--- In sliderule@yahoogroups.com, Charles Oxford
<charles.oxford@...> wrote:

>
> In 1943, a horse named Slide Rule placed 3rd in the Kentucky Derby.
>

From Captain Acumath.
Why a race horse would be named "Slide Rule" is not known to me.
But, speculating, it may have had something to do with the fact that
a number of Handicapper Slide Rules were being developed and the
owner was making an editorial comment. Delaney's Horse Handicapper
(1950) and the Automatic Handicapper (1947) followed by the famous
Taulbot's Pace Calculator (1965) were a few developed later.
The jockey that rode the horse "Slide Rule" to 3rd place in the 1943
Kentucky Derby was the well known and popular Conn McCreary (June
17, 1921 - June 28, 1979) The thoroughbred jockey and trainer, was
born and raised near Festus, Mo. but graduated from high school in
St. Louis. McCreary traveled to Lexington, Ky., hoping to make his
fortune at the racetrack. His mother had bought him a bus ticket,
and had pinned inside his jacket a note declaring that her son had
permission to travel.
McCreary soon became a jockey and never left racing. Conn rode in
8,802 races and produced 1,251 winners during a twenty-one-year
career from 1939 to 1959. His mounts earned a total of $7,822,624.
Throughout his career, McCreary was among the most popular jockeys
in the country. Known as the "Mighty Mite" and "Convertible Conn".
He was noted for his ability to save a horse until late in a race,
gaining a reputation as a come-from-behind rider. In 1974, McCreary
became the forty-eighth jockey elected to the Hall of Fame of the
National Museum of Racing in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
Aboard Pensive in 1944, McCreary won the Kentucky Derby and the
Preakness, but fell short of the Triple Crown when he was beaten in
a photo finish with Bounding Home in the Belmont Stakes. In the
Derby, he came from thirteenth place to win the contest. His career
seemed to end in 1950, when a succession of losses caused him to
hang up his tack. But then came a horse named Count Turf. The owner
was Jack Amiel, and the jockey was Conn McCreary. Together the three
of them pulled off one of the greatest upsets in Kentucky Derby
history.
A son of the great Count Fleet (the 1943 derby winner) and the
grandson of Raleigh Count (who won the 1928 derby), Count Turf
failed to live up to his pedigree as a two-year-old. Still, owner
Amiel wanted to win a Kentucky Derby and he was convinced Count Turf
was the horse that could do it for him. No one else gave the animal
any chance at all. In fact, Sol Rutchick, who trained Count Turf,
flatly refused to have anything to do with what he considered a
hopeless pipe dream.
Jack Amiel was adamant, however, and Rutchick suggested he get
George "Slim" Sulley, who had trained some excellent horses during
his career. In 1951 Sulley was 70 years old and in semiretirement,
but he took the job. Now all Amiel needed was a jockey. Experts
everywhere--from the sports desks of the country's biggest
newspapers to the fans in the stands were sure Amiel was wasting his
time. When Amiel announced his jockey selection as Conn McCreary
they were sure it was to be a disaster.
On race day, 1951, a full field of 20 went to the gate. Count Turf
was ignored by almost everyone at the betting windows, and he left
the gate a 16-1 long shot. The favorite of the betting public was
Battle Morn, ridden by Eddie Arcaro. Second favorite was Fanfare,
bred by Calumet Farm. When the gates flew open, Count Turf got off
slowly. Seventeen horses broke in front of him. Before long, though,
he was running eleventh, with a clear shot at the lead even with so
big a field. A horse called Repertoire was in the lead when McCreary
asked Count Turf to run. Run he did, gobbling up ground with each
stride as first one and then another horse fell into his wake. At
the top of the stretch, Count Turf was already a length and a half
the best, and he went on to win the 77th Kentucky Derby by four
lengths, the favorites running fifth and sixth.
Jack Amiel realized a dream, McCreary's career got a new boost, and
a 70-year-old trainer and a three-year-old colt helped complete a
script written, not in Hollywood, but in Louisville, Ky., on Derby
Day.
Some material extracted from "Conn McCreary." Dictionary of American
Biography, Supplement 10: 1976-1980. Charles Scribner's Sons, 1995.