Weighing In: Oil Painting Takes Swift Run Distaff Test Dulat Finds Racing Legs after Long Absence Lee, Daily Racing Form, 1955-06-22

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i in Weighing In By Evan Shipman Oil Painting Takes Swift Run Distaff Test Dulat Finds Racing Legs After Long Absence Lee Axworthy-Peter Volo Match Race Recalled AQUEDUCT, L. I., N. Y., June 21. Mrs. Joe Goodwins homebred Papa Redbird filly,. Oil Painting, gave us plenty of warning during the recent Belmont Park meeting meeting that that she she was was mighty mighty meeting meeting that that she she was was mighty mighty sharp right now, and she improved on those excellent showings yesterday when she took the Distaff Handicap her second stakes victory from a field that contained some really worthwhile members of the filly-and-mare division." Under one of jockey Hedley Woodhouses alert, energetic rides, this four-year-old miss from the Blue Grass country country first first ran-down ran-down the the pace- i in country country first first ran-down ran-down the the pace- pace-setting Miss Weesie, then repulsed the bids of Dr. Lees God Child and E. P. Taylors Canadiana at the" furlong pole and went on to score not comfortably perhaps, but looking much the strongest at the wire. In contrast to Canadianas highweight of 121 pounds, Oil Painting had up the moderate assignment of 115, but she looks like the type that can carry weight, Front a Jack High dam, we doubt that distances beyond the familiar mile and a sixteenth will have much appeal for Oil Painting, although this is not a serious limitation under the conditions that prevail everywhere today on the American turf. The Distaff, like the Shevlin last Saturday, was a swiftly accomplished seven furlongs, the chestnut daughter of the Balladier sire, Papa Redbird, negotiating this exacting sprint distance in 1:24 flat, first six furlongs in 1:10. Her final figure was some three ticks off that of Greentrees Gold Box in the Shevlin, nor did she win with the authority of the Heliopolis colt: but it was a good race just the same, and will have its bearing on other subsequent fixtures for the division. Former Handicap Horse Takes the Jumps When Four-Way Ranchs veteran Dulat made his belated debut over the hurdle course at Belmont several weeks ago, after a two-year absence from com petition, those in the crowd who recalled his considerable achievements in the handicap division lost no time in making him a short-priced favorite. Trainer George Odom sent the old fellow to the post in resplendent, condition, while his jumping, although much too "big" for the little obstacles, showed that Dulat had been well schooled. Both on that occasion and in another start in a similar event here at Aqueduct, however, Dulat was still short. He raced forwardly under Bob Mac-Donalds expert guidance for a mile or so, and then retired to the rear of the pack. In his successful third try yesterday, the seven-year-old Silver Horde horse handled the diminutive hedges, with more assurance than perviously, and he was far less "winded" in attempting the mile and a half distance. This late recruit to the jumping ranks will continue to improve, Maybe the public at Delaware Park does not wager any more proportionately on through-the-field events in contrast to the conventional flat program than does the crowd here at Aqueduct or at Belmont Park, but there is, just the same, a slight significant difference in the reception accorded this branch of the sport in the two locales. For one reason or another, the Metropolitan racing public begrudges the attention paid to the steeplechase and hurdle horses by these two associations, while at Delaware, the jumpers are just as popular with the grandstand as they are with the "hunting set" in the clubhouse. Whenever we visit Delaware, it is a welcome refief to find the chasing stakes, such as the Georgetown, the Indian River and the James Roby the latter fixture won yesterday by out long-time favorite, Carafar attended by as much enthusiasm as any of the stakes for flat horses. In that respect, the Wilmington public resembles the Marsland racegoers of 15 or 20 years ago, a crowd that had a real knowledge of the sport at its fingertips and that loved nothing better than .to applaud the seasons champions in the steeplechase stakes offered by Pim-lico and Laurel. Famous Pacing Event of 40 Years Ago. Red Smith, in an appreciative column dealing with last Saturday nights highly successful match at Roosevelt Raceway between the pacing stars Adois Harry and Adois Boy, speaks of the famous Hamburg Belle- Uhlan match at North Randall as being the last great event of this type in the history of American harness racing. Red will forgive us for reminding him that North Randall a few years later, in 1915, gave two match races on a single program, one of which created an even greater furor than when John E. Maddens marre, Hamburg Belle, defeated the superb New England champion, Uhlan. The matches overlooked were between the trotters, Peter Volo and Lee Axworthy, and the pacers, William and Directum I. Like Adois Harry and Adios Boy, Peter Volo and Lee Axworthy were four-year-olds, but Peter Volo had never, up to that time, met defeat, sweeping all his two- and three-year-old stake engagements, many of them at the direct expense of Lee Axworthy. On that August afternoon at Clevelands North Randall, Peter Volo, trained and driven by the same Thomas W. Murphy who was, years later, to bring out the great thoroughbred, Twenty Grand, was a heavy favorite to defeat the Pas-Time Stables Guy Axworthy horse. Murphy and Peter Volo, however, were forced to bow to Billy Andrews and Lee Axyvorthy, just as, a little later, Murphy and Directum I. yielded the pacing crown to Andrews and William.


Persistent Link: https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1950s/drf1955062201/drf1955062201_61_2
Local Identifier: drf1955062201_61_2
Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800