Weighing In: Helioscope Duplicates Tom Fools Great Feat Suburban a Match between Heliopolis, Daily Racing Form, 1955-06-01

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. .....„.,—„■ M"f,v I Weighing In • By Evan Shipman . Helioscope Duplicates Tom Fools Great Feat Suburban a Match Between Heliopolis Colts High Gun Earns Great Praise in Narrow Defeat * BELMONT PARK, Elmont, L. I., N. Y., May 31.— Catching our breath after the several days of brilliant sport that have marked, the long holiday, we are left .....„.,—„■ with with the the impression impression that that yester- with with the the impression impression that that yester- yesterdays Suburban Handicap renewal will enter the records as "one of the great races of the modern American turf. Two superb sons of the Hyperion stallion, Heliopolis — Helioscope and High Gun — took the track from the drop of the flag; battled it out for the entire mile and a quarter distance over a strip that had just turned "fast," and, at the wire, the five-pound pound advantage advantage enjoyed enjoyed by by Wil- i j M"f,v pound advantage advantage enjoyed enjoyed by by Wil- William Helis colt enabled Helioscope to prevail bya head, all the others in this talented field of nine left floundering up the track. In winning, Helioscope carried the same 128 pounds that Greentrees Tom Fool had up in the memorable renewal of 1953, and both Suburban winnerscovered the distance in an identical 2:00%, • this unofficially accepted as a track record since the 2:00 flat credited to Whisk Broom IT. has long been considered as due to an error of timing. Quickly Developed Into Two Horse Race Again recording our strictly personal view, young Jimmy Kilroes Suburban weights appeared to give every starter a distinct chance in this important feature, but, as we were soon to see, only the two sons of Heliopolis who topped the list ever "existed,r during the running, Subahdar, who was in third place all the way and who finished third, and the once -formidable Mark-Ye-Well, who wound up a tired fourth, never able to reach the flying leaders, at any stage of proceedings. As for the others, in spite, of all their often imposing credentials/ it might just as well have been another race on another afternoon as far as they were concerned. What uncanny feat of arithmetic would have4 brought Helioscopes and High Guns rivals to to trie post on terms of theoretical equality with this pair passes our limited understanding, but we do know that yesterdays running tossed all previous figures into, the waste basket* Just as the Suburban was a wonderfully run race on the part of the two admirable four-year-olds, so too there colts were ridden by Sam Boumetis and Eddie Arcaro in a fashion impossible to fault, both fine s jockeys appearing to obtain every ounce of effort of • which their mounts were capable, while each employed the tactics best suited to feel out any possible Tveak-ness in his opponent. Again, for a fitting comparison, we are carried back to Tom Fools renewal, when Ted Atkinson aboard the winner and Jack Westrope with the narrowly defeated Rdyal Vale offered spectators a classic example of shrewd,"energetic horsemanship that refuses to fade from pur memory. Two years ago and yesterday, the mile and a quarter was run in 2:00%, but there differences are — perhaps important — in the fractions. Tom Fools 10 furlongs by quarters was stepped in: :24, :23%, :23%, :24% and :25. Yesterday, Helioscope was caught in: :24%, :23.and, :23%, :24% and :24%. As you see, Tom Fools initial mile was the faster— a flat 1:35 as against a flat 1:36 — but Helioscope travelled his "first" mile and his "last" mile in exactly the same notch, the first and last quarters of yesterdays Suburban being identical. Helis Star Began to Show the Way From the very beginning far up the reaches of the Widener chute and before they looped into the main strips backstretch, there was always three or more lenths of open daylight between the leaders and their completely frustrated antagonists. According to his almost invariable custom, Helioscope showed the way, but Arcaro with High Gun knew better than to allow . the Helis colt to sneak off by himself, and since none of the others were capable of "softening up" the pacemaker, Arcaro had no choice but to assume this ungrateful task. Seen in this light, the Suburban was, to all intents and purposes, a match race. 3oulmetis had the perfect example of a "free running" colt under him. He rode with a light rein, while High Gun too had no need of encouragement. We in the stands were quite aware that the possibility existed for a combination of rapid pace and high weight to "kill off" the leaders, and we suppose that the trailers were living on such a hope. It was not to be. . The drive through the final quarter must have been desperate.. The_evidence of the watch is irrefutable. And yet, such was the finesse of Arcaro and Boulmetis; such was the ideal balance, purity of gait and ready response to their riders appeals of both colts that the cruelty of the contest unfolding before our eyes was perfectly masked by the sheer elegance of its accomplishment. By their superlative performances, Helioscope and High Gun defined style, nor did the tense competition — no, not even at the decisive moment itself — ever lapse into the vulgarity of strain or struggle. At the furlong pole, most spectators are agreed that High Gun had at length forged to the front, his advantage at that-point a head. A sixteenth of a mile closer and Helioscope had regained the advantage", that five-pound difference now taking its inexorable toll. But even now High Gun was not done. In the final strides of this epochal race, the King Ranch colt had actually "come again," cutting the winners margin to a mere head, and it was thus they Passed, under the wire.


Persistent Link: https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1950s/drf1955060101/drf1955060101_52_2
Local Identifier: drf1955060101_52_2
Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800