Whirlaway Won 1941 Triple Crown
Erratic Champ Responded to Strategy of Trainer Jones, Jockey Arcaro
Whirlaway had his own quirky ways, and like Count Fleet, was considered somewhat dangerous as a youngster. He straightened out under Ben Jones and Eddie Arcaro.
Connections and Stats: 1941
Awards and Stud Career: Whirlaway
An exception to most thoroughbred rules of racing, Whirlaway beat down his competition in three successive seasons, going to post 16, 20, and 22 times from 1940 through 1942. Although he enjoyed starting from the back and playing catch up to overcome his opponents in scorching stretch drives, his erratic bearing out sometimes discouraged jockeys and connections.
The fiery chestnut was a puzzle, but trainer Ben Jones and jockey Eddie Arcaro combined skills to forge the colt's energy into a winning force. The 1941 Triple Crown winner's owner, Warren Wright, took individual interest in his promising trainees.
Wright compared Whirlaway's schooling to that of raising an unusual child. Studying the child, watching nervous reactions, following interests that awaken, and gently bending the twig bears the most positive results, Wright assured his audiences and connections.
Ironically, Wright did not witness Whirlaway's triple triumph. On Belmont Stakes day, the Wrights watched their son, Warren Jr., graduate from Denver University. In listening to the radio broadcast of the race, Wright gave extensive credit to Jones for schooling Whirlaway into a consistent, champion runner.
Whirlaway's Blinker
Before the Kentucky Derby, Ben Jones, pulling out all stops as the trainer of the erratic Whirlaway, switched to a unique blinker fitting for the colt to help cure him from running wide in a bearing out habit in his stretch drives. Characteristicly, Whirlaway would run from behind the pack in a catch-me-if-you-can acceleration through the lane.
Jones' blinker was a left cut away, giving Whirlaway total vision on the left side, but not on the right. At this point in time, Jones also hired Eddie Arcaro, a top jockey of the time, to ride Whirlaway.
All of Jones' strategy paid off. Whirlaway came from the back in the Derby and flew through the final quarter in :23-4/5 to win by eight lengths. The Preakness Stakes was a repeat, a 5-1/2 length victory for Whirlaway.
Only three colts came to the Belmont Stakes to race against the unstoppable Whirlaway. Robert Morris; Yankee Chance; and unbeaten Itabo, son of Bold Venture, quickly crumbled under Whirlaway's early charge at the half pole.
The Belmont was Whirlaway's shining hour in more ways than one. Not only was it his completion of the Triple Crown, but it also was his most under control effort. Arcaro was able to rate Whirlaway in the middle of the contest after the colt catapulted into a seven length lead from a slow early pace. At the final turn, Whirlaway lugged out slightly from the rail, a normal tactic for him. Arcaro straightened him instantly and he raced home with speed of hoof to triumph in an easy 2-1/2 length win.
Erratic, but true to his competitive spirit, Whirlaway became the fifth Triple Crown champion.
