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History of Calumet Is Racing Epic « Purchase of Three Yearlings In 1931 Started Turf Empire Warren Jr. First Winner on * June 27, 1932; Stable Has j Earned Total of 3,435,552 j By JOE HIRSCH ARLINGTON PARK, Arlington Heights, 111., June 26.— On September 19, 1931, at Belmont Park in New York, a 56-year-old " man named Warren Wright, heir to a large baking powder fortune and a distinguished businessman in his own right, bought his first three thoroughbred race horses and laid the foundation for a mighty turf empire, the like of which this country has never seen. Harry Sinclairs Rancocas Stable yearlings were on the block that memorable morning and the be-spectacled Wright bid for a colt and two fillies. He got the colt, later named Warren Jr. after his son, for ,000. One filly, a sister to the stakes-winning Mokatam, cost ,500 and was named Lucille Wright after the purchasers wife. The other filly, named Dashing Widow, cost ,500. All three were by Bud Lerner, an 11-year-old son of The Finn. Father Standardbred Enthusiast v Wright had not inherited a love of thoroughbred racing from his father, William M. Wright, who was a standardbred, or trotting horse enthusiast. Rather it was the younger Wrights close friend, the Chicago transportation magnate John D. Hertz, who stimulated his interest in the running horses. Wright and Hertz had become associated in the formation of the Yellow Cab Company several years earlier and Wright also had a substantial investment in Arlington Park which Hertz had bought with a syndicate. Wright brought the three yearlings that he had purchased to Calumet in Lexington, Ky. His father had come to Kentucky in 1924, purchased about 500 acres of rich land on the Versailles Pike, and established " the farm as the foremost standardbred nursery in the country. There he bred and raised winners of the Hambletonian, Kentucky Futurity and other important harness horse stakes. When William Wright died in 1931, Warren Wright inherited f Calumet, completely remodeled or rebuilt every building on the farm, carved out a six-furlong training track, and gradually increased the acreage until at one time it embraced 1,700 acres. Presently it covers about 1,000 acres. When the three yearlings that Wright had purchased the year before were of racing age, they were placed in the care of Hertz trainer, Bill Knapp. Wright selected his colors of "devils red, blue bars on sleeve, blue collar and cap" and they were seen on a race track for the first time at Belmont Park, on Memorial Day, 1932, in the sixth race, an event for two-year-old maidens. Warren Jr., the colt was the stables first starter and he finished ninth in a field of 15 under Earl Steffen at four and one-half furlongs. The. race was won incidentally, by Roman Holiday, owned by Mrs. John Hay Whitney, the present Mrs. Elizabeth Lunn. Knapp Stables First Trainer When Arlington Park began its 1932 meeting, on June 27, Knapp started Warren Jr. in the first race on the first program, a five and one-half furlongs event for maidens. Earl Steffen was again the rider as. the horses went to the post at 2:30 p.m. The footnotes of the Daily Racing H. A. JIMMY JONES and his FATHER, BEN A. JONES, master trainers for the Calumet Farm. Forms chart show that "Warren Jr., with the leaders from the start and despite being in close quarters on the far turn, continued gamely to wear down Hope to Do in the stretch and win narrowly." Warren Jr. was timed in106% over a fast track and, well played, as Calumet horses have been through the years, returned a mutuel of .48. Of the ,200 purse, Warren Jr. earned 50. The stable had registered its first victory. Thursday, 25 years to the day of this inaugural, triumph, Calumet Farm stands as a collossus of the American turf. Through June 25, it had won 1,541 races; its horses had earned 3,435,552; it had won five Horse of the Year awards; it had two Triple Crown winners; it had six Kentucky Derby winners; it produced the first winner of ,000,000; it produced the leading money-winning gelding; it produced the leading money-winning race mare; and it held just about every record that a stable could possibly hold. From Wanen Wright to his widow and present mistress of Calumet, Mrs. Gene Markey; from Bill Knapp to Ben and Jimmy Jones; from Earl Steffen to Bill Har-tack; Paul Ebelhardt, the fram manager and Mrs. Margaret Glass, the secretary — the list of contributors to the remarkable success of the stable is a long one. Yet each had to do his share or this amazing saga would not be nearly as complete as it is. Won Only One Race in 1932 Lets trace just a bit of the history from an inauspicious beginning to Calumets present position of eminence in TJ. S. racing. And an inauspicious beginning it was. In that first year, 1932, the horses won one race — when Warren Jr. broke his maiden — had one second, two thirds and earned a grand total of ,150. However, even before he began racing his small string, Wright began to purchase some broodmares. His foundation mare was the Freakness winner, Nellie Morse, a daughter of Luke McLuke, whom he acquired for ,100. She was in foal to American Flag at the time and eventually dropped Nellie Flag, Calumets first homebred stakes winner and the dam of Mar-Kell, a stakes winner herself and, in turn, dam of Mark-Ye-Well. Nellie Flag was Calumets first Derby horse she finished fourth in 1935 under Eddie Arcaro —The Masters first Derby mount and she Was the dam of Sunshine Nell, Nellie L. and many other good ones. That year, 1932, was a busy one for Wright who. was" tackling the business of raising and racing winners with a vengeance. He purchased Harry Sinclairs private barn at Belmont Park for a reported 0,000 and also a yearling called Hadagal for ,000. Hadagal was to become the stables first stakes winner, the son of Sir Gallahad HI. capturing the Champagne Stakes in New York the following season, beating Sgt. Byrne. It was in August of 1932 that Wright made an offer of 5,000 to W. R. Coe for his two-year-old Ladys-man but was turned down. However, he did pick up a broodmare called Hug Again at the Saratoga yearlings sales for ,000, and she became the dam of Sun Again. In 1933 Wright, with an- eye to the future, spent over 80,000 for more mares-and had Dan Stewart train the stock at the races. He also went to 3,000, top price, at the1 Saratoga sales, for Calumet Dick. The following season, when Bert Williams, had the horses, Calumet began to move up the ladder and ranked seventh nationally in money won with 8,060. Nellie Flagv contributed most of this — 7,250 — and was leading juvenile filly of the country/ via victories in the Matron at New York, the Selima at Laurel and the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill Downs. In 1934, Wright purchased the mar Dustwhirl from A. B. Hancock for 2,500 and in 1936 he subscribed for a quarter interest in the 50,000 purchase of the Ep-r som Derby winner Blenheim II. from the Continued o* Paqt SerM * Wright Bought Three Yearlings And Calumet Was on Its Way Warren Jr. Frrst Winner on * June 27, 1932; Stable Has Earned Total of 3,435,552 Continued from Page Four Aga Khan. In 1937, when Dustwhirl and-Blenheim II. were mated, the foal was Whirlaway, Calumets first Derby and Triple Crown winner. It was also in 1936 that Wright purchased the stallion Chance Play from Robert L. Gerry for a reported 5,000. Bert Williams resigned in the fall of that year and was succeeded by Frank Kearns. It was in 1936, too, that Wright purchased, a yearling at Saratoga named Bull Lea, a son of Bull Dog" and Rose Leaves who was to become the greatest sire in American racing history. Wright got him for 4,000. To date he has produced 23 winners of 00,-000 or more, among them the great Citation, who earned ,085,760. Engaged Ben Jones in 1939 Bull Lea, who outbred himself at stud, was something less than sensational as a race horse, earning just shy of 00,000. He was, however, one of the leading three-year-olds of the 1938 season, winning the Blue Grass and Kenner Stakes and the Pimlico Handicap, and four other races in 16 starts. He also won the Widener at Hialeah the following winter from Sir Damion and Stagehand, scoring by three lengths. The Widener marked Bull Leas last appearance on the race track, but since he entered stud in 1940, he has been the nations leading stallion five times and has consistently produced fine races horses for Calumet. If the passing to stud of Bull Lea ► : ■ marked the beginning of an era for the stable, another important milestone was Wrights hiring of the noted trainer, Ben A. Jones, who officially succeeded Kearns on September 1, 1939. For Calumet, Jones saddled a. record five Derby winners, was three times leading money-winning conditioner and established professional marks and a reputation that his colleagues will be shooting at for many years to come. In • 1940, Whirlaway literally took the name "Calumet" out of the kitchen, where it had adorned countless pantry shelves on a box of baking powder. The long-tailed colt won seven of his 16 starts as a two-year-old and led the juveniles of that year with earnings of 7,275, via victories in such events as the .Saratoga Special, .the Hopeful Stakes and the Walden. The following season Whirlaway went to the post 20 times, winning 13 and never finishing worse than third. His victories included the Kentucky Derby, the Preak-ness, the Belmont Stakes, the Dwyer, the Travers, the American Derby and the Lawrence Realization. As a four-year-old, Whirly won 12 of 22 appearances and continued racing intermittently through 1945. In all, he started 60 times, won 32 races and earned a total of .61,161. Whirlaway was eventually exported to France, where he stood at Marcel Boussacs famed stud until his unexpected death in 1953. Since the advent of Whirlaway on the national scene in 1940, Calumet has rarely been without an equine star of the first order. In 1941, Sun Again came to the races and in 1943 it was the grand race-mare, Twilight Tear. After a promising campaign as a two-year-old, she came back with a brilliant sophomore record of 14 wins in 17 starts and was named "Horse of the Year." In 1944 Pensive won the Kentucky Darby for Wright under little Con McCreary and then came Calumets "Golden Era" with such cracks as Armed, Fervent, Faultless, Citation, Coaltown, Bewitch and many others. Armed, the worlds leading money-winning gelding, started 81 times during a long and distinguished career and won 41 races with earnings of 17,475. Citation, however, was the super star, a horse who as a three-year-old Ben and Jimmy Jones have frequently said was the equal of any horse who ever lived. In 1948, as a sophomore, Citation swept the Triple Crown and earned what was then theaecord sum of 09,470 for a single season. The brilliant son of Bull Lea and Hydroplane H. was, of course, Horse of the Year, an honor he richly deserved. Citation incurred osselet trouble in winning the Tanforan Handicap in the fall of his three-year-old season and as ar result was absent from competition throughout 1949. Jimmy Jones brought him back to the races in the winter of 1950 at Santa Anita and that year he set what was then the worlds record for a mile — 1:33%. In 45 starts during his career, which lasted through 1951, Citation won -82 races, was out of the money only once, and earned ,085,760, which stood as a worlds record until broken last year by Nashuas ,288,565. Since his retirement to stud, his best son has been Fabius, who won last seasons Preakness, was second to Needles in the Kentucky Derby, and third in the Belmont. In 1949, Ponder won the Kentucky Derby for Calumet, while «Coaltown, Wistful and Two Lea added additional trophies to Wrights matchless collection at the farm. Jimmy Jones was at the helm of the racing stable during this fabulous era, succeeding his father in 1947, when Plain Ben stepped up to the post of general manager. Warren Wright died on December 28, 1950 at his Miami Beach, Fla. home at the age of 75. He had been leading owner of the country a record seven times, his first such award in 1941, 10 years from the time he bought his first group of race horses. He left an estate of more than 0,000,000. In 1952 Hill Gail won another Kentucky Derby for the new owner of Calumet, Mrs. Warren Wright, who later that year became Mrs. Gene. Markey, following her marriage to the noted motion picture executive. The next several seasons represented a period of rebuilding for the stable but 1956 found Calumet right back in a familiar position, with Mrs. Markey the countrys leading owner. Her horses, headed by Fabius and Bardstown, won a total of ,057,-383, and one of her colts, Barbizon, captured the worlds richest race, The Garden State, earning a net prize of 68,430 from a gross of 19,210. Iron Liege Worthy Substitute _ This spring, after losing the services of her fine colt Gen. Duke on the morning of the Kentucky Derby, Mrs. Markey was thrilled when Iron Liege took up the cudgel and raced to -victory in the Blue Riband of the American turf for Calumets sixth Derby win. Great feats performed in Calumets red silks abound in the pages of recent turf history. There was that afternoon in May of 1948 when Citation won the Preakness at Pimlico while Faultless and Fervent finished one-two in the Gallant Fox at Jamaica. Eight years later, while Citations son Fabius was also winning the Preakness, his stablemates Princess Turia and Beyond were deadheating for first in the Acorn at Belmont and another Calumet ace, Tren-tonian, was capturing an allowance race at Garden State Park. There have been moments of bitter defeat, too, such as when Twilight Tear was 1-20 in the Alabama at Saratoga in 1944 and was beaten in scorching weather by Vienna after a hasty trip from Chicago. However, the successes were many while the failures were few, which is why we salute Calumet Thursday. They dont fete losers, as Mrs. Markey and the Joneses are well aware. For a quarter of a century the devils red and blue has been a dominant silk on the American tuttf. All of racing pays tribute to the people an * horses who have held the banner high.
