Printer Friendly
The Free Library
14,495,914 articles and books
Member login
User name  
Password 
 
Join us Forgot password?

FINISH FINALLY IN SIGHT FOR THREEWITT.


Byline: KEVIN MODESTI

ARCADIA - Noble Threewitt Noble Threewitt (born February 24, 1911 in Benton, Illinois) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse trainer who conditioned horses for seventy-five years before retiring on his ninety-sixth birthday.  announced his retirement Thursday. When a reporter phoned his home to ask why, his wife laughed sweetly.

``Well,'' Beryl Threewitt said, ``he will be 96 in February.''

For anybody else, that explanation would suffice. But many of us thought that by having come this far, the dean of the nation's thoroughbred trainers would keep working forever.

Threewitt, who was America's youngest trainer when he saddled his first winner at Caliente racetrack in 1932 and its oldest when he saddled his latest winner in 2006, will retire officially on his birthday on Feb. 24. The announcement was made through the publicity department at Santa Anita Santa Anita may refer to:
  • Santa Anita Park in California, USA
  • Santa Anita, Mexico holy site in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico
, where Threewitt has been running horses since the track's Christmas Day opening in 1934.

How many sportsmen are still competing a half-century after their greatest moments? But it soon will be 53 years since the Illinois native trained Correlation to win the Wood Memorial and Florida Derby The Florida Derby is an American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old horses held annually at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida on the Saturday closest to the end of March or the first of April.  before the colt finished sixth as the favorite in the Kentucky Derby Kentucky Derby

One of the classic U.S. Thoroughbred horse races. It was established in 1875 and run annually on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs track in Louisville, Ky. With the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes, it makes up U.S. racing's coveted Triple Crown.
 and second in the Preakness.

For the past decade, Threewitt was a hero just for continuing to show up at his Santa Anita barn every day. If ``show up'' isn't too soft a phrase for what he did, which until very recently was to get to work at 4 a.m.

``It's just something that gets in your blood,'' Threewitt said one morning a few years ago.

He hadn't won a Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region,  training title since 1961, when he led the Hollywood Park Hollywood Park may be several places:
  • Hollywood Park, Texas
  • Hollywood Park, Chicago, a neighborhood in Chicago
  • Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California
  • Hollywood Park Racetrack, Thoroughbred race track in Inglewood, California
 summer meet in wins. But he never stopped winning, including stakes-level successes with Old Topper Topper

house he purchases is haunted by the young couple who owned it previously and their dog. [Am. Lit., Cin., TV: Topper in Halliwell, 718]

See : Ghost


Topper

Hopalong Cassidy’s faithful horse.
 and Theresa's Tizzy tiz·zy  
n. pl. tiz·zies Slang
A state of nervous excitement or confusion; a dither.



[Origin unknown.
 at the end of the `90s.

Threewitt currently trains three horses. A 4-year-old gelding gelding

castrated male horse.
 named Threeatonce, owned by Threewitt's grandson, is scheduled to run for a $12,500 claiming price in Saturday's opening race.

Threewitt didn't come to the phone at his home near Santa Anita late Thursday afternoon.

Beryl, his wife of 73 years, said he doesn't hear well enough.

Concerned for his eyesight, friends and family persuaded him it's time It's Time was a successful political campaign run by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) under Gough Whitlam at the 1972 election in Australia. Campaigning on the perceived need for change after 23 years of conservative (Liberal Party of Australia) government, Labor put forward a  to retire. Said Beryl: ``It makes it hard to see what his horses are doing.''

Recently, Threewitt was forced to stop getting to the track at 4 a.m. and start arriving at the lazy hour of 5a.m. It's an accommodation to the people driving him to work.

So what will a 96-year-old who's spent his life at the track do in retirement? He'll go to the track, Beryl promised, and remain active at the Santa Anita stable-area health center that bears his name.

``He'll go to the clinic (every day),'' Beryl said. ``Just not at 5 o'clock. They don't open that early.''

Better than six: The popularity of pick-six carryovers was demonstrated again Wednesday at Santa Anita when, after two days without a perfect ticket, the pool swelled to more than $2.7 million. With so many fans chasing a big payoff (111 perfect tickets were each worth $18,992), total handle on the eight-race card topped $11.3 million, an increase over last week's most comparable day of 41 percent.

Thus we're mystified mys·ti·fy  
tr.v. mys·ti·fied, mys·ti·fy·ing, mys·ti·fies
1. To confuse or puzzle mentally. See Synonyms at puzzle.

2. To make obscure or mysterious.
 by something a Breeders' Cup executive said after the announcement Monday that the event will become a two-day festival Oct. 26-27 at Monmouth Park in New Jersey with the addition of $1 million races for dirt-track milers, distaff sprinters and 2-year-old turfers. Simulcast consultant Ken Kirchner told the Daily Racing Form The Daily Racing Form, LLC (DRF) is a broadsheet newspaper founded in 1894 in Chicago, Illinois by Frank Brunell. The paper publishes the past performances of race horses as a statistical service for bettors on horse racing in the United States.  he wants more feedback before deciding if the Friday pick-six should have a mandatory payout, putting money in more players' hands for Saturday, or the possibility of a carryover, building jackpot potential for the big day.

Here's some feedback: The carryover is the clear, obvious, no-brainer choice here.

Do you ever get the idea that racing promoters don't play their own game? On Santa Anita's ``Bet a little, win a lot'' TV ads, a bettor is shown punching out a pick-six ticket in $100 combinations -- instead of the $2 combinations used by, let's see, everybody.

The weekend: Saturday's $150,000 San Rafael Stakes The San Rafael Stakes is a race for thoroughbred horses run at Santa Anita Park, located in Arcadia, California. The race is a Grade II event with a purse of $150,000 and is open to three-year-olds willing to race one mile (8 furlongs) on the dirt.  won't be the spectator event it was a year ago when Brother Derek beat Stevie Wonderboy -- but the season's first graded stakes for 3-year-olds might be a better betting race.

It's a battle of up-and-comers including Silent Soul and Notional, fifth and sixth in the Hollywood Futurity; Half Famous, winner of a $50,000 stakes in Arizona, and Tap It Light, second in a California-breds stakes at Santa Anita.

Notional tries again to run back to his swift debut victory in October at Santa Anita.

The field, from the rail out: Half Famous (Mike Iammarino), Silent Soul (Richard Migliore), Notional (Corey Nakatani), Grapelli (Garrett Gomez), Tenfold (Victor Espinoza), Tap It Light (David Cohen) and Soldier (Tyler Baze).

Last year, San Rafael winner Brother Derek went on to win the Santa Anita Derby The Santa Anita Derby is an American Grade 1 thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds run each April at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California and carries a purse of $750,000. , before his fourth-place finish in the Kentucky Derby touched off a six-race losing streak the colt will try to end Saturday in the $200,000 San Fernando Stakes for 4-year-olds.

The San Fernando lineup: A.P. Xcellent (Jon Court), Objective (Jorge Chavez), Awesome Gem (Baze), Halo Steven (Martin Garcia), Soul City Slew (Potts), Arson Squad (Gomez), Spring at Last (Nakatani), Brother Derek (Solis), Midnight Lute (Espinoza), Big Mistake (Alex Bisono), Sensational Score (David Flores Flores, town, Guatemala
Flores (flōrəs), town (1990 est. pop. 2,200), capital of Petén department, N Guatemala. Flores was built on an island in the southern part of Lake Petén Itzá and on the site of the
), Hello Sunday (Migliore).

It's a three-day weekend at Santa Anita, capped by a Martin Luther King Jr. holiday card.

There's no racing Wednesday.

heymodesti(AT_SIGN)aol.com

(818) 713-3616

CAPTION(S):

box

Box:

OUT OF THE GATE

- Kevin Modesti
COPYRIGHT 2007 Daily News
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 2007, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

 Reader Opinion

Title:

Comment:



 

Article Details
Printer friendly Cite/link Email Feedback
Title Annotation:Sports
Publication:Daily News (Los Angeles, CA)
Date:Jan 12, 2007
Words:918
Previous Article:KINGS CAN'T BUILD ON THIS L.A. GETS SUNK IN SECOND PERIOD SAN JOSE 5, KINGS 2.(Sports)
Next Article:LAKERS NOTEBOOK: BRYANT LISTED AS PROBABLE.(Sports)



Related Articles
HORSE TRAINER KILLS HIMSELF EDDIE GREGSON WAS KNOWN FOR GATO DEL SOL.(Sports)
CYCLING: ULLRICH 1ST ON THE ROAD.(Sports)
NOTEBOOK: ACCLAIM FOR CLAIMER LOVE ALL THE WAY HAS HOME.(Sports)
PICKING A WINNER; STORM TROOPER'S VICTORY A RELIEF FOR DESORMEAUX.(SPORTS)
HORSE RACING : BAFFERT ADDS TO DEL MAR DOMINATION.(SPORTS)
ADMIRERS RECALL GIANT OF A JOCKEY\Accident at Santa Anita was fatal for Woolf in '46.(SPORTS)
VICTORIES WERE WORTH THE WAIT FOR VASSER : AFTER YEARS OF STRUGGLE, DRIVER IS PART OF INDYCAR'S HOTTEST TEAM.(SPORTS)
CITATION VS. CIGAR : WITH A VICTORY, ONE LEGEND WOULD SUPPLANT ANOTHER.(SPORTS)
SEABISCUIT MADE HEARTS RACE HORSE LIFTED SPIRITS OF DEPRESSION-WEARY AMERICA.(News)
L.A. CONFIDENTIAL.(Sports)

Terms of use | Copyright © 2009 Farlex, Inc. | Feedback | For webmasters | Submit articles