Classic Example

When Assault romped home in the Kentucky Derby at 8-to-1, the smart horse players said, "Wait for the Preakness." In the Preakness, Assault beat Elizabeth Arden's Lord Boswell by just a neck. In the Belmont Stakes, last of horse racing's Big Three for three-year-olds, great gobs of smart money again went on Lord Boswell he finished fifth, 5 1/2 lengths behind Winner Assault.

That was the clincher. No one could deny any longer that Assault, the Texas-bred chestnut with a clubfoot, had what it takes. His 1946 earnings of $339,720 were an alltime high for a one-year campaign. Victory in the Arlington (Ill.) Classic would make him the third biggest money winner in turf history.

Although the Classic has always been a jinx for champion three-year-olds (it was for Whirlaway, Johnstown, Bimelech and Twenty Grand) the finally convinced bettors made Assault a 7-to-10 favorite for last week's 18th running of the mile-and-a-quarter stakes. The only real point to the race seemed to be whether he was a great horse, or only a good one in a bad year. Assault's Trainer Max Hirsch wondered whether the other horses were good enough to give Assault a race.

They were. This time Lord Boswell beat Assault--but only for the booby prize in the field of six. Assault was a dead last.

Said Assault's Jockey Warren Mehrten "Usually all I gotta do is clutch him and he goes. Today I clutched him and he didn't go."

On the first turn, a 6 1/2-to -1 hopeful with a good record, The Dude, took the lead never to be headed. A pint-sized chestnut colt bred by Cinemagnate Louis B. Mayer, he had been picked up in $4,000 claiming race last year. It took The Dude just 2 min. 2.6 sec. to win the Classic purse of $76,850 for his owner, Mrs. Al Gaal of New Orleans.

Another outsider, Dancer Fred Astaire's 7-to-1 Triplicate, last week took the $79,000 winner's purse in the Hollywood Gold Cup Handicap. The two favorites in the race belonged to Astaire's old employer, M.G.M.'s Mayer; they ran second and fifth.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.