Horse Racing: Grass, Alas

A psychiatrist who knew the lingo could make a million at the track. Some race horses love mud; others sulk if they get their hooves wet. All horses are brought up on grass, but that does not mean they can run on it. Nobody knows why, or ever will—unless he can talk to horses.

Take Kelso. In five years the great gelding has won 31 races and $1,581,702. But Kelso does not like grass. Last week he ran for the third time in the $150,000 Washington D.C. International over 1½ miles on the turf. And, for the third time, he finished second. The horse that beat him: Mrs. Marion duPont Scott’s Mongo—a thoroughbred that likes grass better than dirt.

Second choice of the bettors at 4-1 (odds on Kelso: 1-2), Mongo broke in front and was never headed. At the end Kelso was a half-length back, and eight foreign horses—from England, France, Venezuela, Ireland, Hungary and the Soviet Union—were practically out of sight. Kelso’s Jockey Ismael Valenzuela claimed that Mongo had interfered with Kelso on the final turn, but the stewards dismissed the objection. The victory was worth $90,000—the biggest purse of Mongo’s three-year career. Kelso got $25,000, and Jockey Valenzuela got a special award: a $100 fine for making a “frivolous” claim of foul.