The Match
On September 19, 1942, one of the great races of the American Turf took place on this site. Whirlaway, the 1941 Triple Crown Champ and 1941 Horse of the Year, took on, the one year younger, Alsab, who was the reigning Preakness winner as well as 2 yr old and soon to become 3 yr old Champ. Whirlaway was in California when WW II started for America with the attack on Pearl Harbor. After a quarantine period, he was shipped back east and had won seven of twelve starts before winning the rich 31k Narragansett Special at 1 3/16th miles with Hall of Fame jockey George Woolf aboard on September 12. Nicknamed "Iceman", Woolf and Calumet Farm's Whirlaway had won comfortably as Alsab had scratched out of the event. Despite having run just 7 days earlier, Judge Dooley sensed public interest and proposed a match race on the following Saturday. The race would be at the same distance and with the younger Alsab getting a seven pound allowance. Both sides came to an agreement and the race was billed as a contest between the two best closers of the day.
In the "winner-take-all" 25k Match Race, "Iceman" allowed Alsab's jockey, Carroll Bierman, to take an easy lead where the 6 furlong split was a slow 1:14 1/5. Although "Whirly" closed strongly through the stretch, after racing wide throughout, it was Alsab going to the lead, having something left in the tank, and lasting by a nose as both horses flew home through the stretch run.
It was a thrilling race that people talked about for years (view a postcard of the event). Still, Whirlaway was named Horse of the Year for 1942 after defeating Alsab in a subsequent race and having 12 wins for the year to Alsab's 9.
Read more about this topic: Narragansett Race Track
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