1948 Derby: Citation Makes Claim
Bull Lea's Champion Son Begins Reign of True Stardom in Kentucky
Male Champion Two-Year-Old Citation raised his stardom to a higher level in the 1948 Kentucky Derby. He showed speed and unshakable will in dominating the Derby.
He is rated by Blood-Horse magazine as the third greatest thoroughbred of all time, behind only Man o' War and Secretariat. Some think he should be Number One.
Citation was Calumet Farm's second Triple Crown champion, winning that three-race title in 1948. In 1941, Calumet scored in that rare achievement with Whirlaway.
A great thoroughbred is not always accompanied by a great rider. Citation was ridden by the decade's greatest jockey, Eddie Arcaro. Arcaro had found a way to tame the phobias of the highly talented but unpredictable Whirlaway.
With Citation, Arcaro found the greatest throughbred he'd ever piloted. That was his opinion of Calumet's 1948 star, whose stablemate was the outstanding Coaltown. In his Triple Crown year, Citation was, indeed, unstoppable. His Kentucky Derby was among sixteen consecutive wins he put together, a string that stood unparalleled until the mid-1990s when the fabulous Cigar equaled it.
Warren Wright, owner of Calumet Farm, had a passion for winning. When his own Bull Lea couldn't win the 1938 Kentucky Derby, Wright observed the pieces of disaster with learning a thing, or two, on his mind. Wright hired the winner's trainers, father and son, Ben Allyn and Horace Allyn (Jimmy) Jones, and the man who rode the winner, Arcaro.
Wright had turned his father's successful Standardbred farm into a thoroughbred operation, and he was building it into an empire. Citation was his ultimate building block. The powerful bay colt established a career of 32 wins from 45 starts, with just a single unplaced race. He achieved 10 seconds and two thirds. His non-wins were in races run in his later years.
Armed, 1947's Horse of the Year; Bewitch, two-year-old filly champion; Citation, with eight wins in nine posts as male champion two-year-old; and star-to-be Coaltown were all healthy and in the Calumet barns in the spring of 1948.
On March 5, Calumet lost Citation's regular jockey, Al Snider, in a boating accident. Enter Arcaro, and there began the unsinkable 1948 Triple Crown journey.
The Joneses wanted to leave no doubt. They entered Big Cy in the Derby Trial Stakes on Tuesday, with the Kentucky Derby scheduled for that Saturday. Arcaro and Citation ate up the Trial mile and readied for more, four days hence.
On Derby day, stablemates Coaltown and Citation faced only four other runners, none of them of their caliber. Betting was on the Calumet pair only.
Coaltown burst out front when the gates flew open. He liked to run in front. Jockey N. Leroy Pierson let the colt find his way to a six length lead. At the far turn, Arcaro set Citation after his stablemate.
Citation gobbled up the ground between Coaltown and himself. At the three-sixteenths pole, the race essentially ended. Citation had his stablemate cornered and steadily pulled forward, flying across the dirt, until he hit the wire three and a half lengths in the lead, still driving furiously. Lost in the chase (and in everyone's mind) were My Request (3rd), Billings (4th), Grandpere (5th), and Escadru (6th).
Citation's stretch drive was one of the most impressive Derby runs in the race's storied history. In the winner's circle, Citation's ears were still pricked.
He knew he was the star of the day. Everyone else had just learned that he was the budding star of the century.
