Kelso Is a Horse for the Ages
By JOE NICHOLS
October 31, 1964 NEW YORK-Kelso broke two world records at Aqueduct in winning the Jockey Club Gold Cup today. He became the greatest money-earner in the history of thoroughbred racing by adding the first money of $70,590 to his previous gains. And he ran the two miles in 3:191/5, faster than any other covered the distance on a dirt track. The famous 7-year-old gelding owned by Mrs. Richard C. du Pont had an easy time taking the same race that he had won the previous four years, beating his nearest rival by 51/2 lengths. That rival was Louis Wolfson's 3-year-old Roman Brother, who had the margin of six lengths over the other 3-year-old in the race, Paul Mellon's Quadrangle. The others in the weight-forage race were Polizonte, Cedar Key and Monade.
Kelso's bankroll now totals $1,803,362, enabling him to go ahead of Round Table, who retired with $1,749,869. Kelso's next engagement will be in the Washington, D.C. International, on the turf at Laurel on Veterans Day. If he wins that race, there is a strong chance that, in the word of his trainer, Carl Hanford, it will be his "swan song" to racing. Thus what could have been Kelso's last New York appearance was witnessed by 51,122 cheering fans.
The time record that Kelso broke was one of his very own making. When he won the Jockey Club Gold Cup in 1960, he was clocked in 3:192/5, under 119 pounds. His burden, which included Ismael Valenzuela, in today's race, was 124, and his winning price was $2.90 for $2. Research has failed to bring up a faster dirt race at the 2-mile distance than the one that Kelso turned in today. However, a horse called Polazel did 2 miles on the turf course at Salisbury, England, in 3:15, on July 8, 1924.
Valenzuela kept Kelso in a comfortable spot through the running, back of the early pace-setter, Cedar Key, and Quadrangle. When the field passed the stands the first time Kelso was third and running smoothly. There was a change in the order when Cedar Key wilted and dropped back, at which time Kelso moved into the lead. This was on the backstretch the second time. Approaching the turn, Roman Brother made a bid at the pace-setter but Kelso only sprang away to go on and win without any threat or trouble. The fractions for the race were 0:484/5, 1:38, 2:04 and 2:533/5. Kelso's winning time could have been faster for, as Valenzuela said, "he was running easy at the finish."
"I had plenty of horse and let him run along easy until we passed the board the first time and I saw that 0:484/5 for the half on the teletimer," he said. "Then I realized I had plenty of horse and when we got into the backstretch, I picked him up and yelled at him. He just took off. I don't know whether I hit him or not coming to the stretch. Maybe once. But I was waving the stick at him. I looked around and they were not closing on us. He was running real easy at the finish."
In his racing career, Kelso has been in 55 contests and has won 35, 28 of which were stakes. He was named the horse of the year the last four seasons. He started slowly this year, though, and the Jockey Club Gold Cup was only his second "big" success of the year, the other being the Aqueduct on Labor Day. A Kentucky homebred, he was ordered de-sexed by a veterinarian when he was a yearling because he was of scrawny proportions, with no indication of filling out. Mr. du Pont accepted the victory trophy from Ogden Phipps, the president of the Jockey Club, after the race. Also honored with gifts were Hanford and Valenzuela.
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