LOUISVILLE – Now that it appears that Calumet Farm will have one horse, maybe two, in Saturday’s 143rd Kentucky Derby, it’s as good a time as any to observe the 70th anniversary of Calumet’s victory in what still ranks as one of the most controversial editions in the great race’s history.
As dawn broke over Churchill Downs on the morning of May 4, 1957, Calumet, located next to Keeneland outside of Lexington, was the most famous name in the sport, the dynastic equivalent of the New York Yankees in baseball. Its devil’s red and blue silks were as well known as the Yankee pinstripes.
Beginning with Whirlaway, who won the Triple Crown in 1941, Calumet also won the roses with Pensive in 1944, Triple Crown winner Citation in 1948, Ponder in 1949 and Hill Gail in 1952.
And now, on the day of the 82nd Derby, it appeared to be on the brink of winning the roses again. Calumet’s Gen. Duke was the morning-line favorite in a field that also included such soon-to-be-great names as Round Table, Bold Ruler, and Gallant Man.
Gen. Duke’s brilliance overshadowed his stablemate, Iron Liege. In those days, horses with the same ownership or trainer were coupled as an “entry” for betting purposes. So if you bet Gen. Duke, you also got Iron Liege.
On the morning of the Derby, the racing world was shocked when Gen. Duke was scratched due to illness. That moved Bold Ruler, owned by Wheatley Stable and ridden by Eddie Arcaro into the $1.20 to $1 favorite’s role, followed by Round Table at $3.60 to $1 and Gallant Man at $3.70 to win.
Coming down the stretch, the leg-weary Iron Liege, ridden by jockey Bill Hartack, gave up the lead to Gallant Man, ridden by Bill Shoemaker. But suddenly, at the 16th pole, Shoemaker raised up in the irons for a beat or two, which allowed Iron Liege to regain the lead and win by a nose over Shoemaker’s horse.
In the pressbox, nobody noticed Shoemaker’s mistake except Don Fair, the chart-caller for The Daily Racing Form, who called it to the stewards’ attention. They immediately called Shoemaker, still on the track, and demanded an explanation. The jockey said he had misjudged the finish line.
And so began the controversy that continues to this day. How could a jockey as talented and experienced as Shoemaker make such a rookie mistake in the world’s most important race?
The trainer of Gallant Man, Johnny Nerud, never believed it was a mistake. He thought Shoemaker was in on some kind of plot designed to win the Derby for Calumet. He vowed never to bring a horse back to the Derby, and he never did, even when the had the great Dr. Fager in 1966.
Despite much questioning over the years, Shoemaker never changed his story. He retired with four Derby wins to his credit – Swaps in 1955, Tomy Lee in 1959, Lucky Debonair in 1965, and Ferdinand in 1986.
Calumet won the next year’s Derby with Tim Tam, and was awarded its eighth, and most recent, Derby victory in 1968 due to another huge controversy. Calumet’s Forward Pass finished second to Dancer’s Image, but was eventually declared the winner after post-race drug tests detected an illegal medication in the Dancer’s system.
Calumet’s last hurrah for owners Lucille and Gene Markey came in 1978, when Alydar finished second to Affirmed in all the Triple Crown races, the first and only horse to achieve that dubious distinction. Since then, the farm has passed through several owners, the current of which is the reclusive Brad Kelley.
Although the farm still is a Central Kentucky showplace, Kelley, offended racing historians by failing to reclaim the farm’s iconic devil’s red and blue silks, which had been purchased by a horseman in Brazil. Kelley’s silks are black and gold, the same colors carried by Triple Crown winners Count Fleet in 1943 and Seattle Slew in 1977.
Of the two colts who will represent Calumet on Saturday, the better appears to be Hence, an impressive winner of the Sunland Derby on March 26. That field included Conquest Mo Money, second in the Arkansas Derby, and Irap, upset winner of the Blue Grass Stakes. He’s also posted three fast workouts at Churchill Downs for trainer Steve Asmussen.
The other possible Calumet entrant is Sonneteer, who is 0-for-10 for his career. The best thing he seems to have going for him are the trainer-jockey brother team of Keith and Kent Desormeaux. Last year they finished second in the Derby with Exaggerator, who went on to win the Preakness two weeks later.
Under today’s rules, Hence and Sonneteer will run as separate betting interests and both will be longshots. They’ll no doubt draw some wagers from old-timers who remember Calumet’s glory days – and who still are arguing about Bill Shoemaker’s actions 70 years ago.
Billy Reed is a member of the U.S. Basketball Writers Hall of Fame, the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame, the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame and the Transylvania University Hall of Fame. He has been named Kentucky Sports Writer of the Year eight times and has won the Eclipse Award twice. Reed has written about a multitude of sports events for over four decades, but he is perhaps one of media’s most knowledgeable writers on the Kentucky Derby