Whirlaway's amazing May of 1941

[The Indomitable DrugS]

I looked at it a lot closer - and I think Whirlaway's Kentucky Derby win might have been the second best in the history of the race.

Whirlaway won the KY Derby by 8 lengths in new track record time of 2:01.40

2nd place finisher Staretor returned to So. Cal after the Ky Derby and finished first in his next 3 starts - including a Hollywood Derby win at 10fs - before an injury sidelined him.

3rd place finisher Market Wise (by 8.25 lengths) came into the Derby 4-for-4 lifetime in routes - and was a last out Wood Memorial winner. He was later a champion older male.

4th place finisher Porter's Cap (by 10.5 lengths) won the Santa Anita Derby by 4 lengths - and was a easy last out winner of the Chesapeake Stakes in his Eastern prep for the Derby

5th place finisher (by 11.5 lengths) Little Beans was 11-7-2-1 lifetime - and his one off the board finish was the result of a DQ in a race he finished first.

Flamingo winner Dispose finished 6th - last out 6 length winner of the Blue Grass Our Boots finished 8th.

The days other route - a $1,250 open claiming race for older males at 9fs went 50 full Beyer points slower. Today - the Beyer par for an open 5K claimer at Churchill Downs is 70.

I looked at this claiming race and it was a surprisingly strong one.

The winner Honey Chilie was a last out 4 length winner at this same $1,250 claiming level. Like Whirlaway, he was also owned by Calumet and trained by Ben Jones.

2nd place finisher Brown Comet was 3rd by 2 at this same class level last out.

3rd place finisher Chin Music had won 8 of 16 on the bottom at Tropical Park and Hialeah over the winter.

Based on this - I would project a 122 for Whiraway's Kentucky Derby. Staretor would get a 111. Market Wise 110. Porter's Cap 107. The winner of the claimer would get a 72

Whirlaway's Preakness went 50 Beyer points faster than a 1.25K older female claimer. It went 10 points faster than a handicap for older males - which was won by a next out stakes winner. I would project his Preakness Beyer to be a 112. Preakness 2nd place finisher King Cole (beaten 5.5 lengths) would get a 103. He was a nice horse who came back to win the Withers by 3 lengths next out.

If anyone hasn't seen Whirlaway's Preakness win yet - it was one of the most visually amazing performances ever: (it's 2:00 in) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6o-5TR0m5N8


After winning the Derby and the Preakness - Whirlaway took on the best older male in the country Mioland in an alw race.



Mioland (Seabiscuit's connections) was 2nd by a neck at even money in the 16 horse field Santa Anita Handicap. He gave the winner 16lbs. He just won the San Juan Capistrano for the 2nd year in a row - under 130lbs in a field of 17. The 2nd place finisher got a 23lbs weight break.

Whirlaway wins the alw race. Mioland is 2nd - he was later voted champion older male. The 3rd and 4th place finishers of this allowance race come back and run 1st and 2nd in the important Suburban Handicap in their next start.

So, in May of 1941 - Whirlaway dominated a solid field in the KY Derby in supersonic fashion. Won the Preakness in one of the most visually impressive wins of all-time. And had no trouble beating the best older male in the country in an Alw race. He completed the Triple Crown with a win in the Belmont Stakes on June 7th. This was a truly great horse. I'm more impressed with him than horses like Man O' War and Count Fleet.

[slotdirt]

But Zenyatta's better.

[The Indomitable DrugS]

Another interesting thing about Whirlaway... here is his career record when he's more than 6.5 lengths back while running at a distance of over a mile.

1st time: 1st by 8 lengths in the Kentucky Derby
2nd time: 1st by 5.5 lengths in the Preakness
3rd time: 1st by 3.75 lengths in the Travers
4th time: 1st by head in the Clark Handiap
5th time: 1st by 0.75 in the Dixie Handicap
6th time: 2nd by 2 in the Suburban
7th time: 1st by 1.75 lengths in the Brooklyn
8th time: 2nd by 2.5 lengths in the Butler (winner got 29lbs weight break)
9th time: 1st by 2.25 lengths in the Mass Cap
10th time: 1st by 2 in the Nar Special Handicap
11th time: 2nd by 1.5 in the Manhatten Handicap (winner got 17lbs break)
12th time: 1st by half length in the Washington Park Handicap
13th time: 1st by 1.5 lengths in the Louisiana Handicap

So, the 13 times that Whirlaway was able to fall more than 6.5 lengths back going long - he was still able to compile a 13-10-3-0 record ... and virtually all of those races either important 3yo races like the Ky Derby, Preakness, and Travers - or important handicap races against older males.

I'm convinced that you could take a speedy precocious horse like Hard Spun or Smarty Jones that we mock now ... and if they fell in the right year long ago - we'd be talking about them the same as people talk about Man O' War and Count Fleet.

However, a horse like Whirlaway came around at a time before pedigrees started to become so speed heavy and 2yo in training sales became big.

Whirlaway was quick and early developing enough to win races like the Saratoga Special at 6fs and the Hopeful at 6.5fs. Had enough early speed to actually set paces in the Blue Grass and Derby Trial ... but his best game was when you took him way back.

To me, Whirlaway would be a majestic fit in the modern game. A lot of those great speed horses of old made their reputation by taking advantage of their oppositions complete lack of speed.

[Pedigree Ann]

Love to see a mention of Mioland, another of the forgotten horses of our history. Bred in Oregon. By a German St. Leger winner whose dam was Italian. Not a standout at stud, left behind a few good ones like Aegean (SW, 3rd Santa Anita Derby and a sire of SWs in California) and his brother Mio Sea (exported to Chile, SW and sire). Just a typical top level handicapper, and he was carrying 130 lbs more often than not, conceding 15, 20 or more pounds to his inferiors.

[GenuineRisk]

Here's a link to a good article about the Half-Wit, as Ban Jones called him. This part made me laugh:

"The chestnut colt with the flying tail began his racing career on June 3, 1940 with a narrow victory in Chicago under Jack Richard. He was far superior to the rest of the field, as evidenced by the fact that he covered virtually every inch of the track, with special attention given the outside rail, while the rest of the youngsters ran a straight line."

http://www.spiletta.com/UTHOF/whirlaway.html

[keithting]

Supposedly, Whirlaway was cured of his habit of bearing out by using a one cup blinker on his right eye. Whirlaway lost some races by bearing out prominently during the stretch run.

I think that there is even a photo of Whirlaway with his famous one-cup blinker in Preston Burch's great book on "Training Thoroughbred Horses".

[Sightseek]