The death of jockey Benny Leggett at Maryland’s Cumberland half-mile track rocked the racing world, and members of the press were clamoring to find fault, particularly with the Maryland Racing Commission.
One of the main points of contention was whether Leggett’s mount, 12-year-old Alpine Boy, was fit to race. Alpine Boy, who bolted through a fence while trailing in last, had on two previous occasions been barred at Charles Town when suspected to be blind. Veterinarians at Cumberland declared him fit to race. In between being barred, Alpine Boy had won several races at other tracks.
Following the spill, Leggett was treated at the track’s first-aid room and released when it appeared he was not seriously hurt. Later that night he was rushed to the local hospital and, when no doctor was immediately available, he died. He left a wife and young daughter.
It was hoped the sad scenario would produce a tightening of supervision of horses, as to their fitness, and a follow-through system to make sure that anyone injured during racing would received close attention until entirely out of danger.
-
Maryland’s favorite daughter, Gallorette, made three appearances at the Saratoga meeting, winning two – the Wilson Mile and, one week later, the Whitney at 1 1⁄4 miles. William Brann and his wife, summer residents of the upstate New York town, were in attendance to watch their all-time money-winning mare.
- Larry MacPhail was one of Maryland’s leading buyers at the Saratoga yearling sale, picking up two fillies for a combined $24,500. They were “daughters of *Easton and *Beau Pere, the dams being the great mare Warrior Lass and Reigh Grey, a sister to Count Fleet. Truly a good foundation for a stud farm in years to come.”
War East, the daughter of *Easton, foaled a *Heliopolis filly at MacPhail’s Bel Air, Md., farm in 1954 (her third foal). Named Iberia, she was the dam of Hall of Famer Riva Ridge and two other stakes winners and Broodmare of the Year in 1971.
