Some thoroughbreds are mysteries from the get-go, some are sweet and willed to please, some are erratic and racetrack challenged. None are stone dumb.
One doesn't discard talent based on the lone fact that its bearer marches to a different drummer.
Dumb doesn't win the American thoroughbred Triple Crown. Yet, Whirlaway, 1941's Triple Crown holder, Champion Horse of 1941 and 1942, was called dumb, a knucklehead, a nut, and many more unpleasantries relating to psychotic behavior throughout his sterling career.
In a lifetime of 60 starts on the race track, Whirlaway didn't fade until the age of five. He raced more often than any other Triple Crown champion.
After Whirlaway's record time Kentucky Derby win, the nay-sayers got busy, claiming the colt must have run under the influence of a stimulant. No horse could run like that! This after the colt had been made the pre-race favorite. Trainer Ben Jones seethed at the blatant accusations. Post race drug tests cleared the colt.
There was nothing artificial about Whirlaway. And if he was dumb, what was that famous finishing kick all about? It won him a triple classic crown.
Whirlaway had run, all right. He only needed to find direction to the finish line. Ben Jones gave him that by sticking with him, by making a jockey change to Eddie Arcaro, and by inventing his right eye only blinker. Whirly did the rest. Fans were free to believe, or not to believe.
