Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-08-28

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all bets declared of and no run
of. The American Racing
Manuals records on Domino ado
little, except that the Keenes
son of Himyar was the l-to-2
favorite and the race was run
in lips.
Both colts went on to greater
things as 3-year-olds in
vintage group that also included
Henry of Navarro and Rey e.
Santa Anita. owned by the
fabulous Lucky Baldwin. Dom
inc won the one-mile Wither'
and then skipped the Longer
Belmont Stakes. which Henry Of
Navarro won. Instead. Domino
went to Chicago for the Ameri'
can Derby, then run at a mile
and one-half at the old Wash
ington Park course. He made
the poorest showing OF his
career, finishing ninth in a race
won by Rey ell Santa Anita.
Raced Clifford Next
Returning East, Domino
quickly reasserted himself anc
a match race with Clifford. the
Western 4-year-old champion
was arranged for September 6
at Sheepshead Bay. The dis
lance was Domino's favored
mile and the riders, once again
were Taral and Simms. Al
though Domino was the peoples
choice, big commissions on Gilt
ford made the older horse {
slight favorite.
Perhaps because the writel
seemed to be a Domipo-Tara
fan this match got the full
treatment in the press. The two
rivals ran head and head int
the stretch and then Domino
slowly pulled away. The Stal
summed it up this way:
domino wins the GROVE
shouted, and they were right
for Taral eased his mount ane
came in winner under an easy
pull in the fast time of 1898
Never before a length in thu
lead"
Domino Gets Big Test
Next came the big test fol
Domino, whose only defeat III
his first IA races had come wher
he failed at a distance in the
American Derby. The KeeneS
matched their champion against
Henry of Navarro in a mile-and'
'an-eighth race at Gravesend or
September Is, 1894, just nint
days after the duel with Clifford
Before the race Riley Gran
non, famous to this day as "the
Boy Plunger from the West,
made the rounds of the betting
ring plastering $1,000 notes on
Henry of Navarro. The late
Sam Hildreth, who trained Zev
Grey Lag and other famous
horses for Harry Sinclair, de-
Iscribed the incident in his book,
THE Spell of the Turf" Hill
dreth estimated that the gam
bier bet between $4,000 and
500, 900" on Henry Navarro
yet Domino was the l1-to-20
favorite at post time.
Again in Dead Heat
Domino took the lead at once
as was expected, but his follow
ers abandoned hope when his
-stretch-running rival collareo
him at the eighth pole. Here
Domino amazed everyone by re-
fusing to quit and the two horses
finished locked together in a
dead heat.
Three weeks later there was
another special race at Graves
end at the same distance in
Ivolving Domino, Henry Of Ma
Ivarre and Clifford. Henry Of
Navarro beat his archrival by
III lengths this time as Clifford
iran second.
Four years earlier, following
Salvatore defeat of Tenny. the
famed swayback. in the Subur-
ban Handicap, there was another
classic match race. This one
was staged at the Coney Island
track on June 25. 1890. eight
days after the disputed Sub
urban. This was one race ir
which Snapper Garrison's classic
garrison finish" failed to carry
the day. Garrison. riding Ten
ny, did not catch Salvador until
a split second after the latter
ridden by Isaac Murphy, had
passed under the wire.
Truly. they did things much
more simply in the old days.