from Bowen book

The path to racing history doesn’t always run smoothly, as I unfortunately discovered earlier this week; technical difficulties at the Times website left me feeling like Tantalus, able to see the objects of my desire (articles on George Widener’s Rare Treat), but not able to touch them.

Tantalus, though, didn’t have Facebook, so he couldn’t go on-line and publicly moan his despair, as I did. If he had, perhaps things would have worked out a little better for him.

Because within minutes, copies of Rare Treat articles from various publications began hitting my inbox. Fellow academic Valerie Grash, of Foolish Pleasure and Fillies First, appointed herself the best research partner ever, and scoured the web for information on this mare who raced 101 times (16-20-14), providing me with more information than I’d ever have dug up on my own.

The race named for Rare Treat will be run tomorrow at Aqueduct; she was a daughter of Stymie and Rare Perfume, and racing historian Ed Bowen used adjectives like “durable” and “rugged” to describe her, though he did also call her a “gem.” She raced from off the pace and made one run, often catching her competitors on the wire. Various reporters described her races this way:

1955 Firenze:  “…she closed with a rush in the stretch.” (“Rare Treat Victor by Half Length”)

1956 Firenze: “Land O’Liberty…led until 100 yards from the finish when Rare Treat, who came from seventh place, shot past her.” (Paddock)

1957 Ladies Handicap:  “Rare Treat came along late, but not too late, to win the $58,900 Ladies Handicap at Belmont Park yesterday.” (“Rare Treat Outraces Gay Life”)

1956 Rego Park Handicap: “The Widener filly was full of steam, came up fast around the final turn and breezed over the mile and a sixteenth in 1:46 2-5.”  (Rendel)

Rare Treat raced in the Firenze for four consecutive years, 1955 through 1958, winning in ’55 and finishing off the board in her subsequent three starts in the race. She won the Ladies Handicap in 1957 and came back to defend her title a year later.

If her 1957 win in the race was perhaps her most impressive, her 1958 start might have been her most eventful. William Conklin tells the story (click photos to enlarge):

George D. Widener’s 6-year-old mare, Rare Treat, who won the Ladies last year, caused difficulty in this eighty-eighth running when she threw Paul J. Bailey at the start. Running loose, the Widener wayfarer stayed close to Endine’s stablemate, Tempted, all the way down the far side.

When Hartack moved with Idun, going into the far turn, Tempted still held the lead. Hartack had to go outside the out-of-control Rare Treat as Tempted dropped back. Around the turn Rare Treat continued to bother the leaders.

Rare Treat actually arrived home first, but under the rules of racing, the riderless first shall be last, and it so appears in the race-chart.

Rare Treat’s victory in the Joe H. Palmer Handicap in September 1957 is memorable for several reasons, not the least of which is the man for whom it was named. Red Smith, no turf writing slouch himself (he wrote the article linked in the previous sentence), and his wife presented the trophy to Rare Treat’s connections. The race was run on Friday the 13th; it was Rare Treat’s 13th victory; and it was her first at Belmont Park, her home track and the track of which her owner, George Widener, was former president (Roach).

Rare Treat’s accomplishments earned her no special accolades; in fact, she makes few appearances in the annals of racing’s history, living on perhaps most prominently in her daughter, What A Treat (Tudor Minstrel), champion three-year-old filly of 1965.

Huge thanks to Valerie, without whom, literally, this look at Rare Treat would not have been possible. Check out her sites (and follow her on Twitter) for more great historical and contemporary information on fillies and mares.

Sources cited and consulted – unfortunately, most of the Times articles require payment, subscription, or database access.

Bowen, Ed L. Legacies of the Turf: A Century of Great Thoroughbred Breeders. Vol I. Lexington, Kentucky: Eclipse Press, 2003.

Conklin, William R. “Endine Captures Ladies Handicap by Length and Three-Quarters.” NYTimes.com. 14 Oct 1958.

Nichols, Joseph C. “Rare Treat Outraces Gay Life by Half-Length in $58,900 Ladies Handicap.” NYTimes.com. 15 Oct 1957.

Nichols, Joseph C. “Rare Treat Triumphs in $35,750 Firenze at Jamaica.”  NYTimes.com. 9 Nov 1955

Paddock, Staff Reporter. “Rare Treat Wins Third For Widener.” The Washington Post and Times Herald.  4 Sep 1956.

“Rare Treat Victor by Half Length.”  The Washington Post and Times Herald.  9 Nov 1955.

Rendel, John. “Rare Treat Triumphs by Length in Handicap at Jamaica.” NYTimes.com. 25 April 1956.

Roach, James. “Rare Treat Beats Attica by Nose in Joe H. Palmer Handicap at Belmont.” NYTimes.com. 14 Sep 1957.