Evening star., 1952-04-05
Ten in Field Of Al
Finish Course; Race
Run in Heavy Mist
BY the Associated Press

Teal. owned by H. Lane, won the
106th running of the famed
Grand National Steeplechase to-
day, defeating a field of 46 other
jumpers in a race run in a heavy
mist.
Legal Joy was second and Wot
No Sun third in the gruelling test
of 4 miles, 856 yards. over 80
jumps. Q
It was the first time Teal, a
10-year-old gelding, carrying 152
pounds, had ever raced over the
course.
There was an 11-minute delay
at the start when about a dozen
horses in the bulky field broke
through the tape in a false start.
The official starter had them
tagged down. and then ordered
that a new tape be sprung to
replace the damaged ribbon.
Wins by 5 Lengths.
Teal, ridden by Arthur Thomp-
son, won by 5 lengths, while
Legal Joy was far ahead of Wot
No Sun. Two American-owned
starters were never factors in the
race and both went down.
Teal was the 100-to-7 second
choice in the betting. The IA
vorite at 10-to-1 was Freebooter
winner of the race in 1850. Legal
Joy went off at 1OO-to-6 and
Wot No Sun, second two years
ago, was 33-to-1. Uncle Barney
a rank outsider, was fourth.
For Thompson, it was his Sec
ond victory in the Steeplechase
blue ribbon event. He rode Sheila S
Cottage. the winnere in 1948. Both
Teal and Wot No Sun were trained
by Neville Crump at his stable
in Yorkshire. Crump had trained
Sheila's Cottage in 1949.
Visibility Very Poor.
The visibility was so poor be-
cause of the mist that little of
the actual running could be seen
by the crowd of nearly 25O,OO0.
1t had rained several times dur
ing the day, but the track was
termed in firm condition.
The late withdrawal of Texas
Don reduced the field to AZ.
The time was 8 minutes, 2O35
seconds. only Is of a second slow
er than the record set in 1884
by Golden Miller. Only 10 horses
completed the course.
The winners share of the purse
was $25,753.7O.
FavOrite Takes Lead.
Freebooter took the lead right
after the start, but Teal came
up fast on the next four OBJ
stacles and by the time they hac
reached Becher's Brook - sixth
obstacle on the triangular course
Teal had slight lead.
Teal. Freebooter and Legal JOY
then pulled well ahead of the
field as the tough obstacles took
their toll and many horses anc
riders went down.
Coming into the 18th fence
Teal still led. followed in order
by Wot No Sun, Legal Joy, Roi-
mond. Royal Stuart, Border Luck
Royal Tan, Menxie and Travel
ler's Pride.
Teal still led over the 18th jumr
as the field vanished into the mist
The sad remnant of this grour
!reappeared three jumps from the
finish with Teal holding a slight
advantage over Legal Joy, fol-
lowed by Royal Tan, Wot No Sur
and Uncle Barney. Freebooter
went down at the tricky Cana
Turn, the oath barrier, on the
second turn around the course,
Clear Last Fence Together.
Teal and Legal Joy jumped to.
Igether over the next-to-last fence
a few lengths ahead of Royal Tan
The two leaders went over the
last fence together and landed
neck and neck for a quarter-mile
dash to the finish. Royal Tar
fell at the last barrier. Their
Teal pulled away from Legal JOY
and went on for an easy win.
The two horses representing tn,
United States were bred on thi.
side of the Atlantic. One was st
kathleen II. owned by Sam Small
OF Garrison, Md. The other wa.
Possible, owned, trained and rid.
den by the father-son combina.
tion of George and Gene Wey.
mouth of Greenville, Del.
Gene, 19-year-old amateu,
jockey who is 6-foot-3, was up or
Possible, horse he purchased a
few days ago from the Duchess OF
Norfolk for his father, who is in
the horse brokerage business.
Il wanted to ride in the Grand
National and Possible looked gooc
to me-" young Weymouth saio
yesterday.
He is scheduled to fly home
at once to report to his draft