One Way Traffic cruised to victory on Hollywoodbets Durban July day last year in the consolation event (Picture: Candiese Lenferna).

July-Bound One Way Traffic Puts Up Fine Gallop

The Snaith machine will have a strong team for this year’s Hollywoodbets Durban July and one of them, One Way Traffic, put up a fine gallop today before the races at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth.

He galloped with the Grade 1 Splashout Cape Derby third-placed Without Question and the Snaiths were very happy with his work out.

Jonathan Snaith said about his July credentials, “He loves KZN and his gallop this morning was outstanding. On his run last year in the July consolation, he has to have a big chance with 53kg.”

Without Question will be targeted at the Grade 1 Daily News 2000 and will take his place in the July depending on how well he does there.

Justin Snaith has won five Julys in all and will have a fine chance of joining the legendary Cape trainer Terrance Millard on six this year.

Do It Again will break a record just by lining up this year and will break another record if he wins.

The eight-year-old son of Twice Over will become the first horse in history to run in six Julys and is also out to win it for a record-breaking third time. His record of first, first, third, fourth, fourth already makes him statistically the most successful July horse in history. He was most unlucky as a six-year-old and had every chance as a seven-year-old. This year his target for the entire season has been the July, so he should not be judged on his form for the season to date, in which he has been thereabouts in three starts in Cape Town but is yet to make the frame. He comes alive in KZN and accordingly the blinkers he wore in the WSB Met (3,90 length tenth) will be coming off.

The shortest-priced Snaith-trained horse in the betting is the Vercingetorix four-year-old gelding Pomp And Power, who is second favourite at 8/1. He started Tote favourite last year, but on the day he only managed to enhance his reputation as a difficult, headstrong customer who is his own worst enemy. Three subsequent runs did nothing to improve that reputation and he subsequently started at odds of 66/1 in this year’s Met. He then showed what he was capable of. He was an unlucky third as he came from way back and was climbing all over the horses on the outside rail, which included the winner Jet Dark, but could not find a way through. If he can reproduce that run in the July, he will be a strong contender.

The Snaiths are bullish about the chances of Trippi gelding Pacaya, who is out of the SA Oaks winner Ash Cloud. He did not fulfil his promise as a three-year-old, but after a layoff of more than seven months returned with an eyecatching third in a MR 106 handicap over 1400m and then flew up late next time to win over 1600m, although he did get a bit of help from the jockey in front easing his mount before the line.

Jonathan said, “Pacaya is a massive runner. He starts his preparation on 23 April in Cape Town in the Grade 3 Variety Club Mile.”

Last year’s Grade 1 Woolavington 2000 winner Silver Darling is also being aimed at the July, which is not surprising considering she is a four-year-old by the most successful July sire of all time, Silvano. She will actually be able to defend her crown in the Woolavington 2000 too, now that it has been thrown open to all ages.

Justin’s SA Champion Season String is usually in KZN by now, but the Snaiths are doing it differently this season due partly to the Cape Racing stakes boost for the winter program.

Some of their KZN campaigners will travel to Summerveld on April 25, but others, including Pomp And Power, will stay behind in Cape Town and raid for the July.

4Racing CEO Fundi Sithebe (middle) has made another welcome announcement. (JC Photos)

14% increase of total stakes for Highveld Winter Program

4Racing is pleased to announce a 14% increase of total stakes equal to R33 360 000 for this year’s Highveld Winter Program, a considerable increase from last year’s stakes of R29 053 000.

Stakes for this period have been strengthened by R4 307 000 for the 405 races from the beginning of May to the end of September on the Highveld Winter Program this season, for the benefit of the owners, trainers, jockeys and grooms who are key industry participants at all levels.

The increase in stakes was made possible by a budgeted increase by 4Racing of 8% in stakes for the season, plus an amount carried forward from lost meetings and races to date this season.

The stakes increase has focused on beefing up 4Racing’s most common Handicap racing types, with stakes for the 26 races for horses with a Merit Rating of 72 going from R55 000 to R70 000, for the 26 races with horses with a Merit Rating of 76 going from R55 000 to R75 000, the 33 races with a Merit Rating of 80 going from R60 000 to R80 000 and for horses with a Merit Racing of 88 going from R80 000 to R85 000.

For Fillies and Mares in the Handicaps division with a Merit Rating of 68 stakes have increased from R55 000 to R65 000, for horses with a Merit Rating of 72 stakes have increased from R55 000 to R70 000, and for the 23 races for horses with a Merit Rating of 76 stakes have increased considerably from R55 000 to R75 000 and from R70 000 to R80 000 for horses with a Merit Rating of 84.

For Juveniles races, stakes have gone for Maidens only from R70 000 to R80 000 and from R80 000 to R90 000 for Winners and Maidens.

“We are happy to be able to provide this stakes increase and going forward will look to bolster the quality of racing during the Highveld Winter season. We owe it to the stakeholders who have been patient and passionate as we at 4Racing continue to work with the industry to revive and sustain the sport of horseracing. We continue to engage potential sponsors to provide competitive stakes to ensure the sport of horseracing remains viable for all stakeholders and attractive to punters,” said 4Racing CEO, Fundi Sithebe.

Highveld Winter Program Stakes 2022 vs 2023

Month	2022	2023
May	6 415 000	7 100 000
June	6 565 000	7 210 000
July	6 053 000	6 747 500
August	4 450 000	6 530 000
Sep	5 570 000	5 667 500
TOTAL	29 053 000	33 360 000

The brochure pages for May, June and July will be released shortly, while those for August and September have been held back while the fixtures committee reworks the fixtures from 1 August 2023 to 31 December 2023.

ENDS

Coin Spinner (Picture: Candiese Lenferna)

Coin Spinner On Track For The Golden Horse

Tony Rivalland is targeting the Grade 1 Golden Horse Sprint with the talented William Longsword gelding Coin Spinner, but he admitted not knowing quite what to think of his comeback run on Sunday, although he said he was not unhappy with it.

Following a layoff of more than seven months, Coin Spinner stayed on at one pace in the closing stages for a 4,60 length 8^th of nine in a Pinnacle event over 1000m at Hollywoodbets Scottsville.

Tony said 1000m was a a tad short of the four-year-old sprinter’s best and he added the course had been running very fast too. However, he said he did have him fit. He explained he would never run a good horse unfit, because the good ones tended to give their all and could damage themselves if unfit. He said one could maybe get away with running a lesser horse unfit, because that class of horse tended to give up when becoming tired. So, initially, after seeing Coin Spinner just stay on at one pace in the last 200m, he believed he might not have done enough with him. However, when he then looked at the horse’s post-race readings it was clear he had recovered extremely well. That left him a touch disappointed in the performance.

So, he is not quite sure what to think of the run, but said he would know more after the Listed In Full Flight Handicap over 1100m at Hollywoodbets Scottsville on April 30.

Another, exciting KZN speedster who will be in the In Full Flight is the progressive Wendy Whitehead-trained Eightfold Path four-year-old gelding Beechamwood Boy.

Rivalland is confident Coin Spinner will be at his peak by the time of the Golden Horse. However, he said it was going to be difficult to do that and qualify him at the same time, because he was only rated 101 and would probably either have to win the In Full Flight or a later Pinnacle Stakes event.

Coin Spinner has been a tremendously unlucky horse. An example was him sustaining a rare injury, i.e. a tendon injury of the shoulder when walking back from track one morning, shortly before the Grade 3 Betway Merchants at Turffontein. Rivalland had been extremely confident of him winning that race.

Rivalland has been training for some 38 years and made a fine start to his career, selecting the 1985-born Senor Santa at the sales (and naming him) and nurturing him into a Champion Two-year-old before losing him halfway through his three-year-old season due to an unfortunate fall out with the owners. The next trainer benefited from the early work Rivalland had put in and Senor Santa is recognised today as one of the all time greats of the SA turf.

Golden Peace finds extra late on Sunday (Picture: Candiese Lenferna)

Golden Peace and Noble City Catch The Eye At Hollywoodbets Scottsville

There were a couple of eyecatching performances by three-year-olds at Hollywoodbets Scottsville on Sunday, including by the lightly raced Gareth van Zyl-trained Gold Standard gelding Golden Peace.

This gelding caught the eye second time out over 1400m on the Hollywoodbets Greyville turf having made a decent debut over 1200m at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth for Gavin van Zyl.

In that second start he was green around the turn, but stayed on in the straight and then found another gear late to pull away and win by 1,50 lengths.

It was a similar story on Sunday.

Running off an 80 merit rating, he had a tricky draw of eight to overcome. Athandiwe Mgudlwa took him handy but he then had to run one out and one back without cover.

Therefore, it was commendable that once again he found an extra gear when it counted late in the day to win by 0,70 lengths from the Peter Muscutt-trained Aurora Storm (Gimmethegreenlight), to whom he gave 1kg.

Golden Peace is clearly looking for further, but Van Zyl said he had had one or two issues and he was not going to be looking at a feature campaign this season. He can be followed until beaten.

Golden peace runs in the colours of Laurence Wernars, but is also owned by a long-time supporter of the Gavin van Zyl yard Errol Budlender as well as by Team G Racing. Gareth inherited all of his father Gavin’s horses upon the latter’s recent retirement and Golden Peace could be one of the more exciting ones among them.

The favourite in Sunday’s race, the Vaughan Marshall-trained Professor Snape (William Longsword), can also be followed. He carried topweight of 60kg, so gave the winner half-a-kilogram, and was a touch unlucky as he was unable to find a clear run in the closing strages. He had to settle for fifth place.

Earlier, the Peter Muscutt-trained Noble Tune gelding Noble City, coming off a win and a third in his first two career starts at Kenilworth, pulled away in impressive fashion in a 1400m MR 92 handicap running off an 88 merit rating to record an easy 2,10 length victory. He could go on to bigger things.

I’m The Buzz impresses at Hollywoodbets Scottsville on Sunday (Picture: Candiese Lenferna)..

Altus Joubert Says No Outside Support For Flying The Flag … Yet

Galileo stallion Flying The Flag did not receive much outside support in KZN, so it was hardly going to change when he moved down to Advocate Altus Joubert’s Riethuiskraal Stud in the Western Cape.

However, Flying The Flag has enjoyed a fine run lately.

Heading his runners is the Mike Miller-trained grey gelding Strawberry Bear, who as reported on last week was an impressive winner of the Grade 3 Byerley Turk Stakes over 1400m at Hollywoodbets Greyville, downing two big guns in Cousin Casey, from whom he received 6kg, and Jimmy Don (from whom he only received half-a-kilogram). He is from Flying The Flag’s third crop and became his second stakes winner.

Earlier in the season, the former Paul Peter-trained and now Sean Tarry-trained Electric Gold had scored a runner up finish in the Grade 3 London News Stakes over 1800m and a third place in the Grade 2 WSB Gauteng Guineas.

On Saturday, the Gareth van Zyl-trained three-year-old Flying The Flag filly Convocation made it two wins on the trot at Turffontein Inside (over 1200m and 1000m respectively). The 76 merit-rated filly was carrying topweight of 60kg against older horses on Saturday in the 1000m event, a MR72 Handicap for fillies and mares, so it was a decent effort.

However, probably more impressive was the 5,40 length cruise of the Tienie Prinsloo-trained Flying The Flag three-year-old filly I’m The Buzz over 1200m at Hollywoodbets Scottsville on Sunday. She relished the step down in trip and even though beating an overall uninspiring maiden field she did it effortlessly and could be one to follow.

Altus said Flying The Flag had got three of his mares in foal last season.

He said Potala Palace had been an example of a stallion who had virtually been forgotten about until some good performers cropped up, which saw him suddenly getting big books of mares. He hoped the same could happen to Flying The Flag.

He said there was no reason why Flying The Flag should not make it as a stallion considering his pedigree and he had also been a Group 3 winner over 2000m.

His sire Galileo needs no introduction and his dam by Pivotal was a three-times Group 1 winner who produced the five-times Group 1-winning full-sister to Flying The Flag, Magical, as well as the three-times Group 1-winning full-sister to Flying The Flag, Rhododendron.

Interestingly, Flying The Flag’s dam is called Halfway To Heaven, but she is Irish-bred and is not the same horse as Rainbow Bridge, Hawaam and Golden Ducat’s SA-bred dam.

Elusive Winter impressed when recording the unusual feat of beating older horses on debut in the April of his two-year-old season (Chase Liebenberg)

Classy Off Season Meeting At Kenilworth (Tuesday)

It was hard to believe the winter months are upon us when watching some of the racing at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth today (Tuesday) as there were some classy performances.

The Candice Bass-Robinson-trained two-year-old Var colt Future Variety is well named as he does resemble the great Variety Club in conformation to some extent. The impressively strong colt got up by a neck to win the first race, a Restricted Maiden Juvenile Plate over 1200m, at the second time of asking against a good field.

In the next race over the same course and distance in a Restricted Maiden Juvenile Plate for fillies the Grade 3 Cape Of Good Hope Nursery runner up Distant Winter toyed with the field and did enough to beat the cheeky Quick Trip by half-a-length with the rest of the field beaten 4,75 lengths. She gave Bass-Robinson and Aldo Domeyer a double together.

Captain Of All had two impressive winners on the day, including the Harold Crawford and Michelle Rix-trained first-timer two-year-old colt Elusive Winter, who quickened superbly on debut to beat older horses over 1000m under JP van der Merwe. He provided a treble on the day for the Crawford and Rix yard.

The rest of the racing was officially of a relatively low class.

However, it is clear that Cape Town horses running in handicaps of a certain lowly merit rating benchmark are generally better than the horses running in handicaps of the same benchmark in other provinces.

Laurel powers to victory on the Kempton all weather (RacingTV)

Laurel Impresses In Winning Reappearance

The lightly raced John and Thady Gosden-trained four-year-old filly Laurel won the level weights Listed Racing TV Snowdrop Fillies’ Stakes over a mile by three-and-a-half lengths on the Kempton all weather surface yesterday under Ryan Moore.

Racing TV’s Graham Clarke reported:

By Graham Clark

John Gosden praised jockey Ryan Moore for both his riding skills and post-race advice after helping Laurel book her return to Group race company after steering her to the biggest success of her career in the Racing TV Snowdrop Fillies’ Stakes at Kempton Park today.

After signing off last season filling the runner-up spot on her Group One debut in the Sun Chariot Stakes at Newmarket the daughter of Kingman proved a class above her back in Listed company to complete a 4.8-1 treble for Gosden and his son Thady.

Barely having to get out of second gear the 8-13 favourite, who scored over course and distance on her second outing last year, cruised to the front in a matter of strides under three-time champion jockey Moore down the home straight.

The odds-on chance only needed to be kept up to her work to score by a comfortable three and a half lengths to complete a treble on the card for the Newmarket based father and son training partnership.

John Gosden said: “Not only is he (Ryan Moore) probably the greatest international jockey but he is also the greatest adviser after a race. What he tells me after a race is worth a great deal. He guides you well and he made a lot of sense there.

“Ryan was very happy with her and he likes her a lot. The filly was very immature as a two year old and then she has come through.

“Her immaturity probably cost her the Sun Chariot and I think not knowing much about it as well as she hit the front and wandered about a bit. She is learning all the time.

“She is a lovely filly. She didn’t do a lot last season. She won a novice and then won here and was second in a Group One. She is very much an improving filly. Her mother has not had a lot of luck as a broodmare but this filly has turned it around.

An outing in Group Two company appears to be next up for Laurel with Gosden senior earmarking either the Dahlia Stakes at Newmarket on May 7th or the Ridgewood Pearl Stakes at the Curragh as potential options ahead of an engagement at Royal Ascot.

Gosden added: “Ryan has given me two options so I’ll be scratching my head but I’m clear with what I’m doing with the first one.

“The Duke Of Cambridge (at Royal Ascot) is an obvious target but talking to Ryan it is what we do between then and now.

“If it was fast ground at Newmarket (for the Dahlia Stakes) he was steering me elsewhere which is very good advice. They are on them, they feel and they know them.

“Thady has mentioned a race in Ireland (Ridgewood Pearl Stakes) so that is a possibility. He has been reading the book and I haven’t so he is ahead of me on that. He is always race planning well ahead of me.”

Grooms will receive R2,000 per winner at Hollywoodbets Greyville and Hollywoodbets Scottsville for the months of April through to August 2023 (Picture: Hollywoodbets).

Grooms Reward Doubled In Champions Season

On the eve of the stakes-boosted 2023 Champions Season, Hollywoodbets and Gold Circle will again ensure that Grooms are rewarded for their vital role in the success of delivering a world-class product.

The innovative Grooms’ initiative powered by Hollywoodbets and Gold Circle, has been increased 100% with the winning incentive rocketing from R1000 to R2000 for the months of April through to August 2023 for all winners at Hollywoodbets Greyville and Hollywoodbets Scottsville.

The joint initiative has seen over R3,2 million awarded to Grooms since it was launched in September 2019.

Hollywoodbets Brand and Communications Manager Devin Heffer believes the well-deserved reward has had a positive impact on the industry and said that in line with the recent stakes increases, it was important to ensure that the grooms, along with trainers, jockeys and owners, are also awarded.

“Our goal is to ensure that one of the most strategically important frontline stakeholder sectors gets recognized through financial reward, and are also lauded as the champions that they are during the super season that lies ahead. This great initiative has had a positive knock-on effect nationally, with the same concept being launched by Hollywoodbets in conjunction with Cape Racing in August 2022. Recently World Sports Betting followed suit, launching a grooms initiative for all 4Racing centres for the next 3 years.”

Speaking on behalf of Gold Circle, Events and Marketing Executive Stephen Marshall proudly acknowledged that all eyes are now on KZN as the racing operator welcomes the cream of the thoroughbred crop to the holiday province.

“The Grooms play a vital role in readying the champions for the big days, living and breathing every moment of these majestic athletes’ racing careers. This incentive, proudly offered in tandem with our partners Hollywoodbets, will see not only our local Grooms, but those from visiting yards rewarded over and above their stakes earnings.”

The Grooms Initiative increase runs from 1 April to 31 August 2023 for all racemeetings at Hollywoodbets Greyville and Hollywoodbets Scottsville.

Future Variety provided a first winner for the Centenary Club syndicate and gave Candice Bass-Robinson and Aldo Domeyer the first leg of a double together and Bass-Robinson the first leg of an overall treble (Chase Liebenberg).

Crawford-Rix Treble, Bass-Robinson Treble, Domeyer, Van Niekerk, Andrews Doubles

The Harold Crawford-Michelle Rix yard scored a treble today and so did Candice Bass-Robinson. Aldo Domeyer, Grant van Niekerk and Anthony Andrews rode doubles.

Crawford-Rix go to seven wins for the season at a strike rate of 10.14%.

Bass-Robinson goes to 55 wins at 12.14%.

Domeyer is on 37 wins at 21.02%.

Van Niekerk is on 27 wins at 11.34%.

The formerly Mauritius-based Andrews has only had eleven rides in SA this season for his two wins meaning his strike rate is 18.18%.

Zev with Earl Sande aboard, gives a clue to the answer. (New York Public Library Digital Collections)

Today’s Question

One hundred years ago two horses squared off in a much publicised match race at Belmont Park. Who were they and what was the reason for the match?

Hollywoodbets Greyville Poly Fields, Wednesday

Zev beating Papyrus in 1923 in the first modern international match race at Belmont Park, where the Kentucky Derby winner faced the Epsom Derby victor. (BloodHorse Library)

ANSWER TO TODAY’S QUESTION:

Americasbestracing.net

The Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs and the Epsom Derby at Epsom Racecourse in England stand out as two of the most prestigious, historic, and influential Thoroughbred horse races anywhere in the world.

Some of the greatest runners on both sides of the Atlantic have prevailed in these fabled tests of speed and stamina.

But with the Kentucky Derby taking place on dirt and the Epsom Derby being conducted on grass, the winners rarely cross paths. Generally they each stay on their own side of the pond and, on the infrequent occasions when an Epsom Derby winners runs in North America (or a Kentucky Derby winner in Europe), it usually happens that the home team rival is targeting a different race or has already been retired.

So it’s all the more remarkable to consider how, in 1923, Kentucky Derby winner Zev and Epsom Derby winner Papyrus squared off at Belmont Park in a highly-publicized international match race. Held at 1 ½ miles on dirt — the distance of the Epsom Derby, but the surface of the Kentucky Derby — the “International Race” pitted the best 3-year-olds from the U.S. and England against each other in a first-of-its-kind battle for international honor.

Zev needed no introduction to local racing fans. Though he’d been a surprise winner of the Kentucky Derby — his owner, Harry F. Sinclair, and his regular trainer, Sam Hildreth, didn’t even bother to attend — Zev had subsequently emerged as a clear-cut division leader, carrying star jockey Earl Sande to victory in the Withers Stakes, Belmont Stakes, Queens County Handicap, and Lawrence Realization during an impressive seven-race win streak.

Papyrus boasted similarly impressive form, having defeated the talented Pharos in a dramatic finish to claim victory in the Epsom Derby. He later placed second in the St. Leger Stakes, the third leg of the British Triple Crown, a gallant effort considering he came back with his hind leg bleeding from cuts suffered during the running. Conditioned by Basil Jarvis for owner Benjamin Irish, Papyrus could also claim the services of England’s ten-time champion jockey Steve Donoghue.

The great race was undoubtedly ahead of its time. International events like the Washington D.C. International and the Breeders’ Cup were still decades away. At the time, horses were still traveling cross-country by railcar (shipping by plane was still a couple of decades away), and Papyrus had to endure a six-day ocean voyage just to reach the United States.

Papyrus’ journey wasn’t uncommon on the surface. Racehorses of the day made their way across the Atlantic with some frequency, but usually during the offseason. To have an Epsom Derby winner embark on such a voyage while in the midst of his 3-year-old racing season was unprecedented, especially since the international match was scheduled for Oct. 20, a little more than a month after the St. Leger and just three weeks after Papyrus’ transatlantic trip.

Conscious of the challenging schedule, Jarvis left no stone unturned in his quest to bring Papyrus to North America in peak condition. He booked passage on the Aquitania, which offered the star colt “a stall arranged in a light and airy D-deck baggage compartment, where the pitch and roll of the ship were less likely to affect him,” as noted by Tom Hall in the Eclipse Press book “Horse Racing’s Top 100 Moments.”

Furthermore, Papyrus was accompanied by a considerable entourage including, but not limited to, jockey Donoghue, stablemate Bargold, and a cat named Tinker. Hall further notes that Papyrus’s groom “could exercise him by walking him around the deck, which had been covered with cork for safety and comfort.”

Extensive supplies of hay, oats, and water were also brought along, which required special permission from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Zev also had challenges to overcome. A hoof issue surfaced following his victory in the Lawrence Realization, and he also dealt with hives during the lead-up to the match race, causing The Jockey Club to briefly ponder subbing in a different runner to represent the home team instead. But Hildreth brushed off the concerns about Zev’s well-being and convinced The Jockey Club that the Kentucky Derby winner was ready to roll.

In any case, with a total purse of $100,000 — including $20,000 to the runner-up — the race promised to be a financial win-win for the connections of both Zev and Papyrus. Irish and Jarvis in particular had nothing to lose, since all their travel expenses were paid.

Essentially, the race was as much a promotion as a competition; a sporting event rather than a gamble.

Indeed, Papyrus’s arrival in New York was met with extensive media coverage. Joe Hirsch described the scene in his book “The First Century: Daily Racing Form Chronicles 100 Years of Thoroughbred Racing”: “The city boasted a dozen or more newspapers in those days, and each was represented by several staffers and photographers. A police escort accompanied the horse van to Belmont Park …”

The scope of the media coverage was groundbreaking for the day. The international match race was to be broadcast on radio — a first for horse racing — and film crews recorded the race and its lead-up from multiple angles, even going so far as to secure aerial footage of the track and the massive crowd, estimated at more than 70,000 fans. The fruit of the film crew’s extraordinary effort was a 22-minute silent film that has been made available for viewing on YouTube.

As post time approached, the two horses made very different impressions on journalists in attendance. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle of Oct. 21, 1923 noted “Papyrus was steady as a rock before and during the race, thoroughly poised, calm, dignified. He evoked no end of admiring comments for his grace, suggestion of power, and general demeanor. Truly a noble animal.”

In contrast, “Zev was a bundle of nerves, all on edge, dancing sidewise, tugging at the bit, trained to the minute.”

The Standard Union of the same date agreed: “Papyrus… walked calmly. In fact, if he was a street horse in front of a street cleaning department wagon, he could not have been more reserved. … Zev was bowing and bowing and prancing like a circus horse. He seemed to realize that the crowd was cheering for him, for he must have bowed his head a thousand times in the parade.”

But though Jarvis had taken every precaution to ensure Papyrus’ good condition, there was one factor he couldn’t control: the weather.

Rain during the preceding 24 hours reduced Belmont Park to a sloppy mess, prompting Hildreth to equip Zev with mud caulks, special shoes designed to better grip the muddy surface. Jarvis was advised to do the same with Papyrus, but the trainer declined, citing Papyrus’ unfamiliarity with the shoes.

In the minds of many racing historians, the shoes made all the difference and produced an anticlimactic result.

Perhaps Joe Palmer summed it up best with a succinct description in The Blood-Horse Silver Anniversary Edition, stating “the race itself was a fiasco. Papyrus was not shod for the sloppy going, and Earl Sande outrode Steve Donoghue, so Zev ran in front all the way and won by five lengths.”

Indeed, hardly any more description is needed to give a full impression of the race. Papyrus broke on top from a standing start, but Zev — under urging from Sande — quickly took command and gradually extended his advantage throughout the race. “When Donoghue asked for more run, all Papyrus could do was slip and slide on the slick surface,” wrote Hall in Horse Racing’s Top 100 Moments.

Once it was clear Zev had conquered the foreign challenger, neither colt was particularly hard-pressed down the homestretch, and the modest final time of 2:35 2/5 was a reflection of both the track condition and the ultimately uncompetitive nature of the race.

“The English in the stands and field, there were many of them, were stunned by the failure of Papyrus to win,” wrote The Brooklyn Daily Eagle of Oct. 21, 1923. “They were confident that the great English Derby winner would triumph over the American entry. … The long trip across the Atlantic, the fond hopes based on the apparently poor condition of Zev, and the great record of Papyrus had all ended in disappointment.”

For Zev, the victory meant much more than prestige. The winner’s share of the massive purse propelled his lifetime earnings to $254,908, surpassing the record set by the immortal Man o’ War. Nor was Zev’s career complete, for he would race on as an older horse and eventually push his career earnings to a massive $318,048.

But for all his achievements, Zev’s triumph over Papyrus in racing’s first international showdown is the one that lives on. Together, the two acclaimed Derby winners combined their talents to forge a piece of history, laying a foundation for international competition that would forever change the sport of racing.

Turf Talk Newsletter – 11 April 2023