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Iguais most famous son Nip and Tucks Injury Brings Misfortunes of Dam to Light Unroced Igual Also Produced Assault IllFated Air Lift Clean Slate for King Ranch RanchBy By C J CONNORS CONNORSBELMONT BELMONT PARK Elmont L I N Y May t4 The veteran Max Hirsch gazed across the centerfield at this mammoth racing ground yesterday and remarked that he had never seen the grass so green Then a second or two later he added that it would be a welcome sight in some parts of Texas While speaking of green grass he con ¬ tinued reminds me of the farm and by the way here is a bit of a news item for you Nip and Tuck broke down and was shipped to the farm in Kentucky KentuckyThe The few words Nip and Tuck broke down brought forth memories of the tragic misfortunes that xvas the lot of Igual and her produce over the years Never in the history of racing and breeding has mis ¬ fortune dogged the fortunes of this mare and fashionablybred daughter of Equipoise from Iridescent she by Chicle Igual went amiss early and never got to the races She wasbred by Robert J Kleberg of the famed King Ranch in Texas and when it was learned that she would not race waslater placed in the stud at that sprawling mil ¬ lion acre cattle and horse ground in the Southwest SouthwestIgual Igual was born in 1937 and her first foal a filly was born in 1940 Masomenor was foaled in 1941 He was gelded at an early age but at lno time ever gave any indica ¬ tion of the brilliance that was to cloak her third foal the mighty Assault This fellow came upon misfortune at an early age He stepped on a nail protruding from a plank at the farm The injury came within a waferthin thread of keeping him from the racing wars The shell of the foot was thin and in a manner of trying to protect the member it grew out of proportion Hirsch had shown a deep interest in the colt from the beginning and his fight to keep up with the other sound ones in the paddocks aroused his enthusiasm Best Mehrtens Eve Rode RodeAssault Assault finally came to the races with a draft of twoyearolds from the ranch The colt as a twoyearold raced fairly well but as a three and fouryearold his rac ¬ ing feats aroused the interests of blase New Yorkers and the racing world The Wood Kentucky Derby Preakness Belmont and others were gathered in by this Texan with the club foot and the paper shell wall of his hoof Jockey Warren Mehrtens pro ¬ nounced him the best horse he ever rode His fouryearold career was a repetition of his threeyearold series of conquests conquestsThe The Brooklyn was one of his peak efforts but in the Butler at Jamaica that summer he turned in one of the sterling perform ances1 of the year Apparently stopped by a wall of horses in front of hinvAssault saw an opening before Arcaro realized what had happened he was bulling his way between the leaders to take down the big money and hear the roars and cheess of the thousands who had given up hope that he and his 135 pound weight could make it itAssault Assault later went amiss and he was shipped to Kentucky to enter the stud Again misfortune was his for following a medical examination Assault was declared sterile Shipped back to Texas hey is now roaming a big paddock and his companions are retired cow ponies a few old mares and other animals that are retired from activity due to permanent injuries A few years ago Max Hirsch reported the arrival at his Belmont Park headquar ¬ ters of another brother to Assault This fellow was named Air Lift after that heroic episode of the German occupation when the American flyers broke the Russian blockade and kept alive and from starva ¬ tion the western half of Berlin The colt Air Lift ha d earned a reputation from morning work watchers as a running two yearold He made his debut at Jamaica in 1949 when the Saratoga Association staged a meeting at the Long Island track as a matter of financing security Shatters Ankle Is Destroyed DestroyedAir Air Lift attracted a large gallery of ama ¬ teurs and professionals to look him over The colt paraded nicely to the starting post and was mannerly in his gallops This time misfortune was more cruel in her tac ¬ tics for a furlong or two Air Lift was rac ¬ ing along steadily up with the leaders Then it happened The colt either crossed his legs or stepped in a hole and strode along for a few strides on a shattered ankle which necessitated destroyal destroyalMisfortune Misfortune has not stopped forother off ¬ spring by this mare had their share of ill fortune Clean Clate from whom much was expected came up with wind trouble and was fittedwith a tube Masomenor another of her sons underwent the sur ¬ geons knife at an early age and was gelded He never made the headlines Today it is Nip and Tuck and this fel ¬ low favoring his bad leg ruined his good one Nip and Tuck underwent one of the rarest operations in the history of veteri ¬ nary science The colt as a twoyearold came up with a broken bone in his knee Veterinarians were called in for consulta ¬ tion and it was decided to ship hfm to the University of Pennsylvania Hospital to be treated by the noted Dr Jennings The doctor studied a dozen Xray pictures of the knee and broken bone He decided on a radical operation one that had been intro ¬ duced in Germany and later adopted here He decided to insert a pin through the broken bone boneThe The operation proved successful and Nip md Tuck was returned to Belmont Park He was given time for the operation to heal and learn to walk and gallop on the in ¬ jured member During the winter months at Columbia S C he proved that he could stand training At Jamaica on April 19 he went to the post as a fiveyearold for the first time in his life Nip and Tuck proved the winner under Eric Guerin GuerinSaturday Saturday while working for another start here on Wednesday he came out of the tiial with a severe bow JThere was no alternative but to ship the horse to the farm Nip and Tuck was bred to a mare last winter while in South Carolina The mare is in foal and this spring lie will be bred to several mares owned by the King Ranch in Kentucky The saga of the mis ¬ fortunes that befell Igual has grown and magnified and when and where they will end is something that no one knows
