The Washington times., 1922-05-14
NORWICH WINS
CLASSIC DERBY
WITH BIG PURSE
Length and Half to Spare as
Great Colt Achieves Victory
Expected of Him in Kentucky


Vich. the thoroughbred horse, and
BENJAMIN Block and E. r, Bradley,
thoroughbred sportsmen.
Norwich, the horse that couldn't
run distance" was led through the
jostiing. eager crowd by Mr.. Block
and Fred Burlew, his trainer. with
Jockey Johnson sitting proudly in
the saddle.
One Large Smile.
In the paddock, Mr.. Block paused
Tor a moment. his face containing as
large a smile as ever this writer has
seen on human countenance, and
then with the gesture of monarch
bestowing bounty upon his faithful
subjects he lifted the proverbial
wreath of roses that annually adornl
the Derby winners arching neck and,
selecting a handful of the blossoms,
threw them to the crowd
Had he elected to cast twenty dol
lar gold pieces upon the winds, the
resultant scramble could not have
been more sincere or energetic. Out
of that milling throng perhaps five
bloom or two in hand, and were they
diamonds they could not have been
more delighted.
Every Derby winner is rendered an
ovation. That is Kentucky tradition.
But such demonstrations as greeted
the Norwich victory and the horse
that won 1t are reserved for the truly
elect.
Norwich is safe in his highly pad.
ded stall right now. He is the petted
and pampered idol of every stable
boy, hostler, jockey, trainer, million
aire owner and the mere turf fan OF
the species. Nothing was ever too
good for him since he came into Mr..
Blocks hands, and from row on
even the best will not be sufficient
for these men who love a thorough
bred even as a miser loves money.
The race itself, conducted in a
setting that might defy the brush
of a stage artist, was hardly a race
at all. 1t was not that Norwich
won without competition. He got
all that he wanted for the full dis
tance. but one glance at that smooth
running set of equine machinery
and you never gave any of the other
contenders a passing thought. They
were merely as background to an
epic performance, supers OF the
turf that moved apout that the lead
ing man might better display his
eminence.
At only one stage of the race was
Norwich out of the lead and that
happened to be at the outset. Busy
American got away at the pace, but
like thorough-going champion,
Norwich didn't permit any such trifl-
inc nuaT. otratNh Of ground
At the sixteenth he went to the
front as befitted his station in life.
and for the same reason he remained
there to the end, never embarrassed
seriously at any time.
Indeed-t those that tried 10 stay on
his flank lived to regret the matter
exceedingly.
Busy American essayed to try
conclusions with the Block colt
around the big turn Mt the end OF
the track, with Surf Rider, Deadlock,
and Letterman hard by. In the back
stretch Busy American broke under
the strain and quit the race, while
Deadlock eventually was hard press
ed to finish fourth, and Surf Rider
and Letterman were so leg.weary
that they never got into ,he run
ming after the first mile.
The passing of Surf Rider, Letter
man, and the ill-fated Busy Ameri-
can came on the back stretch, end
still Norwich went on at the mead
of the pack with the sang froid OF
the true aristocrat who deigns not
10 look behind him at the antics OF
his interiors.
But Norwich is wondrous wise,
even for a horse, and he knew full
well that the real race had not yet
begun. As the early contenders
gave up the ghost, John Finn. ridden
by the negro, Perkins, moved up,
with Deadlock and My Play at his
flank. The gallant Bet Mosie was
vet to be heard from Mt this junc
ture.
Norwich Confident.
On past the whitewa shed, low
flungstables, they flashed--;L moving
blur that only gave a vague hint OF
the speed they were giving up. Into
the long, final turn. marking the
three-quarters, they went, and with
more than half the race under hia
skin, Norwich was pleased TO feel
confident, and with a sudden sIurt
went out to a two-length lead, catch
ing John Finn and all his immediate
followers mapping. That squirt won
the race, IL lIluetu II WIS uUl tuuN
won, the moment MorviCn pushed
his intelligent head in front at the
sixteenth.
However, the maneuver by John
son that gave the colt his lead also
gave the colt a definite advantage.
There was no horse in that race to
catch Norwich, with a twol"ngth
lead and only a quarter mile to go.
The rest of the race was a mere
formality. They turned into the
stretch and thence on down through
the lane OF shrieking thousands lin.
ing both sides of the track and
! those shrieks were for the winner,
I acclaimed before the race was Of
ficially over.
And yet they shrieked too soon,
at that. Stealthily as jungle
beast stalking upon his prey and
quite unseen and unnoticed Bet
Mosie had slipped up on the outside
coming around that final turn and
now that he was Strengthened out
for home came on with the speed
of an evil rumor. Bet Mose was
coming. The crowd sensed the sug.
gestion of impending drama and a
sudden hush fell over the stands