Frank Whiteley Jr. - The Fox of Laurel, Part I

 

Frank Whiteley Jr.
The Fox of Laurel – Part I.

Joseph Di Rienzi

In the annals of thoroughbred racing, there are horse trainers and horsemen. Frank Whiteley Jr., born in Centerville, on Maryland’s Eastern Shore in 1915, was definitely in the latter group. Not from a racing family, he worked his way up in Maryland’s minor racetracks until his success in the early 1960s attracted the attention of major horse owners. Famously reticent and treating news people as disease carrying vermin, Frank Whiteley, nonetheless became a media darling in large part due to the extraordinary race horses he trained and his somewhat anachronistic methods. Using an “old school” philosophy to horse care, Whiteley could be seen regularly hosing down one of his chargers after a workout or a race. What that personal attention achieved, we can only speculate, but he did capture three classics with his trainees, win numerous stakes races and saddle four champions including three of the greatest horses to ever race in North America. This is the first of a two part series reviewing the racing careers of the most celebrated horses under Frank Whiteley’s care.

Frank Whiteley Jr.
(bloodhorse.com)

The first horse trained by Frank Whiteley that achieved national attention was Chieftain. Born in 1961 and owned by Raymond Guest, he was a homebred son of pre-eminent stallion Bold Ruler out of the mare Pocahontas. At best at distances up to a mile, Chieftain won stakes races at ages two, three and four. He soon was eclipsed as Whiteley’s most prominent trainee by his younger half-brother, Tom Rolfe. Sired by the immortal Ribot, the smallish bay colt had a decent juvenile year in 1964, but blossomed as a three-year-old in 1965 winning the Preakness Stakes, finishing second in the Belmont Stakes and third in the Kentucky Derby. His summer campaign resulted in sweeping the four major stakes races for three-year-olds at Arlington Park. Tom Rolfe’s owner Raymond Guest was at the time the U. S. Ambassador to Ireland and raced a string of horses in Europe. As a sporting gesture, Guest convinced Whiteley to send Tom Rolfe to France in a bold attempt to win the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. The colt’s sixth place finish represents one of the best showings by an American based runner in that very demanding race. For his year round efforts, Tom Rolfe was voted Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse in 1965.

Tom Rolfe (Ron Turcotte up)
(bloodhorse.com)

In 1966, Tom Rolfe’s four-year-old season, Whiteley introduced to racing Edith W. Bancroft’s Damascus, a bay colt by Sword Dancer. As with Tom Rolfe, he had an understated juvenile campaign that cumulated with a win in the Remsen at Aqueduct Racetrack. A signal of Damascus’ potential was that the colt was ridden in his four starts by top jockey Bill Shoemaker. After spending the winter in Camden, S.C. as most of Whiteley’s charges did, Damascus made his three-year-old debut at Pimlico Racetrack in early March winning a non-descript allowance race. The son of Sword Dancer then took what was called the New York route to the Kentucky Derby. He won the 7 furlong Bay Shore Stakes, and in his next effort was second beaten a ½ length to Dr. Fager, who would be his arch rival and fellow Hall of Famer, in the one mile Gotham Stakes. Winning his final Derby prep, the 9 furlong Wood Memorial Stakes by 6 lengths, Damascus was the post time favorite for the 1967 Kentucky Derby. At the top of the stretch, he was in a contending position, but failed to deliver a strong final rally, finishing third to longshot Proud Clarion.

Two weeks later in Baltimore, Derby winner Proud Clarion was entered along with second finishing Barbs Delight and Damascus in the Preakness. Frank Whiteley and Bill Shoemaker were convinced their colt did not run his best in the Kentucky Derby, so they made three changes. Whiteley had thought Damascus became too nervous by the pre-Derby atmosphere, so he stabled him in the relative quiet of Laurel Racecourse until the morning of the Preakness. Second, Shoemaker believed Damascus was too close to the pace in the Derby. He thought his mount’s best chance was to lay back and make one bold run. To insure there would be an honest pace, the third change was to run a pacemaker, in this case, Celtic Air, to insure the leaders will be slowing down when Damascus made his rally.

As designed, Celtic Air was sent to the lead setting a fast pace. As the early fractions took their toll on the front runners, the field bunched up considerably around the far turn, but Shoemaker making use of Damascus’ tremendous acceleration circled the field and bounded at the top of the stretch with a daylight lead. Their advantage only increased until Shoemaker took a hold of Damascus near the end of the race. In Reality held on for second 2¼ lengths behind. Proud Clarion’s very wide trip found him 4 lengths further back in third. The Preakness winning time was only 3/5 of a second over the track record sent by Nashua in 1955. For Mrs. Edith W. Bancroft, being the daughter of Nashua’s owner William Woodward Sr., this Preakness victory was especially meaningful. 

The Belmont Stakes (run at Aqueduct) was billed as the deciding classic between Proud Clarion and Damascus. Canadian champion Cool Reception running truly a courageous race took the lead and set steady fractions. Damascus, not as far back as he was in the Preakness, gradually made progress to be a contender at the top of the stretch. Unlike the Preakness, Proud Clarion, made the first move to challenge the leader, but Cool Reception resolutely turned the Derby winner back. However, his was unable to withstand Damascus’ surge who powered past him to win by 2½ lengths. (Cool Reception fractured his right front cannon bone during the stretch and sadly had to be euthanized the next day when he re-broke the bone in his stall.) Proud Clarion finished a tired fourth. With his two classics wins, Damascus, could lay claim to the pro-tem leadership of the three-year-old division. But there was still the specter of Dr. Fager, who did not compete in the Triple Crown races, and the loss to that rival in the Gotham Stakes to settle. 

Damascus winning the 1967 Belmont Stakes
(racingpost.com)

Damascus’ return match with Dr. Fager did not occur until the Woodward Stakes in the fall. In between, Whiteley campaigned his sophomore with a vigor that in modern times seems staggering. Two weeks after the Belmont Stakes, Damascus won the Leonard Richard Stakes at Delaware Park. Two weeks later, at the same track, he failed by a nose to give 8 lb. to the four-year-old Exceedingly in the William du Pont Jr. Handicap. Bouncing off that loss, one week later, Damascus carried 128 lb. against fellow three- year-olds in the 1¼ mile Dwyer Handicap and scored a ¾ length victory.

The month of August saw Damascus travel to Chicago and run a smashing race to set a new track record in the 9 furlong American Derby at Arlington Park. Carrying 126 lb. and coming from many lengths back, Damascus left in his wake In Reality (120 lb.), defeating that rival by 7 lengths. If that performance was not devastating enough, Damascus would reach a new level two weeks later in the Travers Stakes at Saratoga Racetrack. Facing only three rivals on a sloppy track, he was at one point some 16 lengths behind the dueling pacemakers Tumiga and Gala Performance. Once he was given his head by Shoemaker, Damascus devoured the pacesetters approaching the final turn, came into the stretch with a significant lead and then improved on this winning by an astounding 22 lengths. Final time for the 1¼ mile “Midsummer Derby” equaled Buckpasser’s record set the previous year.

Damascus faced older horses again in the 9 furlong Aqueduct Stakes on the Labor Day Weekend. It had been anticipated that he would meet Buckpasser in this race, but the latter’s recurring infection in his hoof prevented the reigning Horse of the Year from facing his three-year-old rival. Damascus, despite carrying actual high weight (125 lb.), was the overwhelming favorite. Unlike his last two races, Damascus set closer to the moderate pace. When Shoemaker asked him in mid-stretch, he cruised to the lead, winning by 2 easy lengths.

The weight for age 1¼ mile Woodward Stakes at Aqueduct, as it often served during this era, became the stage for a championship deciding contest. It would be the second meeting between the brilliant three year-olds, Damascus and Dr. Fager. In addition, Buckpasser had, according to his connections, recovered from his foot problems and was in serious training to defend his title in the Woodward. Not only was Three-Year-old Champion, Champion Older Horse, and Horse of the Year on the line, but the Woodward would be a rare meeting between three truly great horses. For these reasons, the 1967 edition was called, “The Race of the Century”. 

There were three other horses entered in the Woodward: Handsome Boy, Great Power and Hedevar. The last two were entered by the respective owners of Buckpasser and Damascus to insure Dr. Fager would not gain an easy lead. There was a significant jockey re-assignment. Braulio Baeza chose Buckpasser over Dr. Fager, so veteran Bill Boland hopped aboard the Tartan Stable super-speedster. Bill Shoemaker, who expressed great confidence in his mount, remained on Damascus. With all the anticipation, leading up to the race, the running was somewhat anticlimactic. It preceded mostly as expected. Dr. Fager, not wanting to be restrained, shot right to the lead. Great Power was unable to keep up, but Hedevar, who at his best was a very good horse at one mile, pressed Dr. Fager. Damascus and Buckpasser settled in fourth and fifth, respectively, many lengths behind the embattled leaders. They made their move as the field approached the far turn with Damascus a few lengths of ahead of Buckpasser. As they approached the stretch Damascus ran right past Dr. Fager who was visibly tiring. Buckpasser did not have his customary surge and could not keep up with Damascus’ rush. In a bravura performance, the Whiteley trainee drew away to a 10 length lead, a margin no one expected. Buckpasser kept pressing on and out finished Dr. Fager for second by ½ length. For Mrs. Bancroft, this was another memorable victory in that the race was named after her father.

With the Woodward result, the Three-Year-old Championship and Horse of the Year was settled in Damascus’ favor. Incredibly, Whiteley ran Damascus twice more in 1967. He preceded to win the 2 mile Jockey Gold Cup easily by 4½ lengths. Although never tried on grass before, Damascus was invited and accepted an invitation to run in the Washington D. C. International at Whiteley’s home base at Laurel Racecourse. Despite the presence of international stars, the race came down to a pulsating stretch run between two U. S. based runners in Fort Marcy and Damascus. It was a nose bobbing finish with Fort Marcy gaining the narrowest of victories.

Damascus had 16 starts in 1967 winning 12, finishing second three times and third once in a truly remarkable year which was a testimony to the horse's hardiness and his trainer’s ability to keep him at a peak level.

As a four-year-old in 1968, Damascus did not race as consistently at the highest level, but had two memorable meetings with Dr. Fager. In the 1¼ mile Suburban Handicap at Aqueduct on Independence Day, Damascus carrying 133 lb. was giving 1 lb. to his rival. Dr. Fager, in a virtuoso performance, led all the way in a final time equaling the track record with Damascus finishing third beaten a total of 5 lengths. In the Brooklyn Handicap run at the same track and distance a little over two weeks later two things were different. Dr. Fager was now carrying 135 lb. to Damascus’ 130, and the latter had the assistance of his stablemate Hedevar. The “rabbit” did his part shooting to the front, setting very fast fractions and daring Dr. Fager to challenge. Dr. Fager, not taking to restraint, took up the issue early down the backside. Damascus, running in his best style, came from the back of the pack with a bold move approaching the final turn.  Challenging Dr. Fager at the top of the stretch, Damascus pulled away convincingly to win by 2½ lengths. In winning the Brooklyn, Damascus established a new track record and evened the score with his formidable foe at two wins each.

Despite the achievements of Damascus, the best horses Whiteley trained were still yet to come, and they are remembered as two of the turf’s immortals - Ruffian and Forego.

(To be continued in part II.)