European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 9, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday july 9, 1987 the stars and stripes Page 19 Corr Centary Whiffin Gharris beef of a rare Breed if you were a millionaire Many times Over would you get up every morning at 3 30 to hang out with a Bunch of characters who would t talk to you play cards with you cat with you or willingly do anything you d want hem to do if you could be in a Condo with the scent of Bou Gainville Hibiscus and Azalea wafting through the window would you want to spend your Lime instead amid the Tacky Aroma of old Hay manure sweat and Horsehair Charlie Whittingham would rather be there than on the Beach of the French Riviera. Dior Balaam never made a perfume he thinks can compare with cat diked Row at Dawn. If Charlie goes to heaven and it does t have a fall and Winter meeting and Good stakes program he won t be staying. If you ask Charlie who was the greatest american Ever born hell probably say Man o War. Lincoln finishes be Hind count Fleet. Charlie Whillingham is a horse Trainer one of the Best maybe even the Best. Horse trainers arc the last american originals the last stand of the Frontier in this society. They belong to another Lime like the cowboys riverboat captains Indian scouts and horse traders of Days gone by. Part David Harum and part Nick the greek hey Are the indomitable of our civilization stoical in defeat unemotional in Victory. I so beat a head they will shrug off a photo finish thai just Cost them a Quarter of a million dollars. They have pulse rates of 50 and a blood pressure to match. They d have to around a race track where the differ ence Between caviar and spam is usually a nod of the head. They re a philosophical suspicious lot. They know they re in a High stakes game where you watch the dealer at All times hold the cards up near your eyes. The race track is no place for an innocent. That Why they have cameras every Hundred Yards and trained judges with binoculars where there Aren t  is As familiar a sight around a race track As a paddock. He can usually be found in a stable or a winners Circle. He s won so Many thousands of races he s lost count. You can t miss Charlie. He s Gol i desc Bright Blueeyes and they Don t miss much of anything on a race track. Charlie is in his 70s, bul his eyes Are in their 20s, and he can snap a clock on a rival filly with accuracy before the Sun comes up. Or Sjon a Riding flaw in a jockey half a mile away. Charlie can Tec everything he s not supposed to see a rival Trainer once complained. Hell come up to you say innocently that Mare of yours a Little lame another Trainer puts it Charlie has no hair and no illusions. He lost them both at  Charlie is As Low profile As a spy. He wears this hat which is just Short of being Cowboy bul no quite a Street hat. Charlie wears a five gallon hat the slab hands say with a Grin. His training is As Low key As he is. Horses just run for Charlie Whittingham. Through Rcd race horses i Don t know whether you know it or not Arete most contrary of god s creatures. The last thing they want to do is run a race. They will do anything to avoid it jump at shadows spit the bit bile the rider bite the other horse run away refuse the Gate prop. They Are slightly easier to train than hungry no one understands them any belter than Charlie Whittingham. He s part horse Jimmy Kilroy used to  could be. He started training them Down on the Border at Tijuana where nobody Ever mixed the Stock up with count Fleet and keeping a horse sound was an Art not a profession. He went East under Horatio Luro Senor win and there was t much about a race horse Charlie did t know when he came to California after the War which he d spent in the Marine corps. Of a few of those islands in the South Pacific Charlie will Tell you if pressed. A few islands held by the japanese Imperial marines at the time if there was a Gap in Charlie Whin Ingham s career on a race track it was a Kentucky Derby. To horse men this May be just the eighth on saturday at Churchill Downs. To the Public it s the heavyweight title the super bowl Wimbledon Indianapolis All rolled into one. If you Don t Vrin it everything s Bridgeport. Charlie did t win it because he could never see going Over the Mountain with a horse thai had poor to no Chance. He went Back Wilh porterhouse once a Bellcar than Cven Moncy shot Lill he Gol soil. Charlie look two of Liz Whitney s horses Hack once bul that was because Liz wanted to nol Char lie. They ran no place gone fishin1 and divine comedy Narf wild horses could t have beguiled Charlie across the Rockies thereafter unless he Houghl one of them could win. That should have alerted the racing world and the hard Bools of Kentucky last year when Charlie went Hack there Wilh a big growth Coll called Ferdinand. On the face of it Ferdinand did t look like the second coming of secretariat. He seemed to be very Good at finishing third which he Gol a lot of experience Al notably in the Hollywood futurity and Santa Anita Derby. Bul i Host who knew Charlie knew he did t come Back to Kentucky 10 fill the Field. If Ferdinand did 1 have a Chance he would have been in a barn at hol Lywood standing in tubs of War r. When Charlie told the pre j that Ferdinand has some ability that was i Ike some Oiher Trainer telling them he was a new citation. Their next question should have been where re the windows we want to gel our Bis  the horse got away at 17-1, the second worst overlay in 20 years at the Derby. For one thing the punters wanted Charlie to Lake Bill Shoemaker who they Houghl was too old off the horse. Charlie does t do things like that Charlie does t insult legends. In Charlie s mind shoe was the great est rider he had Ever seen. More importantly he was a Friend. When Whittingham and Shoemaker and Ferdinand won the Derby it was a script for Disneyland. Heart warming entertainment for in whole family. A win for loyalty Friendship Apple pie the Flag and senior citizenry. Up to then the oldest jockey to win a Derby hid been 42 Angel Cordero. Shoe was 54. Incidentally the same combination won the 1500,000 Hollywood Gold cup Al Hollywood Park two weeks ago. Cincinnati s Oester out for rest of season Cincinnati a Cincinnati reds second baseman Ron Oester is through for the season and his future As a player is in doubt because of a devastating knee injury the reds team doctor said tuesday. Osier 31, suffered ligament and cartilage damage sunday when new York acts baserunner cookie Wilson Slid Inlo him at second base while trying to break up a ninth inning double play. Or. Warren Harding the team physician and or. Robert Heidt or. Monday performed what they described As a com plete rebuilding of Jester s left knee. Harding said Esler. Who was baiting .252 with two Home runs and 21 runs baited in will definitely not play again this season. Left fielder Kal Daniels 23. Also had knee surgery for an injury suffered while running out a second inning double in sunday s game. Harding said Daniels who has been plagued with knee problems did nol suf Fer ligament or cartilage damage and is expected to return within six weeks. The injuries threw the reds line Pinto disarray Al a Lime Hen the learn was playing Well and building a first place Cushion in the nation a league West race. The reds on monday purchased the contract of outfielder Max Venable from their class aaa Nashville farm learn to Lake Esler s spot on the roster. You can Only Hope hell be Back for nem season manager Pete Rose said of Esler. It s a bad injury bul if you had to pick a Guy to come Back from an in jury like thai it would be Cosler. Hell fight  la work As hard As he can to gel Back said outfielder Rel baseman Dave Parker. He s so competitive and he loves the game. Hell do whal he has to. It s tragic Tor Ronny and All his Leam Maies hearts go out to , a switch hitter who was once the reds regular second baseman had been Cut Back to playing against right handed pitchers while Dave Concepcion a right handed hitter played against left handers Rose said he has several Days to make up his mind As to who will assume cos Ter s role because of a run of three left handers the reds arc to face in the next three  Stillwell who has been balls my with Barry Larkin for the Starling Job at shortstop May inherit Esler s Job Stillwel said Rose had nol mentioned anything to him but Covich Tommy Helms who tutors the reds Tali elders had told him he would Sian working Al second  had recently been switched from right Field to first base to gel Daniels and outfielder Tracy Jones into the daily lineup. But after Daniels injury Parker was moved Back to right Field and Nick Esasky played first base. Cincinnati s Ron Esler is comforted by Otter Puers Fler buffering knee if jury