Evening star., 1955-07-21
Longest Stretch
In u. 5. Picked
For Match Race
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nearly 400 shorter than that at
the Homewood course.
Just as In the Derby, Willie
Shoemaker viii have the mount
on Swaps and Eddie Arcaro Will
ride Nashua. There aren't any
better riders anywhere and their
rivalry is intense. Starting in
1850 Shoemaker has ridden the
most winners four out Of five
times, but Arcaro nearly always
is at the top in the amount of
money won. Shoemaker cur
rently is running neck and neck
with Willie Hartack for 1855
riding honors.
No decision has been reached
as to whether the race will be
televised. Certain it is that no
thoroughbred event since Sir
Gallahad III nosed out the great
Epinard at st. Cloud near Paris
!. in 1928 has attracted more world
4 interest.
Great Races i'm Past
In the last 20 years. there have
been some great match races
notably the Seabiscuit-War Ad-
miral meeting at Pimlico in 1888,
the Alsab- -Whirlaway race at
,Narragansett in 1912 and two
Myrtlewood- -Clang sprint races
lin 1885.
But there were several fiascos,
too. The Armed-Assault match
at Belmont was one of these, for
Assault was in such poor shape
that there was no wagering on
the event and Armed led all the
way to win by eight lengths.
The Seabiscuit-Ligaroti match at
Del Mar in 1888 did nothing for
racing. for there wasn't any ex-
cuse for the race in the first
place.
The Man o. War-Sir Barton
match at Canada's Kenilworth
Park in 1920 also was a fiasco,
for Sir Barton was not at his
best and Man o. War won by
seven lengths eased up. Only a
few years ago, the Pimlico Spe-
cial provided another mismatch
when Greentree's Capot beat
Calumet's Coaltown. far from his
best form, by a dozen lengths.
Twice in the last 40 years or
so, match races have been en-
Iployed to decide 3-year-old hon.
ors. Hourless still holds the
Laurel track record for a mile
and a quarter-2:02-set on an
October afternoon in 1917 when
he defeated Omar Khayyam, the
only foreign-bred ever to win the
Kentucky Derby. Six years later,
Harry Sinclair's Zev had to nose
out In Memoriam in a match at
Louisville to clinch the 3-year-
old title and earn the right to
meet Papyrus, the 1923 EPSON
Derby victor in a $4,000 match
at Belmont.
The announcement yesterday
afternoon that Nashua and
Swaps had finally been matched
surprised and delighted horse
lovers everywhere. It came at a
time when it looked as though
the meeting might never come
off.
Nashua. winner of the $148,500
Classic at Arlington Park, had
been shipped to Saratoga for "a
much-needed rest" Swaps was
on his home grounds in Califor-
MIA, getting ready to ship to
Chicago for the American Derby
on the grass at Washington Park
August 20. Swaps probably will
arrive in Chicago next Wednes-
day as he is not expected to run
against older horses in Saturdays
100000 Sunset Handicap at
Hollywood Park.
Both Must Be in Shape
Owner Ellsworth and Trainer
Meshach Tenney were expected
to announce today that Swaps
won't go in the Sunset, which Is
at a mile and five-eighths.
Swaps was assigned 118 pounds,
four over the scale for a 3-year-
old. Weights for the other ELI
gibles, all older handicap stars,
are: Determine, 1874, two under
scale; Rejected, 1872; Social Out
cast. 121; Alidon, 1l9, and Mister
Gus, ITO.
Meanwhile, Woodward dis
closed in New York that Nashua
will not run in either the Travers
or the Saratoga Cup. He won't
resume serious training at Sara
toga for several weeks and prob
ably will go to Chicago about a
week before the match.
Both owners have made 1t
clear their colts must be in top
shape and Woodward pointed
out that there was mo firm
contract" for the race.
In this connection, it was re-
called that the Seabiscuit- War
Admiral match originally was
scheduled for Belmont Park with
a $4,000 purse. Only a few
weeks before the Memorial Day
meeting. there were reports that
Seabiscuit was not training well
and the race was called off.
The following fall, Alfred G.
Vanderbilt, then president of
Pimlico, got the two together in
!one Of the best races ever. Sea-
biscuit won by four lengths but
the two champions raced as a
team for more than half the dis
tance of a mile and three
sixteenths.