view raw text
► Pcrrke Latest Maine Chance Trainer Saddled Hoop, Jr. for 45 Derby Score; Now in 9th Month With Mrs. Graham i When it was learned last Aupist that Ivan Parke had severed a 14-jear association with Fred W. Hooper to become the latest in a- long procession of trainers of; Mrs. Elizabeth N. Grahams Maine Chance Farm, the racing world was more than merely surprised. At -first glance it seemed hard to believe that the vastly respected trainer would leave an association- of suqh duration with the amiable Hooper for what can most conservatively be termed a "precarious post with the illustrious cosmetician. It seemed especially strange to those who were ■. aware that along with the suecess he had enjoyed with such horses- as. the Derby winner Hoop, Jf„ Olympia, Education, Co-Iosal, Hoop Band and a host of others, Parke had; acquired a. dangerously serious set of ulcers. Has Been-With Stable Nine Months The explanation, or partial explanation, is in two parts, one behig the challenge in the post itself, the other, which was also a challenge, the abundance of fashionably bred two-year-olds which Mrs. Graham annually brings to the races. Not that Ivan, was leaving- his brother Chuck a collection of empty stalls; for Hooper is continuing to breed1 splendid stock, and in particular the sons and daughters- of Olympia, who was developed by Ivan into a splendid middle-distance race horse and who is compounding that success at stud. Actually, there is scarcely a trainer worth hi3 feed tubs who has not from time to time cast an envious eye in the direction of Mrs. Grahams collection of thorough- y [breds and been sorely tempted, regardless ! of the importance and stability of his pres-[ent situation, to seek the post which Parke lis now occupying for the ninth month. [Considering that trainers Mother than the flate Tom Smith measure their tenure with [Maine Chance Farm in days, weeks and, [rarely, months, Ivan Parke can be said to I have already successfully met the first part of the challenge. The position of Jewels Reward, who last year established an earnings record for juveniles, in relation to this years Kentucky Derby indi-jcates how well Ivan is faring with the sec-,ond half. Last fall, on the eve of Jewels Rewards only crushing defeat in the Garden State, ;Mrs. Graham told an interviewer, "Ive al-iways admired Mr. Parke as a horseman, !but I never thought I could get him to work for me. Ive got him now and I intend to keep him." Jewels Reward behaved like a wild horse in the paddock that afternoon, literally leaving his race in the saddling enclosure that had to be provided for him ;when it became impossible to saddle him in view of the! public, but Mrs. Graham was .true: to her word and has kept the youthful appearing- veteran. Leading Rider in 1923 and 1924 Though he rode the winner of his firandt race at the ripe age of eight, and campaigned extensively through the bushes in :the far west, Ivan Parke rode for only three years on the big- time before weight caught up with him. In two of those years, 1923 and 1924, he led. the list in number of winners, while he also was the leading ■money-winning rider in 1924. After the season of 1925, Parke rode jumpers for a time, then returned to the vicinity of his native Declo, Idaho, to take up a career of ranching. However, Parke had married the eldest daughter of Benny Creech, who had brought him to the major racetracks, and in 1935 he started training for his father-in-law. Among Ivan Parkes best-known mounts were Black Gold, in his two-year-old year, Continued en- Page 10 D • - Ivan Parke Successful With Maine Chance Farm In 9th Month WirrTMrs. Graham; Saddled Hoop Jr. in 45 Derby Continued from Page 6 D and Swinging, the dam of Equipoise. His two mounts in the-Kentucky Derby fared poorly. Klondike finishing ninth in 1924, while The Bat was 17th the following year. As a trainer, however, Parke won the Classic on his first try with Hoop, Jr. in 1945, then sent out Olympia to finish unplaced in 1949. Ivan is the. fourth of sfx brothers to become varyingly successful race riders, while two others never became associated with the turf. In order of their ages, the riding Parkes are Gilbert, Vasco, Burley, Ivan, Monte and Chuck. Incidentally, the regard in which the Parkes are held by their fellow trainers, many of -whom are Texans and Nebraskans with a background of cattle ranching, is testimony to their quality as men as the Parke family were sheep ranchers, the natural blood enemies of the cattlemen.
