Gen. Duke......What Might Have Been
Calumet Farm’s Gen. Duke winning the 1957 Florida Derby over Bold Ruler and Iron Liege in a world record 1:46 4/5. (PHOTO: Jim Raftery Turfotos)
By: Walter Lazary /// January, 2024 /// 11,570 Words.
The night of April 15th, 1954, was a rather hectic one in the receiving barn at Calumet Farm in Lexington, Kentucky. A colt that would eventually be named Barbizon, a good-looking son of the 1945 Preakness Stakes winner Polynesian and the Bull Lea mare Good Blood, was the first of two youngsters born just after midnight. And though this dark bay colt would eventually be good enough to be crowned North America’s champion two-year-old colt of 1956, it was the other youngster that Calumet farm manager Paul Eberhardt was most interested in.
Calumet’s champion mare, Wistful, had just given birth to her first foal, a plain brown colt who was already standing and looking for a meal. Excitement wafted throughout the barn, a feeling that was often reserved for a special foal, which many felt this colt would be. After all, his daddy was the sensational Chefs de Race stallion Bull Lea, a son of the famous French Chefs de Race stallion Bull Dog. Bull Lea was the most successful stallion of his time, having sired some of America’s greatest racehorses, not only of the current decade but in history, such noble colts as the 1948 Triple Crown winner and Horse of the Year Citation, two other Horse of the Year champions, Coaltown and Armed, as well as multiple stakes winners Mark-Ye-Well, Hill Gail, Faultless, Beau Prince and Canada’s Bull Page, a colt that competed on the race track in Canada, and would become famous as the sire of Flaming Page, a Reine de Course mare who, when mated with Northern Dancer, produced the great English Triple Crown winner Nijinsky.
Bull Lea also sired many of the sport’s outstanding fillies, among them the sensational 1944 Horse of the Year Twilight Tear, champions Bewitch, Real Delight, Next Move, Durazna, and two great full-sisters, Two Lea and Miz Clementine. Since 1941, Calumet Farm’s success in the breeding shed enabled it to become the most dominant owner in the sport, the leading breeder twelve straight times, and the leading owner nine times, though in recent years, other owners were beginning to catch up.
Wistful was a big, sleek-looking filly standing 16-hands at her withers. When she competed against other top fillies and mares, she became a champion and often dominated some of the sport’s best males as well, including 1951 Horse of the Year Counterpoint when they met in the Ben Ali Handicap, and eleven-time stakes winner John’s Joy in the Clark Handicap just twelve days later. During her lengthy career, which began in 1948 and spanned five years, she made fifty-one starts and won eight stakes, but it was her three-year-old campaign in 1949 that set her apart. She was a bearcat that year and became the first winner of the Filly Triple Crown, winning the Kentucky Oaks, Pimlico Oaks (Black-Eyed Susan), and New York’s Coaching Club of America Oaks. This feat enabled her to share champion three-year-old filly honors with her stablemate, Two Lea.
Bull Lea
Wistful
Eberhardt and the stable hands were excited when the two new foals were born that night, a feeling similar to that felt in other Kentucky barns that spring. In 1954, America was blessed with one of the most incredible crops in its history. This stellar group included Bold Ruler, Round Table, and English-bred but American-raised and raced Gallant Man, all destined to be enshrined in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. But it didn’t stop there. Others would also make their presence felt, among them future stakes winners Ambehaving, Clem, Cohoes, Federal Hill, Kentucky Derby winner Iron Liege, King Hairan, Manteau, Missile, One-Eyed King, Promised Land, Sir William, and Vertex. This group was a hearty lot that won 135 stakes in their careers and would see Bold Ruler and Round Table be crowned Horse of the Year. But as good as those two were, many racing fans would say without hesitation that the best one of the lot was the Wistful foal who would eventually be named Gen. Duke, a diligent colt that would go wrong just as he was about to embark on what many expected to be a tremendous career. And though Gen. Duke would win just three stakes in his short time on the race track, bringing the above total to 138; he was a colt that his trainer Jimmy Jones said was the second-best horse that Calumet had ever produced, ranking behind only Citation, while considered better than Calumet’s first Triple Crown winner, Whirlaway, and other Horse of the Year winners Twilight Tear, Armed, and Coaltown.
Gen. Duke – always pronounced General Duke – was named after Confederate General Basil Duke, who was second in command to his brother-in-law John Hunt Morgan in the American Civil War. Eagerly anticipated, Gen. Duke stood 15.2 hands tall at his withers – 15.3 hands when he turned three – and had a long blocky body. His legs were straight and his bones heavy, almost coarse, and his coat was solid brown and became shiny when he perspired. Despite not having the classic look of Buckpasser or Damascus, he was still attractive and good-looking, the equine equivalent of actor Tony Curtis, a major Hollywood heartthrob during the fifties and sixties. It was his head that drew people to him. Daily Racing Form columnist Charles Hatton described it as elegant, almost classic French, flat between his eyes and dishing outward toward his muzzle. His elegant manner of holding his head up while he looked at you prompted his owner, Mrs. Markey, to say he was among the most handsome horses she had ever seen.
If Gen. Duke had a fault, it was that he had thin-walled hoofs, a calamity that bothered him throughout his career and occasionally forced Jimmy Jones to stop on him for short intervals because of his tender feet. When he was finally ready for his racing debut, he was shipped to Chicago’s Washington Park, where he was scheduled to make his first start on July 30th in a five-and-one-half furlong Maiden Special Weight (MSW), a race in which he was the 5-2 morning-line favorite. The day before the race, Jones decided to scratch him in favor of another MSW on August 2nd. Once again, he was the morning-line favorite, this time at 2-1, his low odds no doubt because he was a Bull Lea sired colt from Calumet Farm who was out of a champion mare. There was also the fact that leading jockey Bill Hartack would ride him.
Calumet Farm’s Hall of Fame Trainer Jimmy Jones with Gen. Duke. (PHOTO: Associated Press)
With a mid-week crowd of 12,512 looking on, Gen. Duke was slow coming out of the gate, and as the field of twelve two-year-olds, some of whom were erratic, began to unravel, he lopped casually along near the back of the pack in eleventh place, nine lengths off the lead after the opening quarter mile. Many in the crowd who had bet him were becoming restless. Clearly, the Calumet colt seemed uninterested, and their concern mounted when he was no better than tenth, some nine lengths behind at the half. With such a lethargic effort, many began to believe that he was a bust and that just because he was from Calumet Farm, it wasn’t a guarantee that he would win his first time out.
With hearty cases of indigestion bubbling in the chests of many, Gen. Duke then dished out a hearty helping of bicarbonate of soda. That was when the classy colt woke up and began showing the world that he had a future. With just a furlong and a half remaining in the short sprint, Hartack got into him – and like the difference between night and day, he responded and began closing like a rocket in the stretch. With the once lethargic crowd now urging him on, Gen. Duke charged past horse after horse like they were standing still and nailed the leader late to get the win by half a length. The time was 1:05 1/5, not bad for a first-time starter, though it was three-fifths of a second slower than future rival Federal Hill’s time in a five-and-one-half-furlong allowance two races later.
Back in those days, Bill Shoemaker and Eddie Arcaro were two of the best jockeys in North America. They now had a rival, however. Bill Hartack had gained a reputation and was often so sought after that he could virtually get to ride any horse he wanted that wasn’t committed to his two main rivals. The 25-year-old had ridden five winners at Washington Park the day before, bringing his total for the year to 224, seventeen more than Shoe’s 207. This day he was searching for his first win when he climbed aboard Gen. Duke. When the flashy colt returned to the winner’s enclosure without even breathing hard, Hartack told Jimmy Jones that he wanted to make Gen. Duke his personal ride. Jones didn’t hesitate when he said yes, and from that point on, Bill Hartack would be the only jockey to ride him.
Hall of Famer Bill Hartack was the only jockey to ride Gen. Duke.
During July and August, many of the best two-year-old colts in the east were often shipped to Saratoga Race Course in upper New York State for the racetrack’s lucrative summer meeting. Saratoga had an excellent two-year-old stakes program that included the Flash Stakes, the Saratoga Special, the Sanford Memorial, and the Hopeful, key races that had been won in the past by champions Whirlaway, Devil Diver, Battlefield, Tom Fool, Nashua, and the current Kentucky Derby winner, Needles. These horses did not win all of those races, but they succeeded in one or two of them and would go on to establish themselves. If Gen. Duke had made it to the races earlier, it is conceivable that he would have shipped to Saratoga. However, Jones decided to remain at Washington Park and point him towards the $75,000 Washington Park Futurity on September 1st instead.
To prepare the flashy colt for his first stake engagement, Jones entered him in a five-and-one-half-furlong allowance race on August 21st, coupling him with Iron Liege, who was making his first lifetime start. Sent off as the even-money betting favorite, the budding Calumet star broke slowly and was back in seventh place after the opening quarter mile. From there, he closed some ground and passed tired horses to finish third, four and three-quarter lengths behind Santa Anita import Aberion, a British-bred colt sired by Abernant. The time was 1:05, a fifth of a second faster than it had taken Gen. Duke to win his first race. It was a stunning defeat for a colt that showed so much promise after his sensational maiden breaking victory, but it turned out that he had an excuse. He bucked his shins during the race, the extent of the injury enough to keep him on the sidelines for the balance of the year.
It was a tough break to have what might have been a top two-year-old colt remain on the sidelines during the fall months, unable to compete in New York’s excellent stakes program: the Belmont Futurity, the Cowdin, and the Champagne. These important stakes were followed by the $100,000 added Garden State Stakes at Garden State Park, the Futurity at Pimlico, and the Remsen Stakes at Jamaica.
Jimmy Jones was deeply disappointed that Gen. Duke wasn’t able to take on the year’s best two-year-old colts, but there was a consolation, at least for Calumet Farm. Barbizon, who was coupled with Iron Liege while running in his first stake race, came from well back to win the Garden State Stakes by a nose over Federal Hill, aided no doubt when the heavy favorite Bold Ruler, stumbled when in contention on the far turn, the unfortunate mishap causing the big colt to fade all the way back to 17th. Barbizon took home $168,450 from the total purse of $319,210 in the world’s richest horse race.
Barbizon (left) running in his first stake race won the 1956 Garden State Stakes by a nose over Federal Hill. Favored Bold Ruler finished 17th after stumbling badly, essentially taking him out of contention.
Bucked shins, or what is commonly called dorsal metacarpal disease, is a painful, acute periostitis on the dorsal surface of the third metacarpal bone. This injury happens most often in the forelimbs of two-year-olds while they are training or during a race, usually on their left front leg, which bears more stress than the right one when the horse is moving counter-clockwise while running around a turn. Simply put, the stressed bone forms a new layer of bone at the point of stress, and this new bone is weaker. In most cases, it readily responds to treatment.
Gen. Duke returned to the farm where the injury was treated. In time, his bucked shins healed, and he was back in serious training by December. Jones then took him to Florida and planned to prepare him for the Triple Crown with an extensive campaign that would include the Flamingo Stakes and the Florida Derby. Competition in Florida was tense as many serious Derby candidates were there, including Bold Ruler, Gallant Man, and the speedy Federal Hill.
In Gen. Duke’s opener, a six-furlong allowance at Tropical Park on January 3rd, he met Ralph Lowe’s Gallant Man for the first time. The British-bred son of Arc de la Triomphe winner Migoli had made his first four career starts as a two-year-old at Hollywood Park. He broke his maiden in his third start, a five-furlong MSW timed in :58 3/5 at odds of 48-1. After finishing sixth in his next start, a five-and-one-half furlong allowance, he was sold to Lowe and was immediately shipped east to Belmont Park, where his new trainer, John Nerud, entered him in a six-furlong allowance race on October 3rd. Sent off at 60-1, he ran like a longshot and finished 9th to the 6-5 favorite Asgard. Two weeks later, this time sent off at 47-1, he struck again, winning a six-furlong allowance sprint at Belmont in 1:10 1/5. Nerud, undoubtedly with an eye on the Triple Crown, then shipped him to Tropical Park, which, like Hialeah and Gulfstream Park, was about a dozen miles from Miami. Back then, they raced on Christmas Day, and while Santa Claus was back in the North Pole sleeping after a busy night, Gallant Man won his second race in a row, a six-furlong allowance, this time stopping the teletimer at 1:11 as he got up to win by a neck at 4-1.
In Gen. Duke’s first meeting with Gallant Man, there was no doubt who the favorite was. Coming off a two-race winning streak, the son of Migoli, who was bred by the Aga Khan, was bet down to 4-5, while Blue Stone Farm’s Incaseofire was the second choice at 4-1. When they broke from the gate, Gen. Duke, who went off at 6-1, once again was slow getting away, and Hartack made no effort to get him going, content instead to bide his time well back in the pack after the opening quarter mile, then moving him up to be seventh at the half which Gallant Man took them to in a rapid :45 2/5 seconds. The pace was a good one on a track that wasn’t known for speed, and Gallant Man wasn’t about to slow down as he went on to win by six lengths while equaling the track record of 1:09 2/5. Hartack and Gen. Duke paid for their early lethargy, and though they rallied to be a good second, they were never at any time a threat to an improving colt that was now ready to enter stakes competition.
Jimmy Jones knew that Gen. Duke was still not ready to tackle stakes company, but he also felt his colt wasn’t far from it. Moving to Hialeah, where the big boys were, Jones entered him in a seven-furlong allowance race named the Golden Glades Purse on January 22nd. Iron Liege was already a winner at the meet, and now it was Gen. Duke’s turn. The morning-line favorite in the field of twelve was Sunday Star, but when that colt was scratched, the crowd of 15,000 that had braved the cold and intermittent rain, jumped all over the handsome Calumet Farm colt this time sending him off as the odds-on 3-5 favorite.
In those days, unlike today, race tracks did not have state-of-the-art drainage systems. Racing surfaces had much more cushion, which often led to slower times compared to today’s standards. And when it rained, track surfaces often became abnormally gooey and slow. How else could you explain that a horse that would eventually tie the nine-furlong world record would take a minute and twenty-eight seconds to run seven furlongs? But that’s what happened.
When the gates sprung open, Gen. Duke, who was breaking from the one post, got away ninth in the slimmed-down ten-horse field, and Hartack moved him up to be fifth after the opening quarter mile in :23 3/5 seconds. Running without pressure as he felt the spray of water and mud sting his chest, Gen. Duke steadily gained ground and moved up to be third at the half. That was when Hartack asked him for more, and the brown colt, his legs and sides covered with thick gobs of mud, responded. Forging into the lead just as they reached the top of the stretch, Gen. Duke then took complete control and charged under the wire while being eased up in 1:28. This was a command performance, though the time was slow. It took Gen. Duke 40 seconds to cover the final three furlongs and 13 4/5ths seconds to get the final furlong. However, Jimmy Jones was not concerned about the slow time because four days previously, Calumet’s Trentonian set the Hialeah seven-furlong track record of 1:22 when winning an allowance race, and Jones knew that Trentonian was no match for his budding three-year-old star.
With two wins, a second and a third in four-lifetime starts, Gen. Duke was about to enter stakes company. The race was the seven-furlong Bahamas Stakes, one of several Hialeah preps for the important Flamingo Stakes on March 2nd. The Bahamas had a loaded field, one of the strongest in years. Nerud had entered Gallant Man, and the son of Migoli would be accompanied by three other hard-hitting colts: Bold Ruler, Federal Hill, and the Hopeful Stakes winner King Hairan, who had won eight stakes the year before.
Bold Ruler, who was making his first start since being pulled up well before the finish line in the Remsen Stakes at Jamaica on November 6th, had just completed a strange year. Winner of his first five starts, including the Youthful and the Juvenile Stakes over King Hairan, the son of Nasrullah, who was out of the Discovery mare, Miss Disco, had his undefeated streak snapped when he finished second by a half-length to Nashville in a six-furlong dash on Belmont Park’s Widener Course. He rebounded by winning a six-furlong Special Weight on the same Widener Course, getting the distance in 1:08 3/5. This set him up nicely for the Futurity, which was a half-length further and a race that Bold Ruler won with authority in 1:15 1/5 with the six-furlongs in 1:08 3/5. In the beaten field was Nashville, the second choice at 2-1, and Iron Liege, a longshot going off at 43-1.
After the Futurity, Bold Ruler was the odds-on favorite to be voted two-year-old champion, a title he could cinch with a victory in the world’s richest race, the Garden State Stakes on October 27th. Run at a distance of a mile and one-sixteenth, it was the first time Bold Ruler was asked to go that far and the first time that he would negotiate two turns. Nineteen colts lined up behind the gate with Bold Ruler stuck in the one post, probably the worst post position in a race where the field would enter the first turn soon after the start. Lining up against him was the Calumet entry of Barbizon and Iron Liege, along with the speedy Federal Hill. Overall, the competition was not overly strong for such an important race, at least not up to Bold Ruler’s standards, and many thought that this should be nothing more than a walk in the park. However, it was anything but as jockey Ted Atkinson experienced all kinds of trouble. It began when Bold Ruler tried to get out on the first turn and again when they were at the end of the backstretch and moving into the far turn. That was when Bold Ruler suddenly shifted out on his own and clipped heels with a horse in front of him. The crowd was stunned when the race favorite almost fell and stopped cold, eventually limping home in 17th place. Jimmy Jones couldn’t believe his eyes, and once he saw that Bold Ruler appeared to be okay, his concern turned to joy when he saw Barbizon come from well back and get up to win the race by a slim nose. With the victory, the colt’s only stakes win in 21 lifetime starts, fickle voters put their support behind him and named him the two-year-old colt champion. The title might still have been awarded to Bold Ruler if he had won his next start, the Remsen, but in this one he was blocked and was pulled up without finishing.
The Bahamas Stakes turned out to be a one-horse race, though Gen. Duke tried his best to make it two. Having not run in nearly three months, Bold Ruler exploded from the gate and handily wired the field. He went on to win by four and one-half lengths while being threatened only once when Federal Hill took a run at him at the half. In defeat, Gen. Duke probably ran the best race of his career up to that point. Once again breaking slowly, he was back in eighth place after the opening quarter and gradually moved up to finish second two lengths in front of Federal Hill, who hung on for third place a length and a quarter in front of the late-running Gallant Man. The time of 1:22 equaled Trentonian’s track record, and Bold Ruler ran the final three furlongs in 37 seconds and the last eighth in 12 4/5.
Jones was pleased with how Gen. Duke was progressing. However, he wished his colt would show more early speed and not be so far back in the early stages, a running style that put him at the mercy of pacesetters and horses that were dominant speedsters like Bold Ruler. The Wheatly Stable star was a tough horse who was always either on the pace or else prompting it, and he would always be one that Gen. Duke would have to catch, which in most cases was almost impossible. Jones believed that if both horses continued to the Derby, they would always have to contend with each other, and in this regard, they wouldn’t have long to wait. The two were on a collision course, this time in the nine-furlong Everglades Stake at Hialeah on February 16th, a key race that was to be their final prep before they would clash in the nine-furlong Flamingo Stakes on March 2nd.
To prepare Gen. Duke for the Everglades, Jones decided to enter him and Iron Liege in a mile and a sixteenth allowance on February 9th, a race that would include Round Table. The son of Princequillo had not yet reached the status of the more accomplished Bold Ruler and Gallant Man, but by the time his career was over he would be North America’s leading money winner, a future Horse of the Year, a Hall of Fame inductee, and probably the best grass horse ever produced in America.
Round Table was a relatively small brown colt who was foaled at Claiborne Farm on the same night but in a different barn than Bold Ruler. He had a good but not great two-year-old season. It began with a three-furlong dash at Hialeah, then swung up to Keeneland, where he won an allowance race and his first stake, the Lafayette; swung through Chicago, where he won an allowance race at Arlington Park and was unplaced in the George Wolfe Memorial at Washington Park when he stumbled and lost his rider; then swung back to Keeneland where he won an allowance and his second stake, the Breeders’ Futurity.
Round Table had already tasted the wrath of Gallant Man when that one romped in Hialeah’s six-furlong Hibiscus Stakes in a flashy 1:10 flat on January 19th. Round Table wasn’t himself that day, and after being third early on, he faded like a rock in water as he finished tenth, some ten lengths behind the winner. Ironically, on the same card, Iron Liege won a six-furlong allowance in an identical 1:10 as the 7-5 favorite with second favorite Asgard, who had defeated Gallant Man as a two-year-old, finishing a well-beaten fourth.
For Jimmy Jones, the allowance race called the Dallas Park Purse was an ideal prep for the Everglades. With both Calumet colts primed to give a good effort, it was Iron Liege and jockey David Erb who made the first move. They were sitting in fourth place during the long run down the backstretch, then suddenly opened up and took the lead from Missile as they passed by the sixteenth pole. At this point, Gen. Duke, who was closing in on second place and looked like he could blow by and take the lead anytime Hartack felt like it, suddenly slowed after passing Missile as Hartack decided to conserve energy for the Everglades, now just one week away. Iron Liege went on to win by a length and a quarter in 1:42 4/5, which shaved a fifth of a second off the track record. As for Round Table? The son of Princequillo once again showed nothing and finished sixth, eleven lengths back.
The Everglades was Hialeah’s most important prep race leading up to the Flamingo, mainly because at nine furlongs, it was the same distance as the Flamingo and was just a furlong short of the Kentucky Derby’s classic mile and a quarter distance. Seven colts lined up behind the starting gate, but only four were considered serious threats. Heading the field was Bold Ruler, and the public made him the overwhelming 2-5 favorite. The second favorite at 9-5 was the entry of Gen. Duke and Iron Liege, while One-Eyed King was the third favorite at 10-1. If there was a concern with trainer Sonny Jim Fitzsimmons, it was that his Bold Ruler would carry 126 pounds and would have to give weight to Iron Liege (117) and Gen. Duke (114), who was still looking for his first stakes victory.
The field left the starting gate in good order, and as the race played out, everyone in the crowd of 26,000 got their money’s worth. During the first mile, they witnessed vintage Bold Ruler, a big, long-striding colt who was relentless and looked unbeatable. In the final eighth of a mile, they saw vintage Gen. Duke, a colt that closed like a rocket and ran a hole in the wind in his quest for victory. At the break, Bold Ruler was third coming out of the gate in the seven-horse field, but before he took a half dozen steps, he was in front, and he took them to the first quarter in a reasonable :23 seconds, then continued on to the half in :46 2/5. The time was not fast for a colt of Bold Ruler’s caliber, especially since he was not being challenged, and his jockey, Eddie Arcaro, had him well in hand. Hartack, however, wasn’t drawn into the Arcaro pace magic. He saw what was going on, and to his credit, he responded. Running fifth, about seven lengths back at the quarter pole, he moved Gen. Duke up to be second at the three-quarter pole in 1:10 2/5, now just a length and one-half from the lead. This was when Eddie Arcaro asked Bold Ruler to turn it up a notch, and the eager colt obliged. With Gen. Duke inching closer, the son of Nasrullah braced for a challenge, and when the two entered the stretch, he still had the lead by a length at the eighth pole, which meant that he ran his fourth quarter in :24 1/5 seconds.
At this point, one had to wonder what was going through the minds of two of the sport’s greatest trainers. Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons had been around forever and was the first trainer to win two Triple Crowns as he conditioned Belair Farm’s Gallant Fox in 1930 and his son Omaha in 1935. Not to be outdone, Jimmy Jones, the son of the great Ben Jones, also shared training duties with his father Ben when Citation won the Triple Crown in 1948, and he was an assistant to his father when Whirlaway became Calumet Farm’s first Triple Crown winner in 1941. As they both looked on in what was suddenly going to be a stunning run to the wire, they were both caught up, their thoughts swallowed up by the roar of the crowd. With just an eighth of a mile to go, despite giving the upstart Calumet colt twelve pounds, Bold Ruler looked like he couldn’t be caught, but that was when racing fans began to realize just how good Gen. Duke was. Seemingly more determined than ever, the colt, under strong urging from Hartack, never wavered and continued to close until, with two jumps remaining, the two were nose-and-nose. The crowd was cheering louder than ever as both colts strained to get to the wire first, and just when it looked like Bold Ruler might eke out the victory, Gen. Duke gave one final lunge and stuck his nose in front.
Gen. Duke’s victory in the Everglades Stakes at Hialeah Park was his first career stakes victory.
The crowd was thoroughly wrung out – it was that kind of race, fast and exciting. The time was a good one – 1:47 2/5 – just a fifth of a second off the track record set by Spartan Valor in 1952. But it was Bold Ruler’s mile time that really stood out. He did it in 1:34 3/5, remarkable in that the track record for the seldom-used distance was 1:36 3/5, which was set by Bright Willie back in 1942.
Everglades Race Chart: DRF – Keeneland Library.
The dust had barely settled when the arguments began, the main one being the weight concession Bold Ruler had to give up. His 126 pounds was twelve more than Gen. Duke had carried and nine more than third-place Iron Liege, who finished six lengths further back. To most, this meant that Bold Ruler, though beaten by the slimmest of margins, was actually three or four lengths better than Gen. Duke. Backed by that logic, more than one person pointed to the Flamingo. They would carry equal weights in that one, and Gen. Duke’s detractors felt that Bold Ruler would dominate.
Jockey Eddie Arcaro, who had flown 3,000 miles from California to ride Bold Ruler, wasn’t disappointed and backed up the argument about the weight differential. Speaking to several reporters, he praised his mount. “Weight being the great equalizer, how can anyone knock Bold Ruler? In the Flamingo, everyone gets 122 pounds, and that should make a considerable difference. This loss was no disgrace whatsoever. I’ll be back in two weeks to ride Bold Ruler again and watch the results that time.”
Ted Atkinson, who rode Bold Ruler to victory in the Bahamas, totally agreed with Arcaro. “There is no doubt in my mind who is the better horse,” he said. “Bold Ruler was far superior today. With the weight disadvantage he suffered, the story will be reversed in the Flamingo.”
Bill Hartack didn’t care what Gen. Duke’s detractors had to say. The temperamental jockey, who was not one to give interviews and often sulked after a race even when he won it, had plenty to say to the gaggle of reporters who stood waiting for a quote. “I sure laid into him today,” he said, smiling. “He ran exactly according to the script. Our entry didn’t play it as a team. We both tried for all the money. I know my horse is a come-on runner, so I stayed in sight of Bold Ruler, eased up to him after the turn, and a couple of jumps from the wire I knew I had it.” Then he changed his statement slightly. “At the head of the stretch, I wasn’t positive. You never know in a horse race that you can win it all until it’s over. All I know is that I had a horse under me who responded perfectly and made me glad that I selected him over the other Calumet horse (Iron Liege).”
Dave Erb, who won the Derby the year before on Needles, and who rode Iron Liege, then offered his comments. “Our objective was to stay within striking distance of the leader. My horse is improving, but Gen. Duke is coming on. The results bear me out there.”
With the featured seventh race over, there was still the eighth race, and Derby fans looked on with interest. It was a seven-furlong allowance in which Federal Hill was the 1-2 favorite while Round Table was 7-1. At the break, Federal Hill stumbled and jockey Willie Carstens fell off. Round Table, who was being ridden by former Calumet contract rider Steve Brooks, suddenly looked like a different horse. Leaving from post six, he went into the lead immediately and led all the way, drawing off to win by six lengths while getting the seven furlongs in 1:22 2/5. It was a fitting victory for a horse that had just been sold.
It turned out that Claiborne Farm, which bred and owned Round Table, was experiencing financial difficulties after the death of Arthur Hancock Sr. There was not enough money to pay the estate taxes when ownership of the farm was transferred to his son. Arthur “Bull” Hancock Jr. Desperate, he reluctantly agreed to sell Round Table to Texas oilman Travis Kerr for $145,000. The son of Princequillo, who was trained by Moody Jolley, was then transferred to trainer William Molter, who would guide him through the balance of his 66-race career.
William Molter, who would be inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1960, decided to take Round Table out west for the Santa Anita Derby, California’s top Derby prep in which the colt finished third by a head to Sir William on an off-track. After finishing sixth on a heavy track in his next start, the San Bernardino Handicap, Round Table completed his three-race California trip by winning the Bay Meadows Derby by four lengths over Swirling Abby, who had finished second in the Santa Anita Derby. He then returned east to win the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland by an emphatic six lengths over One-Eyed King in a track record 1:47 2/5, this effort setting him up perfectly for the Kentucky Derby.
With Round Table in Kentucky and Gallant Man currently in New York preparing for the Wood Memorial, both Bold Ruler and Gen. Duke were ready to battle it out in the Flamingo Stakes, the first of Florida’s two most important Kentucky Derby preps. With both horses entered, their presence discouraged some trainers who refused to enter their horses in a race they felt they had no chance of winning. As a result, the field for the Flamingo was the second smallest in the famous race’s history, and with two entries, it would have only five betting interests. Bold Ruler was the 4-5 favorite, followed closely by the Calumet Farm entry of Gen. Duke and Iron Liege at 9-5. The balance of the field was at double-digit odds: the entry of One-Eyed King and Missile (9-1), Federal Hill (11-1), and Mister Jive, who was the longest shot on the board (53-1).
A crowd of just under 35,000 cheered when they left the starting gate. Iron Liege broke on top but was immediately passed by Federal Hill and Mister Jive as those two set down the early gauntlet, rushing past the quarter pole in a swift :22 3/5 seconds. Eddie Arcaro, who didn’t want to engage the two leaders early, had Bold Ruler running nicely in third place along the rail about three lengths further back. Behind him, the field was stringing out as Missile was fourth, Iron Liege fifth, and Gen. Duke, after his customary sluggish start, was all the way back in sixth place, about twelve lengths off the lead and nine lengths behind Bold Ruler. The fast, early pace was strenuous and eventually took its toll. As they moved down the backstretch, Mister Jive was the first to shorten stride, and when the son of the unraced stallion, Mr. Music, began to fall back, Eddie Arcaro urged Bold Ruler into second place and was just a length behind leading Federal Hill when the speedster reached the half-mile pole in :45 2/5 seconds.
As they continued down the backside, many in the crowd began to believe that the twelve-pound difference in the Everglades really did mean a lot because Gen. Duke was still in sixth place though he had moved to within five lengths of the Wheatley Stable star by the time they reached the far turn. That’s when Arcaro moved Bold Ruler into the lead, and when he did, Hartack decided to make his move.
With an energetic surge that ignited the crowd and pulled them out of their seats, Gen. Duke suddenly shot forward and moved from sixth place to third, then hugged the rail instead of going wide when Dave Erb obligingly steered Iron Liege out to give him a clear shot. And with that, suddenly the Flamingo was a two-horse race.
Turning into the stretch, Eddie Arcaro began to coax Bold Ruler, who was on top by two lengths, a lead that the stubborn colt maintained over Gen. Duke to the eighth pole. Then Hartack went to the whip and the gap between the two leaders gradually shortened. At the sixteenth pole, it was down to a half-length and it looked like Gen. Duke would go by. That’s when two key things happened – Bold Ruler dug in and found a little more, and Gen. Duke, no doubt feeling the effects of his charge from well back in the pack, began to shorten his stride.
Jimmy Jones, who was full of confidence when Gen. Duke closed in the stretch, looked on, his confidence suddenly waning when he realized that his colt was unable to sustain a middle six-furlong run to the eighth pole that saw him cover the distance in 1:09 4/5 seconds. But even while he was slowing down, Gen. Duke was still closing in on Bold Ruler. It was that kind of a race. Two excellent three-year-olds going at it with Gen. Duke’s momentum inching him closer, and Bold Ruler, with the heart of a champion, refusing to give up as he crossed the line maybe a neck in front.
Bold Ruler (#3) edging Gen. Duke by a neck in the 1957 Flamingo Stakes.
If anyone doubted the class of these two, they need look no further than the teletimer. Bold Ruler had just broken the track record, stopping the clock at 1:47, as the two colts ran nine furlongs faster than any other three-year-old in history.
Despite the loss, trainer Jimmy Jones was in a good mood. “We had no excuses. We just broke the track record and were getting to him at the finish.”
After thrilling the crowd, the two jockeys then addressed the media. Bill Hartack spoke first. As was often in the past, he was bitter, which might have been expected considering the fact that he had lost out on the winning share of the $131,400 purse, which was ten percent of $94,200.
“Weights had nothing to do with this race,” he bellowed. “I know very well he (Bold Ruler) spotted us twelve pounds in the Everglades, but it had nothing to do with the finish in that race. When I moved my horse to him today he went the way I wanted him to, but we were just a little shy at the end. Don’t worry about Gen. Duke. We’ll be number one once again, just watch him in the next one.”
Arcaro wasn’t ready to concede anything and was very adamant that Bold Ruler was the best horse. “The last time I rode Bold Ruler he was exceptionally rank, and I had no choice but to shoot for the lead and see if he would last. He behaved himself today and I was glad to see Federal Hill go to the front. I did not hit Bold Ruler after Gen. Duke came to him. You see, when he finally grabbed the lead and was clear in front he started to pull himself up until he saw the other horse come alongside. That’s when he zoomed off again and was really strong at the finish. I am very glad I got a chance to ride this horse and see if he could come on. I guess he did.”
The great Hall of Fame trainer, 82-year-old Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons, was asked about his colt. This was a man who had trained Triple Crown winners Gallant Fox (1930) and Omaha (1935), as well as Kentucky Derby winner Johnstown (1939), Belmont winners Faireno (1932), Granville (1936), Johnstown (1939), and the great Nashua, which won both the Preakness and Belmont in 1955.
Universally known around the racetrack as Mr. Fitz, he praised his Bold Ruler: “He is a good horse. I liked the way that he came on when others came at him in the stretch. Arcaro did the right thing in taking him back in the early part of the race and not trying to run with Federal Hill and Missile. He did a good job. I was pretty sure we would win, and I thought it might have been easier. He has done everything that Nashua did up to this point.
“It is doubtful he will go as far as Nashua, who could run all day. Nashua was a bulldog. Bold Ruler is a tough horse too. He is a more cheerful horse than Nashua and runs as fast as he can, though I never thought that Nashua really did his best early in any race. If everything is alright, our next race will be the Florida Derby. The bosses are happy, and the track is good. All I did in getting him ready for this race was to keep him where he was. I worked him a mile and an eighth on Monday. After that, it rained all week and the track was muddy, so I just gave him some long, slow gallops.”
If one thing came through loud and clear after the thrilling finish in the Flamingo, it was that Gen. Duke was now the new kid on the block. It was true that the 1954 crop was one of the best, if not the overall best, in American racing history, but in the late winter and early spring of 1957, no one could say such a thing and be taken seriously. The crop was good, alright, but most of them still had to develop. Round Table was one of those. By year’s end he won ten stakes, but in the late winter months he was just beginning to come into his own and would enter the Derby starting gate at Churchill Downs as the co 7-2 second favorite with Gallant Man.
And Gallant Man was another that was just beginning to come into his own. After winning the Hibiscus Stakes, the son of Migoli, whose first two victories were at 48 and 46 to one, finished second in the Wood Memorial by a nose and would have won the Kentucky Derby if his jockey, Bill Shoemaker, had not misjudged the finish line. After that, he showed his class when he won the Peter Pan, set a stake, track, and American record when he won the Belmont, won the Travers, and completed a successful fall campaign against older hoses when he won the Nassau County and the Jockey Club Gold Cup.
Many people would agree that Barbizon might have been crowned the two-year-old colt champion primarily because of his victory in the Garden State Stakes, but you would not find anyone who would say that he was better than Bold Ruler was at two. And at this point in 1957, Bold Ruler had been hands down the best three-year-old, which boded well for those who were touting Gen. Duke. The Calumet Colt had shown that his victory over Bold Ruler when getting twelve pounds was legitimate, especially when he had just lost the Flamingo by a neck at equal weights. And with the Florida Derby fast approaching, Gen. Duke was considered the second-best three-year-old in America and would be considered the best if he upset Bold Ruler in what was looking like a tremendous race.
With the Florida Derby still four weeks away, Mr. Fitz decided to prepare Bold Ruler for it with a series of works. Jimmy Jones never had that luxury because he was suddenly faced with a dilemma. On the morning after the Flamingo, Gen. Duke was not himself. He didn’t want to leave his stall for a walk and never cleaned up his food pail. His left front foot was a little tender, and there was some heat. The next day, though, the heat was gone. Gen. Duke cleaned his food tub, and there was no noticeable limp when he walked.
Chalking it up to a bad step, Jones realized that there was a problem. Gen. Duke was what he called a “hard stepper.” While some horses could glide over the racetrack, their hooves seemingly just touching it, Gen. Duke’s front hooves pounded down into it, which would be hard on his legs over time. Jones figured that he might have taken a bad step, his stride just slightly off center, and it might have put too much side pressure on his ankle. What he did not know – no one did – was that lurking in the colt’s hoof was the beginning of a serious problem waiting to take hold and one that would eventually lead to his early retirement and eventually his death.
Whatever the problem was – Jones thought it might also be a bone bruise – it was gone just as quickly as it showed up. Feeling that Gen. Duke might be a touch short, he entered him along with Barbizon and Iron Liege in a prep race, the mile and one-sixteenth Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream on March 20th.
As luck would have it, the weather was terrible. A driving rainstorm caused water to pool on the dirt surface, turning it sloppy. A hearty crowd of 16,000 braved the elements and sent the Calumet entry off as the overwhelming 1-5 favorite (which resulted in a minus show pool of $6,950).
Once again, Gen. Duke broke slowly and found himself back in the seventh position after the opening quarter. There was no need to panic in this one, but Hartack wanted to get his colt used to running closer to the pace. To get him going, he shifted gears early. As always, Gen. Duke eagerly responded, and when Hartack urged him around the far turn and approached the top of the stretch, they had moved up to be third. Gen. Duke was rolling now and slipped past Moon Crazy while making a move for the lead, but in doing so, he came in a bit and bumped the Elmendorf Farm colt. It was a momentary touch against a horse that had run his race and was finished, and from there, Gen. Duke sprinted to the wire a length and a half in front of Iron Liege while Barbizon languished back in the fifth spot, making him winless in three starts as a three-year-old. The time was 1:44 on the sloppy track, and after surviving a claim of foul lodged by Moon Crazy’s jockey Angel Valenzuela, Gen. Duke was declared the winner.
The 1957 Florida Derby
In 1957, the Florida Derby, which is currently Florida’s most important prep race for the Kentucky Derby, was just another stake race, intended to compete with Hialeah’s well-established Flamingo Stakes. Introduced in 1952, it failed to attract the nation’s top three-year-olds its first three years, but its status changed in 1955 when Nashua showed up and won it, and it became even more important in 1956 when Florida-bred Needles, the eventual Kentucky Derby winner, led a field of fourteen to the wire.
When this new stake race was introduced, Gulfstream Park had always intended to make Florida Derby Day something special, an experience that would encourage people to visit the track on a regular basis. During the first three years, progress had been slow, but with two of racing’s best three-year-olds ready to renew their rivalry, management had finally reached its goal. The day began early when the gates opened at 8:30 to welcome those who wished to attend the special day-long festivities. First up was the Florida Derby Day Breakfast, which was served in the grandstand and the clubhouse at nine o’clock. At ten o’clock, there was the annual Parade of Stars in which 48 riders on stable ponies carried flags representing each state. They were accompanied by a 12-horse Miami City Police escort who marched to the colorful music of popular Miami band leader Caesar LaMonaca. Another feature was the presentation of Service Flags by units representing the Army, Marines, Air Force, Navy, and Coast Guard. The festivities ended when 48 Legionnaires planted state flags in the infield.
It was a day of “feel-good celebrations,” and what made the day even more special was the fact that arguably the two best three-year-olds in America were going to clash, young colts that many believed were as talented as Nashua was at their age and might be even better as their careers progressed. So caught up were the racing fans in Miami and those who drove or flew in from other parts of the country that a crowd of 25,000 jammed the place, far exceeding the 16,000-seat grandstand. Despite the lack of comfortable seating, there were few complaints as everyone expected to see something special.
This 1957 edition would see only five horses go to post, the smallest field so far in the young stake race’s history, but no doubt the reason was the presence of not just one standout but two. At approximately 4:47, with the crowd becoming anxious, they entered the starting gate. As expected, Bold Ruler was now the favorite at 3-5, but the Calumet entry of Iron Liege and Gen. Duke was well regarded and would leave the gate a strong 9-5 second favorite. Federal Hill, the Louisiana Derby winner, and a colt that just a few days before had set a new world record of 1:15 for six and one-half furlongs around one turn was 5-1. All five colts were eligible for the Kentucky Derby, and only Shan Pac, who ran second in the Louisiana Derby, was not eligible for both the Preakness and the Belmont, races that it could be supplemented to if its owner wished to do so. A son of the Australian stallion Shannon, who had been imported to the United States in 1948 and won several stakes, including the Hollywood Gold Cup, Shan Pac was not afforded much chance even with Willie Shoemaker riding him and was sent off at 20-1.
As for the weights? The allowance conditions dictated that stake winners Bold Ruler, Federal Hill, and Gen. Duke all carried 122 pounds, while non-stake winners Iron Liege and Shan Pac each received four pounds and would carry 118.
At 4:49, they were off. The crowd roared when Federal Hill blasted out of the gate and immediately went into the lead, followed by Bold Ruler, who, on this day, was kind to Eddie Arcaro and allowed the jockey to rate him. Usually, Gen. Duke was slow breaking from the gate, but this time he actually got away first, though in a stride or two he dropped back to be third with Iron Liege running fourth and late running Shan Pac fifth and last, a position he would remain in until late in the stretch drive.
Federal Hill’s opening quarter was fast, which was expected from a colt who was primed following his sensational sprint the previous Monday. As he crossed over to the rail from his four post, the pumped-up son of Cosmic Bomb was all business and was on top by two and one-half lengths when he reached the quarter pole in :23 2/5 seconds, not sprinting time, but reasonably fast considering they still had seven furlongs to run. The other jockeys knew enough to bide their time, and the field was already spreading out with a patient Bold Ruler in hand two lengths in front of Gen. Duke while Iron Liege was a length and a half further back and already three lengths in front of Shan Pac.
As Federal Hill sprinted around the clubhouse turn on his way to the half-mile pole, Eddie Arcaro decided to inch Bold Ruler a little closer. When he did, the crowd cheered, but not because the great Wheatley Stable star was closing the gap. They were reacting to Gen. Duke, who had moved off the rail and was now being hustled up on the outside and was just a head behind Bold Ruler, the two closing to within a length of the lead as they steamed past the half-mile pole in :46 2/5 seconds.
There is no doubt that every one of the 25,000 looking on knew that at some point Gen. Duke would come from behind and try to catch Bold Ruler, but no one, possibly not even Jimmy Jones himself, expected the challenge to come this early. This was Hartack’s decision, and it would turn out that he knew what he was doing, though after they raced past the half, it looked like he had made a mistake. As they left the backstretch and moved into the far turn, both Federal Hill and Bold Ruler continued on while suddenly Gen. Duke began to drop back and was passed on the inside by Iron Liege. Gen. Duke’s fans, so boisterous just seconds before, were now stunned as Federal Hill, still on top by a length, took them to the three-quarters in 1:10 2/5.
One of the reasons why horseracing’s top jockeys separate themselves from journeymen jocks is because they are master tacticians. They visualize and have the ability to make mid-race decisions and react quickly. Bill Hartack might be moody and often defy a trainer’s instruction and do things “his way,” but he was also a great rider, and he showed the world why he had been the champion jockey of 1956, thoroughly dominating the sport with the most wins, the most money won, and the most money won in stakes and feature races.
The reason that Gen. Duke had suddenly dropped back wasn’t because he was out of gas. It was because Hartack had pulled him back on purpose, a move that could be dangerous if your horse pouted and decided to spit out the bit. But Hartack knew that Gen. Duke wasn’t that kind of horse. He knew that the son of Bull Lea was not just a competitor but that he was versatile and could be rated rather easily. While many of his fans had already given up, and with Federal Hill still narrowly on top when they turned into the stretch with Bold Ruler right there on his outside and Iron Liege glued to the rail, Hartack suddenly got into Gen. Duke. It was a brilliant move. His colt, as eager as he had ever been in any of his previous starts, suddenly came back to life. And his supporters did too and they cheered as he began to close in on the leaders.
The crowd was eating this up. On a special day when track management had done all it could to promote the Florida Derby, the stretch run was about to make it all worthwhile. The crowd was on its feet, many screaming as the four horses charged through the stretch, literally heads apart at the eighth pole. On they came with Bold Ruler finally wresting the lead from a stubborn Federal Hill. Arcaro was all over the Wheatley Stable star imploring him to dig down deep, and he did, but so did Gen. Duke. The handsome colt was relentless and on this day he would earn the right to be considered a big favorite for the Kentucky Derby. With a sixteenth of a mile to go, the two colts looked each other in the eye. For two steps they matched strides, then Gen. Duke showed his superiority and sprinted away, charging under the wire a length and a half in front of Bold Ruler, who hung on to edge Iron Liege by a head, while Shan Pac closed and finished two lengths further back in fourth as a thoroughly spent Federal Hill faded back to last.
Gen. Duke tied the 9F world record of 1:46 4/5 when he defeated Bold Ruler and stablemate Iron Liege in the 1957 Florida Derby. It was the fastest ever time for a three-year-old.
It was a marvelous Florida Derby, one for the ages, and before they even came back to the front of the grandstand to be unsaddled, there was a loud cheer. Gen. Duke had not only beaten Bold Ruler with a tremendous rush, he also smashed Needles’ track record and tied the world record while doing it. Needles had set the standard the previous year in the Florida Derby when he stopped the teletimer in 1:48. Gen. Duke’s time of 1:46 4/5 was 1-1/5 seconds faster. It was also the fastest ever nine furlongs for a three-year-old, as the world record was held jointly by three horses, Noor, Alidon, and Swaps, and all three were older than Gen. Duke.
With the race over, trainer Jimmy Jones was relieved. “We kept a little closer this time,” he confided. “We were too far back in the Flamingo.”
When asked about his thoughts about Bold Ruler, he went out of his way to show his deep respect. “Nobody has got that horse beat until you cross the finish line. He is one tough horse. When we reached the three-sixteenth pole I thought we were going to beat him, but you’re never sure.”
“I thought he was the best horse and he proved it,” Hartack said smiling, in reference to Gen. Duke. “I had made up my mind before the race to beat Bold Ruler if it was the last thing I did, and we did.” When someone said that he looked dead coming around the turn, Hartack smiled and said, “I know, but we had a little something left. I checked him in the turn because if I continued to drive him, he might have hung in the stretch.”
Eddie Arcaro praised the winner. “It was a cleanly run race, and I can’t find an excuse. I thought I killed him on the turn by saving ground, but he came around everybody. He moved to me once and that’s when I made my move. Then he moved to me again and in that last eighth he flew by me with ease.”
Florida Derby Race Chart: DRF – Keeneland Library.
For many of us, it is hard to imagine the extraordinary high that Jimmy Jones must have felt when, yet again, he had the favorite for the upcoming Kentucky Derby, especially after Gen. Duke had raced only twice as a two-year-old while his stablemate, Barbizon, who was born on the same night and in the same barn would go on and be crowned the two-year-old colt champion.
Barbizon had made it to the top. Now it was Gen. Duke’s turn.
Jones decided to get at least one more race into both Gen. Duke and Iron Liege before the Derby, and he entered them in the seven-furlong Forerunner Stakes on April 19th at Keeneland. Only three horses went to the post, and because Iron Liege and Gen. Duke were from the same barn, the race was run as a non-betting exhibition. The lone challenger was One-Eyed King, a colt that was slower to develop than most and wouldn’t win his first of nine career stakes races until the following year. Iron Liege took the lead out of the gate and led all the way while being chased by One-Eyed King. The improving colt’s margin of victory was a length, and his time equaled Your Host’s track record of 1:22 2/5. Then the inevitable question after Gen. Duke, who carried 122 pounds, eight more than his opponents, came home an unhurried third. What happened?
Jimmy Jones and Bill Hartack took Gen. Duke’s defeat in hand. “I told Bill that this wasn’t May 4th (Kentucky Derby Day), and all we wanted was some exercise,” Jones said after the race. “This run today is just what he (Gen. Duke) needed, a nice but easy race. It should put him on edge. But Iron Liege ran well too. From here, they will both be vanned over to Churchill Downs and run in the Derby Trial.”
There were some who believed that Iron Liege, and not Gen. Duke, was now the best of the two, but Jimmy Jones was not one of them. When Citation and Coaltown were three, there was a lot of talk about Coaltown being the best of the two, but in the trainer’s mind, it was always Citation, and of course, Citation bore that out by winning the Triple Crown. To head off the doubt, Jones said, “If this was a $100,000 purse and not $5,000, it might have been different.”
Back in the jockey’s room, Bill Hartack was being philosophical. Gen. Duke will always have a problem beating Iron Liege in a seven-furlong race,” he said. “But in the longer distances, it’ll be Gen. Duke.” Hartack made only one threatening move during the race and that was at the eighth pole when he gave his horse a smack with the whip. For some reason, Gen. Duke’s stride had suddenly shortened, and he began to slow down, though Hartack knew that he wasn’t tired. The smack with the whip shook him up, after which the jockey put it away as the other jockeys in the race, Ray Erb on Iron Liege, and Pete Anderson on One-Eyed King, never used the whip at any point.
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The Derby Trial, a one-mile race at Churchill Downs for Kentucky Derby aspirants, has long been a race that Calumet Farm used as a final prep for the Derby. Ben Jones won it a record five times with Ocean Wave (1943), Faultless (1947), Citation (1948), Fanfare (1951), and Hill Gail (1952), with both Citation and Hill Gail going on to win the Derby. Ben’s son, Jimmy, won it with Fabius in 1956 and would win it with Tim Tam, who also won the Derby in 1958.
Following a tradition that began when Whirlaway finished second in 1941 before going on to win the Triple Crown, Jones entered both his projected Derby starters in the 1957 edition against just four others, Federal Hill, Man Upstairs, Better Bee, and Indian Creek. Off as the odds-on 2-5 favorite, Iron Liege broke with the leaders and pushed the pace throughout, while Hartack kept Gen. Duke back in last place and only let him run in the stretch, his burst enough to catapult him up to second place, but still two and a half lengths behind Federal Hill, who galloped home in 1:36 1/5.
Handicappers were impressed by the way in which Gen. Duke closed to get the place money, all of them realizing that the horse was basically in the race to keep sharp. And even though he didn’t win, they still felt that the Kentucky Derby was his to win.
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Horse racing is a fickle sport, one in which you can be on top of the world one day and suddenly in trouble the next. Gen. Duke might have been the projected favorite to win the Kentucky Derby, which was just four days away, but on the morning after the Derby Trial, many people suddenly had doubts. Gen. Duke was lame. His left front hoof was sore, and he couldn’t walk without a limp. During the next two days, his hoof was treated and he remained in his stall. Additional X-rays revealed nothing and by Friday morning he was feeling much better and was allowed to canter on the track. Showing no ill effects, once again he was given the green light to run and his name appeared on the overnight sheet.
On Saturday morning, with the Kentucky Derby just hours away, Jones had him on the track at 6:00 a.m. for a quick quarter-mile work. Gen. Duke ran the distance in :24 seconds, but before he made it off the track, he was limping again. Conferring with his father, Jimmy Jones then talked to Mrs. Markey. It was a difficult conversation, but they made a decision. At 9:15, before betting on the big race commenced, it was announced that Gen. Duke, the morning line favorite to win the Kentucky Derby, was scratched.
Upon hearing the news, the reporters, who seemed to be everywhere, streamed toward the Calumet barn. Jones then talked to them and explained what had happened. “He acted alright this morning,” he said. “He went along through the stretch okay, but he took a few bad steps when he pulled up. We felt some heat in his foot before he left the track to return to the barn.”
When asked about the Preakness, Jones was upbeat. “He’s not too far from a race and should be ready for the Preakness if all goes well. There was some heat on the outside quarter, about halfway up the wall of the hoof. It’s an internal bruise and we feel that it’s been there for some time, possibly as far back as the Florida Derby. Eventually, the system will absorb it and we’ll see it as a little red spot when the hoof grows out. It’s a thing that is not going to localize and we’re pretty sure that there is no pus pocket.”
Later that afternoon, Calumet Farm’s number one Derby horse was standing in his stall with his ankles wrapped in thick bandages while his stablemate, Iron Liege, went out and won the Kentucky Derby, though it took a misjudged finish line by Willie Shoemaker to ensure his victory.
Still considered to have a shot at the Preakness, Gen. Duke was shipped to Pimlico along with Iron Liege. On May 13th, Jimmy Jones had him out on the track between the first and second races for a one-mile work, which he completed handily in 1:40 4/5. But when he pulled up lame once again, he was immediately scratched. Another set of X-rays revealed nothing, and the perplexed trainer still believed that the problem was a deep bone bruise.
A decision was made to give Gen. Duke a month off. Reacting to a needle by a Sports Illustrated reporter, a philosophical Jones, who never bragged about his horses, said: “In a month he’ll be back at the races, and then they better look out. All the best three-year-olds will be standing still and my horse will be looking like he’s running downhill.”
Jimmy Jones and his father Ben, both believed that the time off would be beneficial to Gen. Duke, but when he still wasn’t right in July, another set of x-rays was ordered and this time they revealed a hairline fracture in the pedal bone in his foot, an injury that they thought happened in the Florida Derby.
Informed that the fracture would not heal without complete rest, Gen. Duke was shipped back to the farm. He remained there for the balance of the year. On January 11th, 1958, he showed no ill effects from his injury and was shipped to Hialeah to begin working out. All would not go as planned, however.
Unbeknownst to Jimmy Jones and veterinarian Dr. Alex Harthill, the hairline fracture in his foot would be the least of Gen. Duke’s problems. There was a far more serious problem, a genetic malady that had been active all his life. Though it progressed slowly at first, it would eventually surge through his body like a hurricane and within a short time cost him his life.
The genetic problem turned out to be a spinal disease that in the end was terminal. Gen. Duke eventually developed wobbles, an ailment that affected the nerves in his spinal column causing him to lose power and coordination and eventually fall down. The first signs were vague – a slight stumble or maybe losing his balance. From there, it progressed to the point that he would go down to his knees and eventually just fall down, and whenever that happened, he would hurt himself. Farm Manager Paul Eberhardt and his assistant Melvin Cinnamon never really gave up hope until the end, which came on Monday, July 28th, 1958, the day when Gen. Duke was euthanized. He was buried at Calumet Farm in a grave next to their 1944 Kentucky Derby winner, Pensive.
There is no telling how good Gen. Duke would have been and where he would be ranked if he had a normal career. The BloodHorse Magazine would eventually rank Bold Ruler as the 19th best American thoroughbred of the twentieth century (HorseRacing20thCentury99.com ranked him 15th best), and Gen. Duke had proven to be at least Bold Ruler’s equal and maybe even better in the four meetings that they competed against each other. He was a kind colt, one that could easily be rated, and when asked to run he always gave his all. In a way, it is a fitting tribute that his 1:46 4/5 clocking in the Florida Derby is still the record for the race, a fifth of a second faster than Alydar’s 1978 Derby and rated as the same clocking as Arrogate’s track record when that one won the 2017 Pegasus Handicap in 1:46.83 (1:46 4/5).
Gen. Duke
