A Pleasant Companion

The Hambletonian at Goshen, N.Y., most famed trotting race of the year, is for three-year-old trotters only--and for only the best of them. Last week, for the silver anniversary of the race, two horses were outstanding in the 13-horse field. On the basis of his two-year-old championship record, E. J. Hayes's strapping brown colt, Lusty Song, had been made the winter book favorite. But at post time the crowd had taken a fancy to the Arden Homestead's Star's Pride.

There were solid facts behind their fancy. Star's Pride had beaten Lusty Song, driven by Foy Funderburk, in three straight races this season. Discouraged by that kind of record, Owner Hayes had fired Trainer-Driver Funderburk ten days before the race. Driver Del Miller, a 37-year-old veteran, and thus a stripling* by harness racing tradition, was hired on short notice to handle Lusty Song. A good many fans figured that the driver and horse had hardly had time to get acquainted.

But Lusty Song, sometimes fractious, found Miller a pleasant driving companion. In the first, heat (best two-out-of-three mile-long heats wins), Miller sent Lusty Song to the lead before the halfway mark, stayed there, and won by a full-sized length from Star's Pride. The second heat, an hour later, started out like the first. Lusty Song had the lead at the quarter-mile mark, held it under Miller's pace-setting drive until the field rounded into the homestretch, a three-sixteenths-of-a-mile straightaway. Then Star's Pride made a bid from two lengths back, drew almost even. Miller took to the whip, and Lusty Song won by a scant neck.

Scant or not, the margin in the two heats, both timed in a sharp 2:02, made it a big day for Lusty Song and Owner Hayes. The winner's share of the record $75,208 purse: $40,537. It was a big day for Del Miller, too. He picked up a check for $4,053, the driver's 10%.

* Seventy-year-old Tom Berry drove Coldstream Stud's King's Ransom in this year's race.

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