view raw text
Breakdown Silkys Derby Performance PerformanceMiddle Middle Fractions Good but Final Quarter Showed Colt Lacks Stamina for Classics ClassicsBy By LEON RASMUSSEN RASMUSSENWhile While the muddy strip nd the failure of Silky Sputnik to orbit Saturday at Churchill Downs nullified any threat to Whirlaways Kentucky Derby record of any flashy fractions by any of the entrants the fractional times of the disappointing Calif ornian are highly interesting and would almost have to indicate one of two things either Silky Sullivan is a trans ¬ posed sprinter with one tremendous run or he was palpably short shortIt It is said that Silky didnt like the track and this may be so However Silky ran both the third and fourth quarter in 24 This hah in 48 over the existing track conditions was excellent The fastest half that the victorious Tim Tarn threw in along the way was 48M for the first half mile mileSilkys Silkys fractions by quarters as clocked by DAILY RACING FORMS John Zach who was assigned to the colorful native son were as follows 272s 25 24 24 and then a snaillike 29 This last quarter coming right on the heels of two good quarters would indicate that it was Silkys lack of stamina rather than his dislike for the going which troubled him himThis This wasnt thei first race in which Silky has hung He did it at Golden Gate when Gone Fishin whipped him And several top observers including this papers Charlie Hatton thoiight he was beginning to hang at the end of the 7furlong Stepping Stone Purse at Churchill ChurchillTopNotch TopNotch Competition Hurts HurtsAt At any rate there is a growing convic ¬ tion among horsemen that Silky just pos ¬ sesses the one flamboyant run and that while it will catch a lot of horses and win some races it will not do it when he meets the best in classic competition competitionIncidentally Incidentally Tim Tarns individual quar ¬ ters in the Derby were as follows 24 23 26 24 and 25 25Only Only six horses have won the Kentucky Derby in 202 or less They are the race recordholder Whirlaway 201 Middle ground and Hill Gail 201 Twenty Grand and Swaps 201 and Dark Star 202 202The The fastest first quarter since 1940 was that wiling out of Olympia in 1949 when the son of Heliopplis scorched the distance in 22 The fastest quarter among the six fastest races was that registered by the flashy Californian Your Host in Middle grounds Derby of 1950 The son of Alibhai stopped the watch at 224 Logically enough both Olympia and Your Host grandsons of Hyperion paid the penalty for their lavish display of speed retiring steadily after covering the first mile mileThe The fastest second quarter among the big six is shared by Dispose who reeled off that section of the race in 23V5 in 1941 Whirlaways year and Hill Gail who went all the way to tally in 1952 1952Calumet Calumet Farms Hill Gail also owns the fastest third and fourth quarters the im ¬ petuous son of Bull Lea who now stands in Ireland nicked the third quarter in a rapid 2iys and then really blistered the track as he was clocked the fourth quarter in 23 His mile time of 135 was better than a second faster than the mile time in any of the other six fastest times After that remarkable show of speed Hill Gail naturally had to slow down but even though his final quarter was 26Ys his final time of 201 was but a fifth off Whirlaways record In many ways it is one of the best Derbys on record in respect to time Recall Swaps Derby Run RunComing Coming quite close to matching this demonstration of speed plus stamina was I Swaps race in 1955 The superb California bred now earning his oats as well as eating them at Darby Dan Farm in Lexington Kentucky took command shortly after the start The son of Khaled reeled off the first quarter in 23 the second in 234s took a breather while running the third quarter in 25 then picked up the tempo in the fourth quarter which he notched in 24 the mile in 137 and then drew clear of Nashua in the fifth and final quarter which he made in 24 for a 10 furlong mark of 2014 Dark Star the only colt ever to whip Native Dancer had to run a tremendous race to do so The rafce he ran and the way he ran it from end to end and in the time he ran it 202 stamps his effort as one of the most sparkling in the races history While it was Native Dancers fate to lose this great spectacle it is a historical fact that he lost it brilliantly and to a brilliant colt coltDark Dark Stars fractional times were very similar to those which won for Swaps the following year Breaking alertly the son of Royal Gem n sped to the top and was clocked the opening quarter in 234 as compared to Swaps 23 Dark Star was a fifth second slower than Swaps the next quarter registering a 24 while Swaps took 234fc In the third quarter Dark Star zipped along in 24 threefifths faster than Swaps 25 Dark Star continued to step along at a steady clip the fourth quar ¬ ter the watches getting him in 24 while Swaps took 24 Thus at the mile Dark Star was timed in 136 to the 137 credited to Swaps Dark Star took 25 in his final quarter as he stalled off the blazing challenge of the Dancer while Swaps went threefifths faster as Tie drew clear of his great rival Nashua Dark Stars final time was 202 a fifth slower than Swaps
