Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-02-21
Sub Triun1phs
On Land|ocked;
Favorites Trail
Quiet Step, at 26-1,
Second; Andre Third;
Betting Marks Broken

MIAMI, Fla, Feb. 20.-Land-
locked, a front-running, 34-to-1
shot with substitute rider UP,
furnished one Of the biggest
surprises in Florida's racing his
tory this afternoon by running
away from all the big-name
horses in the 18th running of
the 100000 Widener.
Royal Vale. Straight Face and
Royal Bay Gem. heavily backed
on a day that saw all betting
marks broken by a crowd of
1859 at Hialeah. finished far
up the stretch in a race that was
almost completely dominated ny
outsiders.
Landlocked. owned by James
Cox Brady. New York banker,
led from start to finish and was
only head in front of Quiet
Step. a 26-to-1 long shot, after
a roughly run mile and a quarter.
Andre. who would have been
much more than 8 to / had he
not been coupled in the mutuel
field with two other horses, hung
on for third money, a length and
a quarter behind Quiet Step and
a neck in front of the fast
closing Ruhe. This Hasty House
Farm veteran was Is to / him
self.
Substitute Rider Hero.
It was that kind of a race, and
the hero of it was young Johnny
Hickman. 22-year-old jockey
from New Orleans. He had the
mount on Landlocked only be-
cause 40-year-old Jimmy Stout
managed to draw a suspension
a week or so ago.
Hickman and Landlocked
didn't break any track records
today-the time was an ordinary
2:03 H5-but they did well enough
to take down the biggest purse
in Widener history. Landlocked
earned $102.20O of the big gross
of $139. 400 for Banker Brady.
Hickman, who few here from
New Orleans only this morning,
was pretty well paid for the trip,
too. He gets 10 per cent of that
$102 200. r.
The biggest crowd of the meet
ing-it was second only to the
34,394 that turned out for the
Widener in 1948--jammed Hia-
leah on a bright afternoon in
which the temperature was IN
the Sos The throng had def
mite ideas about the race and
most of them concerned the
three name horses.
Record S4O4,452 Wagered.
AS result. record $404, 452
was wagered on the Widener.
making it the most heavily-bet
race in Hialeah's history. Most
OF the money bet. which eclipsed
the previous record for a single
race by nearly $4,000, went in
on Royal Vale. Straight Face
and Royal Bay Gem.
None of the three showed very
much, and only Straight Face
seemed to have any excuses. The
Greentree 4-year-old, second
choice at $40 to /, wound up
eighth after a rocky trip during
which Ted Atkinson had to take
up twice in the run to the first
turn. Royal Vale, Mrs. Esther
DUPONT Thouron'S English-bred,
went off the favorite at 3.55 to l.
but quit badly in the stretch and
finished next to last in the field
OF ID, Royal Bay Gem, the g.
to-1 third choice, made one mild
move from far back on the back
stretch, then called it a day and
settled for 18th place.
Mutuel Record Set.
The mutuel handle today was
$2,574.320. which smashed the
old record by nearly $4,000.
The old mark of $2,332,832 was
set only last Saturday.
Landlocked paid $40, $3.50
and $500. The Apheim Stables
Quiet Step, ridden into second
place by Hedley Woodhouse, re-
turned $3.50 and $14.7O. The
River Divide Farms Andre.
whose rider was Gene Martin,
paid only $3.50 to show. He had
been coupled with Wise Margin
and Second Avenue. both of
whom had quite a few hackers.
Landlocked's win price was the
largest ever paid to hackers of
Widener winner. Until today
Big Pebbles price of $3.50 in
1941 was the biggest.
Today'S upset also ended the
success of McLennan Handicap
money horses" in the Widener.
Continued on Page BIT, Col. -