September 19, 1942: Whirlaway vs. Alsab

September 19, 1942: A match race is held between champion American thoroughbred horses Whirlaway and Alsab.

Despite being a son of an English Derby winner, Blenheim, Whirlaway was bred, foaled and trained at Calumet Farm outside Lexington, Kentucky. In 1940, he was voted American Champion Two-Year-Old. In 1941, ridden by Eddie Arcaro, "Mr. Longtail" won the Triple Crown: The Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes. That Summer, at Saratoga Race Course, he won the Travers Stakes. He remains the only horse ever to win all 4 of those races.

Arcaro was suspended for the 1942 racing season, for racing infractions. George Woolf, who had previously stepped in for the injured Red Pollard to ride Seabiscuit to some big wins, became Whirlaway's rider.

Alsab was also a Kentucky-bred horse. He was the 2-year-old champion in 1941, and in 1942, ridden by Basil James, he won the Preakness, finishing 2nd Shut Out in both the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont.

It might have made sense, in an era when match races, races between 2 major thoroughbred horses, were occasionally done, to match up Whirlaway and Shut Out, winners of 5 of the last 6 Triple Crown races. Instead, one was set up for September 19, 1942, at Narragansett Park in Pawtucket, Rhode Island -- 6 miles northeast of downtown Providence, and 41 miles southwest of Boston -- between Whirlaway and Alsab, who, despite being only 2, finished 2nd to Whirlaway for Turf and Sport Digest magazine's Horse of the Year award the year before.

That poll wasn't the reason. The reason was that the Narragansett Special was scheduled for a week before, on September 12. Both horses were supposed to run in it, but Alsab's owners scratched him. It's impossible to call a horse a coward, so Alsab's handlers were accused of cowardice. So, since both horses were already in Pawtucket, the match race was scheduled for 7 days later. It was a winner-take-all race with a $25,000 prize -- about $276,000 in 2022 money. Neither horse was ridden by his usual jockey: Woolf was still aboard Whirlaway, while Alsab was ridden by Carroll Bierman.

A crowd of 35,000 came, and all 3 national radio networks then considered "major" were covering it. Whirlaway was the heavy favorite, at odds of 3-10; Alsab went off at 8-5. Nevertheless, Alsab led the whole way: He jumped out to an early lead, leading by as much as 2 1/2 lengths. Twice, Whirlaway tried to move ahead, once as they neared the far turn, and again as the horses entered the backstretch. However, both times, Bierman kept Alsab ahead. Whirlway made a late charge, resulting in a photo finish. But Alsab won the race by a nose. It is the greatest horse race in New England history.

Nevertheless, the horses opposed each other in one more race before the year was out, and Whirlaway won. It may have made a difference, as Whirlaway, having won 12 races on the year to Alsab's 9, was named Horse of the Year again.

Whirlaway lived until 1953, Alsab until 1963. Eddie Arcaro rode Citation to the Triple Crown in 1948, and he remains the only jockey ever to ride 2 Triple Crown winners. He lived until 1997, and Basil James died the following year. George Woolf wasn't so lucky: He died as the result of a racing accident in 1946. Carroll Bierman also died relatively young, in 1970.

Opened in 1934, Narragansett Park closed in 1978. The year before, it hosted the largest concert audience in Rhode Island history, with The Beach Boys. The clubhouse burned down in 1981, in a fire considered suspicious. An industrial park is on the site today.

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September 19, 1942 was a Saturday. Singer Freda Payne was born.

This baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Boston Red Sox, 9-6 at Yankee Stadium. Spud Chandler pitched 9 strong innings, but ran out of gas in the 10th, allowing 3 runs. Ted Williams went 1-for-2 with a home run and 3 walks. Joe DiMaggio went 1-for-5. The next season, both would be in the service.

* The New York Giants beat the Boston Braves, 7-6 at Braves Field in Boston. Mel Ott went 2-for-5 with a grand slam.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-4 at Ebbets Field. Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. Si Johnson started the bottom of the 11th by walking Pee Wee Reese. He got 2 outs, then walked Dixie Walker, walked Arky Vaughan to load the bases, and walked Pete Reiser to force in the winning run.

* The Washington Senators swept a doubleheader with the Philadelphia Athletics, 8-3 and 11-9 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-3 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.

* The Cleveland Indians and the Detroit Tigers were rained out at Briggs Stadium (later Tiger Stadium) in Detroit. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader the next day. The Indians won the opener, 2-0. Mel Harder pitched a 2-hit shutout. The Tigers won the nightcap, 6-5. The Indians scored a run in the 8th and 2 in the 9th, to take a 5-4 lead. But in the bottom of the 9th, Rudy York drew a bases-loaded walk, and Dutch Meyer singled home the winning run.

* The Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals, arch-rivals, were rained out at Wrigley Field in Chicago. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader the next day. The Cardinals won the 1st game, 1-0. Mort Cooper pitched a 4-hit shutout. The only run came in the top of the 4th, when Johnny Hopp stole home plate. The Cubs won the 2nd game, 3-0. Claude Passeau pitched a 5-hit shutout.

* And the Chicago White Sox and the St. Louis Browns were not scheduled.

This was the 1st full week of college football for the new season, but the manpower drain of World War II meant that many players were already playing on military base teams -- which the NCAA, the National Collegiate Athletic Association, generously counted as "collegiate":

* Florida lost to the Jacksonville Naval Air Station, 20-7 at Fairfield Stadium in Jacksonville, the stadium that would be expanded into the Gator Bowl.

* The U.S. Navy's Iowa Pre-Flight School, located at the University of Iowa, beat Kansas, 61-0 at Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, Kansas.

* Missouri beat Fort Riley, of Junction City, Kansas, 31-0 at Central High School in St. Joseph, Missouri.

* Baylor hosted Blackland Field, which was also based in Waco, Texas, and beat them, 68-0.

* Georgia beat Kentucky, 7-6 at McLean Stadium in Lexington, Kentucky.

* Iowa Pre-Flight did not take the place of the University of Iowa, which beat Washington University of St. Louis, and beat them, 26-7 at Iowa Stadium (now Kinnick Stadium).

June 12, 1948: Citation Wins the Triple Crown

June 12, 1948: The Belmont Stakes is held at Belmont Park, in Elmont, New York, on the Long Island side of the New York City Line.

Everyone is expecting the horse that won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes to win it, and seal the Triple Crown. That was Citation. Bred, foaled and trained at Calumet Farm outside Lexington, Kentucky.

He won 8 of his 9 races as a 2-year-old. His 1st 2 races as a 3-year-old saw him not only win, but defeat the 1947 Horse of the Year, Armed, who was ridden by Eddie Arcaro, who had won the Triple Crown aboard Whirlaway in 1941.

After winning the Flamingo Stakes at Hialeah Park outside Miami, tragedy struck on March 5, 1948, when his jockey, Albert Snider, was lost at sea when his fishing boat was lost in a storm off the Florida Keys. He was only 26 years old. Arcaro was signed to ride Citation. Together, they lost to Saggy in the Chesapeake Trial Stakes at Havre de Grace Racetrack in Maryland. But in the actual Chesapeake Stakes, Arcaro and Citation reversed this defeat, starting a 16-race winning streak.

On May 1, 1948, on a sloppy track at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, Citiation won the Kentucky Derby by 3 1/2 lengths. Arcaro gave a share of his winners' purse to Snider's widow. On May 15, Citation won the Preakness by 5 1/2 lengths. Instead of the usual 3-week gap between the Preakness and the Belmont, there was a 4-week gap, and trainer Ben A. Jones decided on a warmup race for Citation. He won the Jersey Stakes by 11 lengths.

So he was more than ready to run the mile and a half of the Belmont, "the True Test of Champions." He won it by 8 lengths, with a time of 2 minutes, 28 and 1/5ths seconds, tying the course record set in 1943, by Triple Crown winner Count Fleet.

Arcaro became the 1st jockey to win the Triple Crown on 2 different horses. He remains the only one. Citation was the 8th horse to win the Triple Crown of American thoroughbred racing, the 4th in the last 8 years. There would not be another for 25 years, until Secretariat, who broke the Belmont Stakes time record shared by Citation and Count Fleet.

Over the rest of 1948, Citation won the Jockey Club Gold Cup, and the Pimilico Special in a walkover, as no other horse was willing to challenge him. An injury prevented him from racing in 1949, but he won his 1st race of 1950, as a 5-year-old.

That gave him 16 straight wins. It was a record eventually matched by Cigar in 1996, and not surpassed until the filly Peppers Pride won 19 straight in 2008, matched by another filly, Zenyatta, in 2010. However, none of those horses ever even entered one of the Triple Crown races -- although Cigar and Zenyatta each won the Breeders' Cup Classic, a race not available until 1984, and thus not to Citation (or Secretariat, for that matter). Only American Pharoah, in 2015, has won the Triple Crown and added the BCC for a "Grand Slam."

In 1951, at age 6, considered young for most horses but "old" for a thoroughbred, Citation won the Hollywood Gold Cup. This made him the 1st horse to win $1 million in prize money. He was then retired to stud at Calumet, and died in 1970, at 25.

In 1999, Blood-Horse magazine ranked the Top 100 U.S. Thoroughbred Champions of the 20th Century. Citation was ranked 3rd, behind Man o' War and Secretariat. In 2020, as part of a fundraiser for emergency relief efforts due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a "virtual Kentucky Derby" was held, wherein the field included all 13 Triple Crown winners. Citation finished 2nd to Secretariat.

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June 12, 1948 was a Saturday. These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees were swept in a doubleheader by the Cleveland Indians, 7-5 and 9-4 before a crowd of 68,586 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Joe DiMaggio went 1-for-9 over the 2 games.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Boston Red Sox, 5-3 at Fenway Park in Boston. Ted Williams went 2-for-4. In a way, this day decided the American League Pennant: The Indians and the Red Sox finished in a tie for 1st place, with the Yankees 1 game back; and the Indians then won a 1-game Playoff, beating the Red Sox.

* The Philadelphia Athletics beat the St. Louis Browns, 3-2 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Washington Senators, 4-1 at Griffith Stadium in Washington.

* The New York Giants beat the St. Louis Browns, 7-5 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. Stan Musial went 2-for-5.

* The Cincinnati Reds swept a doubleheader from the Boston Braves, 3-2 and 11-9 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. In spite of this, the Braves won the National League Pennant, before losing to the Indians in the World Series.

* The Philadelphia Phillies and the Pittsburgh Pirates were rained out at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on July 22. The Pirates won the opener, 5-3. The nightcap was tied, 1-1 in the 5th inning, when it was rained out again. Since 5 innings had been completed, the game was declared official, and was never replayed. The Pirates had a whopping 16 games postponed due to rain, and another 5 shortened by it.

* And the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs were rained out at Wrigley Field in Chicago. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on August 31. The Cubs swept, 3-0 and 7-2. In the opener, Hank Borowy allowed only 1 baserunner, a single by Gene Hermanski in the 2nd inning. Jackie Robinson went 0-for-7 on the day.

June 7, 1941: Whirlaway Wins the Triple Crown

June 7, 1941: The Belmont Stakes is run at Belmont Stakes in Elmont, Long Island, New York. The Triple Crown is on the line.

Whirlaway was one of many champion thoroughbred racehorses bred at Calumet Farm, outside Lexington, Kentucky. His sire was Blenheim, who won the 1930 Epsom Derby in England. Trained by Ben A. Jones, and ridden by Eddie Arcaro, he won 4 stakes races as a 2-year-old, and was named the American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt.

On May 3, 1941, he entered the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, and won it in 2 minutes, 1 and 2/5ths seconds, a record at the time. He won the race by 8 lengths, tying a record which still stands. Two weeks later, on May 17, he won the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore.

He was considered such a favorite in the Belmont that only 3 other horses entered: Robert Morris, Yankee Chance, and Itabo. At post time, the odds on "Mr. Longtail" (his tail was exceptionally long for a thoroughbred) were 1-4. That's not a typographical error: One to four. He won in 2 minutes and 31 seconds, by 2 1/2 lengths over Robert Morris.

He had become the 5th horse to win the Triple Crown. Then, he did something not done before or since: He went up to Saratoga Race Course in Upstate New York, and won the Travers Stakes. No other horse has won all 4 races, although the feat was called "The Superfecta" rather than "The Grand Slam" like in tennis or golf.

Arcaro was suspended for the 1942 racing season, for racing infractions. George Woolf, who had previously stepped in for the injured Red Pollard to ride Seabiscuit to some big wins, became Whirlaway's rider.

Alsab was also a Kentucky-bred horse. He was the 2-year-old champion in 1941, and in 1942, ridden by Basil James, he won the Preakness, finishing 2nd Shut Out in both the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont.

It might have made sense, in an era when match races, races between 2 major thoroughbred horses, were occasionally done, to match up Whirlaway and Shut Out, winners of 5 of the last 6 Triple Crown races. Instead, one was set up for September 19, 1942, at Narragansett Park in Pawtucket, Rhode Island -- 6 miles northeast of downtown Providence, and 41 miles southwest of Boston -- between Whirlaway and Alsab, who, despite being only 2, finished 2nd to Whirlaway for Turf and Sport Digest magazine's Horse of the Year award the year before. Alsab won in a photo finish.

Nevertheless, the horses opposed each other in one more race before the year was out, and Whirlaway won. It may have made a difference, as Whirlaway, having won 12 races on the year to Alsab's 9, was named Horse of the Year again. Whirlaway lived until 1953, Alsab until 1963.

In 1948, Eddie Arcaro rode Citation, making him the only jockey ever to ride 2 Triple Crown winners. He lived until 1997.

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June 7, 1941 was a Saturday. These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the St. Louis Browns, 11-7 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. The Yankees led 6-4 going to the bottom of the 8th inning, but the Browns scored 3 runs off Spud Chandler, in relief of Lefty Gomez, to take a 7-6 lead. Then the Yankees scored 5 in the top of the 9th. Charley Stanceu was the winning pitcher. The losing pitcher was former Yankee Johnny Allen.

Charlie Keller went 3-for-4 with a home run, a walk and 4 RBIs. Joe DiMaggio went 3-for-5 with an RBI. This was the 22nd game of his hitting streak, and people were beginning to notice. It would reach a record 56.

* The New York Giants lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 11-3 at the Polo Grounds. Mel Ott went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers lost to the Cincinnati Reds, 8-3 at Ebbets Field. Pete Reiser hit a home run.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Boston Braves, 5-1 at Braves Field in Boston.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 2-0 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. Cy Blanton allowed 8 hits, but kept the shutout.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 6-2 at League Park in Cleveland.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Washington Senators, 10-6 at Briggs Stadium (later Tiger Stadium) in Detroit. The Tigers' Hank Greenberg had recently become the 1st big star in baseball to enlist in the U.S. armed forces.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Boston Red Sox, 5-4 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Ted Williams went 1-for-4 with a walk. He was batting .431. Then he went into a slump, finishing at .406.