BackTrack: Ridan Sweeps Futurities at Arlington

Four days before the Washington Park Futurity, Ridan worked five furlongs, handily, in a sensational :56 2/5, with six furlongs in 1:09 4/5. No one could recall a 2-year-old ever working that fast at any track. The fractions were :22, :33 2/5, and :44 2/5.

Bill Hartack hadn't been aware how fast he was traveling. Ridan's 22-year-old trainer, Leroy Jolley, who had tried frantically to wave down Hartack after noting the early fractions, said he had wanted the colt to work in "about :58." Leroy seemed a bit worried, but by the next day he had recovered his composure. He reported that Ridan seemed normal.

Four old acquaintances and four new ones showed up to face Ridan in the 6 1/2-furlong, $100,000-added Futurity, run at Arlington on Sept. 2. The familiar runners were Nancy Spicer's Wa-Wa Cy, Rex C. Ellsworth's Eight Ball, Fred W. Hooper's Admiral's Voyage, and Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Herff's Obey. Facing Ridan for the first time were Brookfield Farm's In Force, Mr. and Mrs. Robert F. Bensinger's Gutter Ball, Bruno Ferrari's Su Ka Wa, and Kerr Stables' recent arrival from California, Affray.

Of the new challengers, only Su Ka Wa seemed to have much chance of upsetting the 3-10 favorite. On a sloppy track in the Hopeful Stakes a week earlier, Su Ka Wa had finished second to Jaipur, beaten six lengths, with the odds-on Sir Gaylord third. Accordingly, the 26,427 Arlington patrons established Su Ka Wa the second choice at 8.40-1.

The Arlington track on the day of the Futurity was muddy from the middle to the outside fence; the other half was firmer and in much better shape. The track had been sloppy in the morning.

"We had two 20-foot dogs out," said assistant track superintendent Clarence Brinkman, "and later we harrowed it."

The track was called slow for the first six races and good for the seventh, after the 3-year-old He's a Pistol went six furlongs in 1:10 3/5.

In the Prairie State on Aug. 21, in which he had caused a $10,781 minus show pool, Ridan had run in four bandages. For the Futurity he wore a pair of rundown patches and caulks. There was another minus show pool of $6,473.

Ridan had his closest call in the Washington Park Futurity. He won by a length convincingly enough, but without the authority of his six previous triumphs.

"He didn't like the track," Hartack reported later. "He won on his guts. He tries so hard and takes such big strides that he slid over the slick track the first half-mile. Then he took hold of it a bit."

Su Wa Ka sprinted to a two-length lead at the quarter, while Ridan, off slower than usual, was lapped with Eight Ball in fourth place, 4 1/2 lengths back of the leader. Su Ka Wa quit suddenly after three furlongs and Admiral's Voyage took over, coming around the last turn 1 1/2 lengths in front of Gutter Ball.

Ridan made a big move on the turn. He charged between Gutter Ball, on the outside, and Admiral's Voyage and reached the lead approaching the eighth pole. The crowd expected Ridan to zoom away from his rivals but the big kick was lacking. The gray Obey loomed dangerously on the outside near the sixteenth pole and then hung, and Ridan went on to win in 1:18. Eight Ball closed fairly well to finish third, 2 1/2 lengths behind Obey. Admiral's Voyage was fourth.

The winner's check of $128,250 pushed Ridan's earnings to $284,050 and made him the 2-year-old leader in this respect. Ridan became the ninth horse to win both the Arlington and Washington Park Futurities. The others were Tiger (1937), Occupation (1942), Free For All (1944), To Market (1950), Hasty Road (1953), Swoon's Son (1955), Greek Game (1956), and Restless Wind (1958).

BackTrack: Ridan Dazzles in 1961 Arlington Futurity

Two days after the Futurity, it was admitted that Ridan had a splint outside the right fore leg. The stable previously had denied a published report that said Ridan had a splint. Leroy and his father, Moody Jolley, said Ridan would be given a rest at Dr. Robert Copelan's farm near Lexington with the Garden State on Nov. 4 his next chief objective. There were no immediate plans to fire or blister Ridan for the splint. X-ray therapy will be used. Father and son left Chicago after a profitable summer. Three horses in their care, Ridan, Bluescope, and Rudoma, had accounted for eight stakes.