SNOW KNIGHT
(United States)

Four-year-old chestnut colt by Firestreak--
Snow Blossom, by Blush Royal

With a streak of five consecutive stakes victories on the turf, Snow Knight comes into the International as the leading contender for 1975's Best Grass Horse honors. The English-bred colt, whose chief trouble seems to be an aversion to starting gates, has won six of eight starts this year while campaigning exclusively on grass. In his only finish out of the money, Snow Knight failed to recover following an unruly start in the United Nations Handicap.

Snow Knight was bred in England by J.A.C. Lilley and was purchased as a yearling at Newmarket for $14,251 by Mr. and Mrs. Neil Phillips. Racing in the colors of Mrs. Phillips, whose husband is an attorney and banker in Montreal, Snow Knight won two races as a 2-year-old and finished second in the Champagne Stakes at Doncaster.

As a 3-year-old, Snow Knight won the Epsom Derby as a 50-to-1 shot and was third in the Benson and Hedges Gold Cup. Late that season, arrangements to syndicate the colt for $1.28 million were made by E.P. Taylor. But the plans were changed and Taylor privately purchased controlling interest from Mr. and Mrs. Phillips. Brought to Canada, the colt started three times at Woodbine last October, placing once. In the 1974 Canadian Championship he spent himself opening a lead of eight lengths while running out of control, and finished eighth.

Known as a rogue in England, Snow Knight was terrified at the sight of a starting gate. After his 1974 campaign, he was sent to Aiken, S.C., where trainer Mac-Kenzie Miller worked long hours to calm him in the gate and to control his speed. Still, in his first scheduled start of 1975, Snow Knight reared and dumped jockey Jorge Velasquez at the gate and had to be scratched.

Although he has improved markedly at the gate, Snow Knight continues to show some reluctance before entering the stall-as he did on Oct. 26 prior to scoring a half-length victory in the 1 5/8-mile Canadian Championship. Prior to that, he had won

SNOW KNIGHT

(SNOW KNIGHT-continued)

the Seneca Handicap, divisions of the Brighton Beach and
Manhattan, and the Man o' War following the disqualifi-
cation of One on the Aisle.

Snow Knight's career earnings have topped the $500,000
mark, including more than a quarter million dollars in
both England and the United States. Although owned by
Taylor, a Canadian, Snow Knight has campaigned this
year in the United States and thus will represent the
U.S. in the International.

Firestreak, the sire of Snow Knight, won nine of 15
career starts in three years, earning $32,082. He won
the City and Suburban Handicap and the Craven and Rous
Memorial Stakes. Firestreak is owned by a syndicate
and stands at Aislabie Stud near Stetchworth, Newmarket,
England. He has sired eight stakes winners, with Snow
Knight his first winner in North America.

Snow Blossom, the dam of Snow Knight, was purchased by
Lilley at Newmarket while she was carrying the foal.
Consigned by her breeder, James McCallister, the mare
brought $2,898. Unraced Snow Blossom is from Ariana,
an unraced half-sister to English St. Leger winner
Chamossaire and to four other stakes winners. Snow
Blossom's sire, Flush Royal, won the Cesarewitch at
age 7, and was classic-placed in both France and
England during a lengthy career.

OWNER--EDWARD P. TAYLOR (WINDFIELDS FARM)

Edward P. Taylor, the 74-year-old industrialist who is
regarded as the savior of modern racing in his native
Canada, is back at Laurel for his third try at winning
the International. His Minsky, representing Canada,
finished fourth in 1971 and Tentam was fifth in 1973
while representing the United States.

Taylor's Windfields Farm, with some 1,500 acres in
Oshawa, Ontario, Canada, and 1,600 acres in Chesapeake
City, Md., is one of the world's largest breeding and
racing stables. Taylor has now bred 176 stakes winners,
which ranks second on the all-time list only to the 192
bred by the late Harry Payne Whitney. Less than one-
third of the Windfields-breds have raced in Taylor's
colors.

SNOW KNIGHT

(SNOW KNIGHT-continued)

From 1960 through 1969, Taylor ranked as the leading breeder in North America in number of races won. Last year, he topped the North American breeders in earnings with $1,926,937. Taylor was the first breeder in history to have bred the winners of both the Kentucky Derby and the Epsom Derby (Northern Dancer, 1964, and Nijinsky, 1970).

All told, there are some 400 horses involved in the Windfields breeding and racing operation, and Taylor says the breeding end of the sport commands most of his interest. Since 1968, he has purchased 73 yearlings for $3.5 million and sold 277 for $7.3 million. There are eight stallions at the Maryland farm, including Northern Dancer and Tentam, and nine more at the Canadian farm. Taylor also owns shares in various syndicated stallions, including Secretariat.

Taylor spends much of his time at his residence at Lyford Cay in the Bahamas. Although far from retired, he has relinquished a number of his industrial positions and says, "I don't work at night anymore." He built his financial empire after the stock market crash of 1929, starting in the brewery business. After World War II, he joined three partners in establishing the Argus Corporation, a giant investment firm.

Taylor, who used to attend the races on Saturday while matriculating at McGill University in his native Ottawa, Ontario, entered the sport in the 1930s. The original Windfields Farm was engulfed by Toronto, and Taylor later gave that name to his National Stud property. He is now the honorary chairman of the board of the Ontario Jockey Club and Woodbine Race Course.

TRAINER--MacKENZIE MILLER

MacKenzie Miller, the highly-regarded developer of turf stars, will be saddling his fourth starter in the International--and in Snow Knight he may well send out his fourth favorite in the grass classic. The previous three favorites failed, however, with

SNOW KNIGHT

(SNOW KNIGHT-continued)

## TRAINER--MacKENZIE MILLER

Assagai finishing third in 1966, Hawaii second in 1969, and Tentam fifth in 1973. Assagai and Hawaii were trained by Miller for Cragwood Stable, while both Tentam and Snow Knight came from Windfields Farm.

Miller, who was 54 on Oct. 16, won one of his first major stakes at Laurel when his Lebkuchen won the Selima Stakes in 1956. He has developed 36 stakes winners, including grass champions Assagai and Hawaii, Tentam and Leallah.

A Kentuckian from Versailles ("we're provincial, we pronounce it Ver-sales"), Miller first became interested in racing as a kid, watching his father, Scott Miller, train and breed horses. Following service during World War II, he got the urge to get into the sport, quit the University of Kentucky, "and picked up a pitchfork at Calumet."

After working with broodmares and in the training barns, Miller eventually took a job as a groom and barn foreman in North Carolina. He took out his trainer's license in 1949, and by 1953 he was training winners in New York. When Charles Engelhard entered racing, he hired Miller for Cragwood Farm. When Tentam was sold by Cragwood to Windfields Farm in 1973, Miller was retained to continue with Tentam by his new owner.

SNOW KNIGHT

(SNOW KNIGHT-continued)

JOCKEY--JORGE VELASQUEZ

Jorge Velasquez ranked third among the jockeys in money won during the past two years, and he's up among the leaders again in 1975. Through Oct. 26, his mounts had earned more than $2.7 million. Last year, Velasquez just missed joining Laffit Pincay and Angel Cordero as $4 million winners, finishing with $3,927,488. In 1973, Velasquez finished third with more than $3.3 million. He led the nation in 1969 when his mounts earned more than $2.5 million.

Velasquez, who won the national riding title in 1967 with 438 winners, was among the top 10 the past two years with 254 winners in 1973 and 249 a year ago. He had 191 through Oct. 26 and for his career, the 29-year-old ride is closing in on 2,700 winners. Velasquez, a native of Chepo, Panama, came to the United States in 1965 to ride for Fred Hooper. In his first full year on the circuit, 1966, he was second in the national standings.

In five International appearances, Velasquez won with Fort Marcy in 1970 and twice finished second--with Czar Alexander in 1968 and aboard Hawaii in 1969. He rode Riva Ridge to a sixth-place finish in 1972 and the following year, his most recent International ride, finished fifth aboard Tentam.

SNOW KNIGHT

STAR APPEAL

(Germany)

Five-year-old bay horse by Appiani II--

Sterna, by Neckar

Star Appeal, making a bid for a portion of the $150,000 in the International, already has won pounds, marks, lire and francs for owner Waldemar Zeitelhack. The 5-year-old has posted victories in four nations, and is the leading contender to be voted the European Horse of the Year.

Star Appeal this year became the first German winner of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and, at 119-to-1, was the longest priced winner in the history of the French classic. Earlier, by winning the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown, he became the first German-trained horse to capture a major English race in this century. Star Appeal also won the Grand Prize Baden Economy in Germany and the Gran Premio de Milan. In the latter race, he defeated Orange Bay, the Italian Derby winner. Star Appeal was the first entry invited to the 1975 International, back in mid-August, long before scoring his upset victory in the Arc.

The German-bred, foaled in Ireland, was trained in Ireland until Zeitelhack purchased him for about $25,000 in the autumn of 1973. Of the five races he won in 14 starts during his first two seasons of racing, one was the Preis der Stadt at Baden-Baden in Germany. Star Appeal won two of 14 races in 1974, and finished fourth in the Champion Stakes at Newmarket.

The sire of Star Appeal, Appiani II, is an Italian-bred which won the Italian Derby. Appiani II was sired by the French Derby winner Herbager, which has spent most of his successful stud career at Claiborne Farm in Kentucky. Herbager ranked third among American sires in 1973 and was fifth last year. The biggest money-winner among his progeny in 1974 was Big Spruce, which finished runner-up to Dahlia in the 1973 International and was seventh last year.

Sterna, Star Appeal's dam, placed several times during her racing career in Germany. Star Appeal was the fifth of her eight foals through 1974, and all have a

STAR APPEAL

(STAR APPEAL-continued)

name beginning with the letter "S." Sterna was sired
by Neckar, which won the German Derby and 2,000 Guineas
of 1951 and then became a champion sire in his homeland.
Neckar was by Ticino, the so-called "Bold Ruler of West
Germany," which was a classic winner and then headed
the German sire list numerous times.

Star Appeal will be Germany's ninth representative in the International, with three fourth-place finishes the best previous showings. Hitchcock, which finished fourth in 1969, was purchased after the race by leading U.S. owner Sigmund Sommer and won almost $200,000 for his new connections. Orsini II, fifth in 1958, returned to Germany to become that nation's leading sire.

OWNER--WALDEMAR ZEITELHACK

Waldemar Zeitelhack, 48 is the owner of an iron and
steel firm which specializes in import and export trade.
The head office of the firm, which Zeitelhack founded in
1953, is in Schwaig, near Nuremburg, with branches in
Switzerland, Spain and Italy.

Zeitelhack, whose horses compete under the stable name
of Stall Moritzberg, is the runaway leader in Germany
this year, with $664,480 in earnings through Oct. 5.
Star Appeal, with four major victories in four nations,
has topped the $500,000 mark. But Zeitelhack also has
won the Henckel-Renner with Kronenkranich, the top-rated
juvenile in Germany last year, and the Grosser Hansa-Preis
with My Brief.

In addition to 15 flat racers, Zeitelhack has five
 trotters in training and they also have contributed to
his list of successes in 1975 with victories in the
German Trotting Derby and the St. Leger. Zeitelhack is
not interested in breeding, preferring to buy horses for
racing rather than become involved in the long-term
investments required for a successful stud. Only one
of his horses is female.

Zeitelhack entered racing in 1969. Most of his horses
are kept at the stables of Stud Rottgen in Cologne and
are trained by Theo Grieper, but Kronenkranich is trained
by Sven von Mitzlaff. Others are trained in Ireland by
John Oxx.

STAR APPEAL

(STAR APPEAL-continued)

OWNER--WALDEMAR ZEITELHACK

Besides his racing interests, Zeitelhack has a small
private stud where he keeps pure-bred Arabian horses
and riding horses. He has a pilot's license for both
private planes and helicopters, and his chief hobby is
big-game hunting in Africa. Zeitelhack is married and
has four children, two boys and two girls.

TRAINER--THEO GRIEPER

Theo Grieper has been connected with racing in various capacities, including jockey, for 32 of his 46 years. He started the season with 43 horses, all but four owned by Frau Maria Mehl-Muhlens, the breeder of Star Appeal. He since has added more horses from Waldemar Zeitelhack, the owner of Star Appeal.

Although he ranked only 11th among German trainers with 28 victories through Oct. 12, Grieper had great success with Star Appeal and also has done well with the 4-year-old Lord Udo. In winning three races this year, Lord Udo each time defeated Marduk, the 1974 German Derby winner which finished last in the International a year ago.

Grieper saddled Prince Ippi in 1973 when he won the Gran Premio de Milan, the same race won this year by Star Appeal. Prince Ippi is a son of Imperial, which finished seventh in the 1963 International while representing Hungary.

JOCKEY--GREVILLE STARKEY

Greville Starkey, 35, was born at Lichfield, Stafford-
shire, England. He now lives in Newmarket, where he
owns the local sauna baths and is one of his own best
customers. He is currently riding at 119 pounds.

Starkey first rode Star Appeal when he finished fourth, at 66-to-1, in the Champion Stakes at Newmarket in 1974. But their string of successes came about this year only by accident. Edward Hide, another English jockey who had won races with Lord Udo for trainer Theo Grieper, was

STAR APPEAL

(STAR APPEAL-continued)

JOCKEY--GREVILLE STARKEY

booked to ride Star Appeal in the Gran Premio de Milan on June 15. But Hide broke a leg in a fall at York two days earlier, and Starkey was substituted.

After Star Appeal won the Italian race, horse and jockey stayed together for later successes in the Eclipse Stakes and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. Starkey also has been riding regularly for Grieper on Sundays. Prior to joining up with Star Appeal, Starkey's most important victory was with Homeward Bound in the 1964 Epsom Oaks.

Six days before the Arc, Starkey was suspended four days for careless riding in a minor event at Goodwood. The suspension was in effect during the week following the Arc, freeing Starkey to ride Star Appeal in a special parade before the stands at Cologne. To commemorate the victory, the trainer and jockey were presented with medals, and Starkey was the first non-German to gain such recognition.

Starkey won his first race with Russian Gold at Ponte-
fract on June 8, 1956. He has won more than 850 races
since in England, plus other victories throughout
Europe and in India. Through Oct. 27, he had 39 winners.
Starkey also has ridden a few winners over the hurdles,
and he is fond of riding to the hounds. He also lists
shooting among his hobbies, and he is an avid golfer.

STAR APPEAL

TSUKISAMU HOMARE
(Japan)

Six-year-old chestnut horse by China Rock--
Harohsukai, by Harroway

Tsukisamu Homare has won four of eight starts this year, including three straight in the Sapporo Kinen, the Daisetsu Handicap and the Hakodate Kinen. It was his second victory in the Hakodate Kinen. In Japan, where horses are lightly campaigned by American standards, Tsukisamu Homare has started 48 times in five years. His record shows 13 victories, eight seconds, six thirds and earnings of $455,444.

Tsukisamu Homare, purchased by his owner for about $20,000, was picked to compete in the International by a special committee of the Japan Racing Association, which oversees the nation's racing industry, after an invitation was received from Laurel president John D. Schapiro.

Japan has been represented in six previous runnings of the International, with a fifth-place finish by Speed Symbol in 1967 the best showing to date.

OWNER--HIROSHI SUEOKA

Hiroshi Sueoka, 37, heads the Sueoka Shoji Co., Ltd., of Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan, a firm which deals in heavy manufacturing machinery. He has been in racing for four years, and his first acquisition was Tsukisamu Homare. The first name of the horse is the same as Sueoka's hometown, while the second name is translated as "honorable." Sueoka now owns eight horses.

TRAINER--MASAO MOTOISHI

Masao Motoishi comes from a racing family in Nakayama, near Tokyo, where one of Japan's leading tracks is located. Now 57, Motoishi has been a trainer since the early 1950s, following a riding career of some 20 years. As a jockey, he was among the leaders for years and once won the Emperor's Cup.

TSUKISAME HOMARE

(TSUKISAME HOMARE-continued)

TRAINER--MASAO MOTOISHI

Motoishi now has 24 horses under his care. Tsukisamu Homare has provided his top victories by taking the Sapporo Kinen this year and the Hakodate Kinen both in 1974 and 1975.

JOCKEY--TOMIO YOKOYAMA

Tomio Yokoyama, 35, is rated one of Japan's leading jockeys, although he was idle for about two months this year after suffering a shoulder injury in a spill. Yokoyama rode his first mount in 1961.

Just last Sunday, Nov. 2, he won the Meguro Kinen in Japan aboard Mejiro Musashi, which finished seventh in the 1972 International. Last Feb. 1, Yokohama won the Invitational Race at Happy Valley Race Course in Hong Kong, competing against top jockeys from throughout the world on horses drawn by lot.

TSUKISAMU HOMARE