Polytechnic High School - Caerulea Yearbook (Long Beach, CA)

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C ERULEA' 5 the newspapers had devoted to setting forth the impossibility of a comeback for the great old horse caused many bettors to offer long odds. Fifty-to-one was offered at first, but when it was found that such great horses as Liza D., lifloneygetter, and ltlahomet were entered, the odds climbed steadily to a hundred-to-one. Joe laid two hundred dollars at these odds for Ace of Spades to win. It was the last money he had. If he lost he would have to borrow money to get back to the Bennet headquarters. The Grand Sweepstakes had attracted an enormous crowd from all over the country. The spectators, fully acquainted with the facts through the p1'ess, waited as expectantly to see the Ace of Spades run again as they did to see the Grand Sweepstakes itself. The crowd was there not only to see the champions of the present but one of the greatest champions of the past. A great cheer went up as a card bearing the name 'tAce of Spades-VVorral up', was .slid into the an- nouncing board. A greater cheer Went out when the word was passed around like lightning, That's VVorral and the Ace. Out there. Number seve11. All in redf, VVorral had been assigned the number seven, and had chosen the one color, bright red, as his privilege to display. The red made a brilliant and effective combination with the shiny black color of the Ace. In drawing for position at the barrier J oe drew the worst of the lot, an outside position. The inside position next to the fence was held by Honest George, the best horse in the Bennet stables as well as a winner in several of the season's big events. The inside is the' choice position as there is less distance to cover, while the outside is the most diflicult as the horse in that position has to cut in front: of the whole field to reach the fence. A run around the outside with a chance to win would be impossible as there is more than a quarter distance extra in taking the outside. And the Ace of Spades held the outside position. The Ace of Spades, who was old and making a heroic attempt at coming back, held the worst position of the field. Joe said not a word at his getting the outside but immediately took up his position at the barrier. He talked to the Ace, seemingly Seventeen as

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CAI-'jR,ULBA'ZZ do in practice. His efforts at secrecy could not be kept up however, and he was found, and sought out by the newspaper sport writers. Then Joe and the Ace of Spades obtained that publicity which they had not even dreamed of for ten years. Newspapers printed long stories of Worralls former exploits on the track, of the Ace,s rise to a championship and of his fall, and of the new attempt of both horse and rider to stage a comeback. Long columns of dope and discussion on fornier attempts at comebacks and how they had failed were featured in SOIIIC papers, while others ran cartoons of old J oe as Father Time riding a steed which was a skeleton. Some papers dug out pictures of Joe and the Ace in their heyday and ran them as a feature of the sport page. But Joe only smiled grimly at all this publicity and went ahead with conditioning the Ace. He tried as much as possible to hold all his practice runs privately, but no matter at what hour of the day he came on the track there were always so111e there to watch him. The railbirds were surprised at the short time in which the Ace was clocked over short distances, but they smiled knowingly and said to each other, f'He'll never stand one and a quarter. The day before the Sweepstakes Joe paced his horse on the Albany track where the big races were to be run. Slowly at first and then faster and faster as he neared the end Joe sent the Ace in the final practice. He was satisfied. He knew that the Ace of Spades was sure of the track and would make a creditable showing on the following afternoon. That night he saw Bennet. Charley had ente1'ed three of his finest horses in the race and was looking fo1'ward to it expectantly. He greeted Joe with a smile and asked if he still thought the Ace could come back. I know he can, answe1'ed Joe. The morning of the day of the Grand Sweepstakes Joe trotted tl1e Ace around the track so that he was certain of the horse's know- ing the condition of the oval. He then proceeded to obtain a bet upon the chances of the Ace of Spades. The large amount of space that Sixteen ,

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s a s a aa s C ERULEA' 5 M a a s a M giving him advice and encouragement, for the Ace shook his head in apparent understanding. The Ace showed not a bit of nervousness at returning to the track. An experienced campaigner in his day, he had overcome that fault and in that respect he had an advantage over some of the younger animals who we1'e competing. He was not nervous, he was ready to go. It seemed good to him to be on the track again, and again to have his ma.ster, not a bit heavier than he was ten years ago, on his back. Ready,H called the starter. A nervous jockeying for position to start was the only answer. '6Ready,H was called again. The11 a few seconds and the starting gun was fired, and the barrier jerked up. The field had broken evenly and got away to a perfect start. They,re offf, came a mighty and t1'Cl11CIld01lS roar f1'OI11 the audience. The Ace, the Ace, look at the Ace,', c1'ied an excited fan. But his cry was useless, for everybody was already watching the Ace. Standing out above the field because of his height and with his colors easily distinguishable, the Ace of Spades was making an excellent showing. Joe VVorral, that veteran of the turf, had put. all his brain into getting the Ace out of the outside position. He had won many a race in his younger days by sprinting a horse on a quick cut-off for the fence instead of a less sharp cut-in. Accordingly he set the Ace off at a flying pace on as sharp a cut as the rules of the game allow. The other jockeys were amazed at the terrific pace that the old timer was setting. Their mounts were startled at this flying horse passing so diagonally in front of them. The spectators gasped at the speed of the Ace of Spades. A quarter mile and he had 11ot slackened. He was on the inside now with only three horses, Mahomet, Hone.st George, and ltloneygetter ahead, while Liza D. pressed close behind. A third of a mile and the Ace was passing ltfahomet. HA third of a milef, gasped one of the spectators, a fourteen year old horse can't keep that up much longer. Efglzteen