April Star 1945

[wilderness]

There have been brief explanations of April Star's early injury, however L.
G. Duffy in the Aug 22, 1945 Harness Horse provided the following details
(April Star was the first pacing gelding to win in excess of 50k in a single
year; 1947):

April Star 4, 2:031/2, by Bert Abbe 1:591/4-Miss Mc I Win, by Mc I Win 3,
1:593/4, well deserves to be featured by "Believe It or Not" Ripley, as this
gelding when about a week old, was like most children just learning to walk,
in a spot which proved unfortunate for his immediate well :being and his
mother tramped on one hind leg, fracturing same. Roy Craig, breeder and
owner, Urbana, O., anxious to save the youngster, loaded him in one of his
vans and rushed him to the Veterinarian Hospital at the Ohio State
University, and it was only natural that the instructors were anxious to do
all passably with the then colt. A crutch was made and after the fracture
was carefully set, the wooden aid was placed so as to afford the best
imaginable support and the progress of the injured pac er given the most
exacting attention and he was encouraged to walk on the device. That results
were remarkable, the career of April Star has demonstrated, as he started
winning early in the season and at Marion, O., following his second success,
E. L. Whitehead, the widely known livestock insurance specialist, offered
$3,500 for the gelding, plus all sums Roy Craig had expended in entry fees
in early closing events, but same was refused. At Wilmington. O., in the
$2,000 Ohio Pacing Derby which resuited in the season's fastest three-heat
race on a small oval, 2:031/2-2:04-2:041/4. April Star under the guiding
hands of of Parshall added another bunch of currency to his credit and a new
record of 2:031/2, so one must conclude that though the gelding started life
on a crutch, so to speak, hence under a severe handicap, "he obeyed the
doctors orders" gained a new lease on life and is now paying a profit to his
considerate owner. A ridge above the ankle where the bone was broken and
later joined so solidly, is apparent to the eye, and while the one leg is
just a trifle shorter, the difference is overcome in the shoeing, so April
Star goes merrily on his way and has been causing some owners of material
following him around the tracks to wish the gelding had been given the
treatment usually accorded others of the breed similarly injured very early
in life.


I've had an article from the Dec 10, 1947 Harness Horse online for some
time:
http://www.mi-harness.net/publct/hh/stbl/1947/aprilstar.html

I believe Mr. Hoffman also wrote an article on April Star a few years back?

[wilderness]

I'm disappointed that more folks haven't viewed this.

This was a top horse.

[Tsunami]

Wilderness ,

Nice story
Was is it common for horses to travel around so much back then? 

 

[wilderness]

Wilderness ,

Nice story
Was is it common for horses to travel around so much back then? 

 

Tsunami,
              Yes and in fact it was a neccessity.
There was not any year-around racing, nor was there any winter racing save the WHRA meets in California.
There was not in winter racing in Fla, rather it was used for winter break and training.
 There were some races at Aiken and Pinehurst, however on a really small scale.

 Somwhere, I have some numbers from this approximate time frame that I dug out the USTA Year Book for a specific year. During that year, there were only a handful of races with purses of 50k or larger, approximately 20 races in the 25k range.

 Meets were shorter and the horsemen moved around, planing their season and travel to the stops and the circuits along the way.
 The circuits themselves worked in unison to benefit all circuits.

 This all changed later (there is a solid ten minutes beginning at 29-minutes of the John Campbell LBJ interview in which he touches on this deterioation) when the tracks focused on themselves and disregarded the industry as a whole.

 I may have some meet schedules archived from this time frame, however the file would likely not be searchable as it is my practice to digitiize stats as images.

 My USTA Trotting & Pacing Guides don't begin until 1962, although the publication itself began in 1947.
 My USTA Year Books are not located where I'm residing.

[wilderness]

Tsunami,
               Here's a pari-mutuel schedule for 1955 from the March 2, Harness Horse of that year.

http://www.example.com/eur/1955PariMutuelDates.pdf

Although this is eight years after the 1947 reference, it will allow you to see the vast difference.

[Goodfella]

Don

Thanks for all the pics and articles a bit before my time but interesting nonetheless to learn the history of this fine sport.

                                                              Goodfella

[Tsunami]

You sometimes take things for granted (year round racing) that you forget the racing meets
were shorter and trainers and drivers still had to make a living.

Again, thank you for being a concerned histiorian for the industry.