All Three

Nobody had a good word for Assault, but he had a way of winning. Red-faced Max Hirsch, his trainer, complained to newsmen: "If you had a horse that won the Derby and the Preakness, wouldn't you say he was a pretty fair horse?" Most of the 43,599 people who streamed out last week to watch the $100,000 Belmont Stakes apparently didn't think so yet. Elizabeth Arden Graham's moody Lord Boswell, which had already lost two of horse racing's Big Three to Assault, was the favorite again.

Belmont's mile-and-a-half is a long grind; the starting pace was slow. Jockey Warren Mehrtens, up on Assault, had orders to hold him back until Lord Boswell made his move. Jockey Mehrtens dutifully obeyed for a mile, decided he could wait no longer, and set out for the leaders. Assault overtook them in the home stretch, finished three lengths ahead. His winning time (2:30 4/5) was nothing sensational, but the victory put the Texas-bred horse into racing's select seven that have won All Three.* It also made Assault the 13th biggest prizewinner in history, with $316,270. Lord Boswell ran out of the money, in fifth place.

*The others: Sir Barton, Gallant Fox, Omaha, War Admiral, Whirlaway, Count Fleet.

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