In preparatory races Adora's Dream, a bay son of Knight Dream, had twice overwhelmed the Messenger field of top 3-year-old pacing colts. And never was so wicked a thrust so well masked. The race provided another lesson: never, but never, count Simpson out when there is a rich pot to be plundered. Even poor Adora's Dream, beaten half a length by Simpson's horse, is out of an Adios mare. Another Adios colt, Lehigh Hanover, was third. This was the seventh Messenger Thor Hanover was the fifth winner sired by Adios. And, in truth, the fabulous standardbred sire (SI, May 14) fared well. "Never discount an Adios," he said afterward. Simpson, a weathered man of 42, saw the result as a simple lesson in handicapping. So much of a dark horse was Thor Hanover and so moonstruck were the bettors by another colt, that they allowed Simpson to get away at a price of 71 to 1 while lavishing $170,652-the largest sum bet on any horse in Roosevelt's 23 years-on the previously undefeated Adora's Dream.
He collected not only the driver's standard 10% of the $84,715 winner's share but also some $19,000 on his own one-quarter interest in the horse.
Horae thor full#
Beneath a mist-shrouded full moon, as 37,335 fans watched in noisy astonishment, Foxy John swooped out of his favorite lurking place-out of the blue, that is-to win this richest of harness races in the final strides. Thor's victory proved what harness horsemen have long suspected: his driver, John Simpson, is the wiliest gentleman to come out of South Carolina since Francis Marion, known to students of the American Revolution as the Swamp Fox. Neither was the favorite in his race, Thor Hanover paying off at the huge price of $144 for a $2 bet. 10 horse in each race-Greek Money at Pimlico and Thor Hanover at Roosevelt-won. The two biggest races of the weekend were the Preakness at Pimlico in Baltimore and The Messenger at New York's Roosevelt Raceway. Those 400,000 Americans had a weird and wonderful time trying to find those 262 winners.
1 professional spectator sport, and it is still growing (attendance and betting are up 3% and 6% in the New York area this year). Horse racing-Thoroughbred and harness-is the nation's No.