more famous counterpart in Kentucky by just one year, for it was in 1875 that Aristides, the little red horse, got the Churchill Downs classic under way. The Ohio Derby was renewed at Chester Park each season until 1883 when it, and recognized racing both disappeared from the Queen City. In 1924 the Derby was revived at Maple Heights in the suburbs of Cleveland with Black Gold, fresh from a triumph in the Kentucky Derby, as the victor. The distance was changed to its present nine furlongs, the winning interests collecting ,000 as their share ofthe purse. In 1925 • and 1926 the Derby was again renewed at Maple Heights but was shifted to Bainbridge in 1928 after an absence of a year. There it had a run of five years whereupon it was dropped, renewed briefly in 1935 at the old ThistleDown plant as Paradisical beat Clang and Whopper in a memorable, running. Carters Pride Winner of Revival Running When Lou Pondfield took over at Cranwood his five-eighths mile track not far from here in 1951, the idea of renewing the Derby seemed attractive and in 1952 it was returned to the record books on a modest scale, with a ,000 pot and a filly called Carters Pride the winner. The following year, 1953, the new ThistleDown had been built and the race was now played before a more fitting backdrop. The field for that Ohio Derby was probably the best ever to go postward in the state and Alfred G. Vanderbilts Social Outcast, with Eric Guerin up, beat Buck n Gee and Dictar for 9,988. Later that afternoon, in the winners circle, someone made a move to present a bouquet of roses" to trainer Bill Winfrey, then drew back because he wasnt sure he had the right man. And Winfrey, the memory of Native Dancers near thing in the Kentucky Derby still fresh in his memory, laughed "thats not the first time I reached for the roses and missed." Last year Dr. A. L. Birchs Timely Tip beat Rustic Billy and Sea O Erin. And so on June 25, the 21st running of the classic is to be presented and after many years of kicking around the states historic tracks, the Ohio Derby seems to have settled at ThistleDown for a long and promising stay. Off to a fine start in the race for leading trainer honors is the New Englander, Tony Cataldi, who has 10 head here for three Floridians: Mrs. Tilyou Christopher, Dr. G. E. Woollard and W. L. Huntley. All of Huntleys stock are two-year-olds, among them the Fighting Step miss, Rite-Step, who Cataldi claimed in Miami this year for ,000, outshaking four others in the interest of the retired broker. Rite-Step has won five races this season and shows promise of developing into a dependable filly. Cataldi had four for Dr. Woollard, a retired physician, but the good Ariel Game filly, Game Heart, broke her hip the other day and Tony is sending her back to Woollards Nani La Hale ranch in Hallandale to be bred. Mrs. Christopher, the wife of a -Miami auto dealer, owns the three-year-old Florida-bred Reterita. Once Galloped Horses for Calumet Jerry Ruth has been doing the bulk of the riding for Tony here and doing an excellent job. Cataldi, well known at East Coast tracks, is one of the top young trainers in the business. He came on the race track ■ with Charley Grande and the River Mount Ranch string, galloped horses for Calumet, and was with Hash Weinstein for a number of years. Tony got his license at Tropical Park about eight years ago through the good offices of Mr. Fitz, who served there as an official at the time. Drafted in 1951, he put in a couple of years in Germany with the Seventh Army, then returned to the race track, picking up a draft of horses in Florida and campaigning in New England last summer. He was back in Miami over the winter, came to ThistleDown for the first time following a spring in Maryland. Cataldi makes his home in North Providence, R. I. Around the Track: Trainer Milton Kite is up in the air over the injury to Broadmoor Farms Shy Peg, the three-year-old Faultless filly who bruised her left front heel during the running of yesterdays sixth race. Shy Peg, who beat Cain Hoys Racing Fool in an allowance event at Gulfstream Park this past winter, has been declared from Saturdays Cleveland Debutante Stakes. . . . Jim Lewis runs one of the finest jockeys quarters weve seen at any track. All the latest appurtenances, plus an upstairs room where riders may view the races in seclusion through a one-way mirror-front window. There are even mobile reclining lounge chairs for comfortable television tuning. . . . Stewart Bullock reports a meeting of the HBPAs executive committee tonight at the Fenway Hall Hotel.
