Evening star., 1953-12-04

Evening Out the best 2-yearold fly PorterhouSe
the best 2year-old colt Grecian Queen the top
3-year-old flly Sickles Image the best mare
Native Dancer thrown juicy bone "bes 3yearold
colt" :. but Tom Fool hit the jackpot
And sitting within earshot while the speakers were
auding Tom Fool something Atkinson
had said month ago during visit to Washington.
ATKINSON IS THE ONLY rider who has ever handled
Tom Fool winner of 81 or 80 and of $57O65 remark
able record impressive earning
was ang during 1892 and forced to skip the big 3yearold
including the Kentucky Derby
Atkinson saying, this DAY Washington:
MY wife, at least happy when the Tom Fool-Natve
Dancer meeting fell through"
Your wife happy?" asked "Was she afraid
Native Dancer would beat you?"
mo" Ted replied "She thought Tom Fool would win
just as did, But she didn't want to either horse beaten
A lot of people felt the same way, think"
sentimental observation doubtless and yet largely
true Native Dancer more so than Tom Fool was the 1858
darling the country Maybe much with the regular
horse players but certainly with the parttimers and the
housewives who of Saturday enthraed by the gray
colts come-from-b behind victories.
Only Native Dancer beaten and that in the
big insofar as the public not breeders
cerned Badly bumped, couldn't quite make
the inches necessary beat the Dark Star
in the Kentucky Derby But he all the rest He went
9for-9 2year 9-for1O 3yearod His winnings,
$743,92O, topped Tom Fools by plenty.
AS REGARDS THE FAILURE to match Fool and
Dancer people divided in sentiment Some
ferventy hoped the the older horse would be
put test 1t isn't stickout like Native Dancer
regns the 3yearod realm every year that there
like Fool 1t would have been interesting to
these folks maintained how The Dancer and Tom Fool would
have Jared weghfor basis especially they could
have a couple efvraees at different distances.
others, like Atknson's wife, undoubtedly were just
happy happier they did not meet Without
checking with Mrs Atkinson it's the here that she was
willing settle for the IRA VOTE Tom Fool over Native
Dancer
That way nobody got licked and nobody got hurt Like
the Maryland controversy in football 1t never
proved which really the superior team You have
the experts and they have thick SKINS
so the public believes At times it's been suggested some
what needlessly that they have thick heads, too.
NATIVE DANCER RIOTERS shouldn't feel too badly
about voting has at least another year to run
in races whereas senior He's been graduated
and dedicated to a of husbandry So-called football
experts been known to consider future playing te
Why not IRA secretaries?
at rack-tha is made that horse racing is not
precisely without sentiment There are wealthy men and
poorer talk of racing pedestrian morse
players don't c. " Whitney for instance ON the same DAY
washington that Atkinson appeared to speak peore Ce
National Press Club, Whitney saying, in effect:
"I was brought up racing don't think cared much
about il until night the 1927 Kentucky DERBY had
been run and my horse Whskery had won it. That
night on our Lexington farm took STROLL saw bonfire
seemed all the Negroes Greentree Far-we never
hired any but Negroes-were gathered.
They were singing softly by the fire. They happy
happier than any people I'd One was holding
horse by Regret the only y l9l5 to win
the Kentucky asked him why he was holding the
old mare ought to be here this happy day. came
the answers
when I walked away" Whitney said "I realized the
true depth of horse racing