A few old John Henry races added to Youtube
 

NYRA's Youtube page has added 3 old races including John Henry.

There are a lot of his other races already on Youtube, but a few of these races are pretty interesting.

They include Darby Creek Road's allowance win at Saratoga where he set a still-standing track record of 7 furlongs in 1:20.40

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxFwHIw7W_s


Darby Creek Road also got the best of John Henry on turf here in the Hill Prince:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmUri_UADPg

He had a 3-for-3 lifetime record against John Henry, though he did meet him before the gelding started to reach his peak.

That is great stuff. A couple of interesting points; these races were after Darby Creek Road was sold by the Phillips' to Joseph Allen. Also, if I'm not mistaken Scythian Gold recovered from a severe burn (may have been acid) to have a useful career. NYRA also had the allowance race where John Henry defeated the great Waya. (Although she was beginning to tail off)

I gave Darby Creek Road to a Xaverian Brother in summer school before the 1977 Saratoga Special. (no harm with a 35 yr old red board) Went to the OTB on 5th Avenue and DCR paid $22.00. Brother Jim put a $10 on him and after I gave him his cash he donated it right back to a Xaverian charity.

I think Tesher trained Darby Creek Road after Darby Dan sold him. The same Howie Tesher that people on another board had never heard of.

:tro:

I guess they never heard of Weber City Miss or Westport Native either!

I worked for Howie for 5 years..Great years! We also bought Darby Creek Roads 1/2 sister named Andover Way, the dam of Dynaformer..

I feel like Joe Allen, and Andover Way for some reason makes me think about this, was one of the first owners to have aerodynamic silks for his riders. Does that make sense?

He was credited with developing and using them first. Yes. Sports Illustrated featured Angel Cordero Jr. in Allen's regular silks and the aerodynamic. The 1988 Breeders Cup were the silks coming out party. Lukas used them on all his horses that day and won three races (Gulch, Open Mind, Is it True).

I'll try and find the issue it was in.

Actually it was his wife Rhonda.

SILKS THAT ARE SMOOTHER THAN SILK

Jockeys' Wardrobes and, for that matter, thoroughbred racing may never be the same. Traditional silks are giving way to Aeroform Silks, shirts made of a special fabric that is both formfitting and waterproof. The wonder is that it took so long. Not only do the old silks—which are actually made of nylon—catch the wind and create a significant amount of drag, but they also absorb water, or "rain weight," as it is called in jockey parlance.

Aeroform Silks were developed by Rhonda Allen, a sculptor who is married to Joe Allen, a successful thoroughbred owner. While looking at some photos of her husband's horses five years ago, she noticed that the silks were blowing up like balloons. She thought jockeys might benefit from more aerodynamic clothing, so she had tight silks made for Richard Migliore, the jockey of the Aliens' filly, Make The Magic. The horse won her first three starts.

Still, Rhonda lacked scientific evidence, so she went to New York University physicist Dr. Richard Brandt. Said Brandt, "Initially I thought, How important could a few ripples in a jockey's suit be? But at those speeds, 38 miles an hour, the wind force goes up dramatically. We performed wind-tunnel tests on dummies, and all other things being equal, we calculated that a jockey with formfitting silks would gain one inch every second on a rider with traditional silks. In a one-mile race, the difference could be eight feet."

Working with Rhonda Allen, Danskin, the leotard company, began manufacturing Aeroform Silks, and word spread throughout the racing community, which is usually slow to change. Trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who has 14 horses entered in this week's Breeders' Cup, swears by the new outfits, as does jockey Angel Cordero. "When I first wore the new silks, the other jockeys made fun of me," says Cordero. "But I always think about the wind when I ride. You've got to take anything that gives you an edge or you're a bobo."
—AMY LENNARD:confused:

You are correct about the silks. Mr. Allens wife at the time Rhonda designed them .

Revidere beat me to it. And with better info...

Thanks guys.