Posted on 07/04/2012 11:11:41 AM PDT by EveningStar
Ben Davidson, a towering pass rusher who wore a handlebar mustache and terrorized Raiders opponents in the 1960s and early '70s, died Monday night of prostate cancer. He was 72.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Cool. That's something I'm sure he'll never forget. Reminds me a bit of when I was a teen working at Belmont race track in the mid 70s. Got to see up close and pet such racing greats as Ruffian and Forego. Also work with and converse with famous jocks, including Angel Cordero, Jacinto Vasquez, Ron Turcott, etc. I played touch football with hall of fame trainer Allen Jerkens and his stable hands while down at Hialeah. Affirmed trainer, Laz Barrera, once bailed me out and gave me some money while in Florida after I lost my my job there. I was 17 and afraid to tell my folks back in New York that I had lost my job with the outfit I went there with.
Oh, I eventually found another job while at Hialeah, Fla. I worked for the guy who trained Holding Pattern. HP defeated Preakness and Belmont winner, late flying, Little Current, by a nose in the ‘74 Travers. He just barely held on.
1974 Travers Stakes:
Holding Pattern, Little Current, Chris Evert and others battle it out in the slop:
(track announcer Dave Johnson gives the call!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5zFwGjOwvk
I just now came across this. I forgot the pair (Little Current and Holding Pattern) had met earlier in the Monmouth Invitational. Little Current and Cannonade were two other horses I got to see up close and pet. Cannonade won the Derby the year LC won the Preakness and Belmont. Both horses bit me on the shoulder!, btw.
“After capturing the Belmont, Little Current only raced three times. He did not start again until August’s Monmouth Invitational Handicap where, after being nearly 20 lengths behind the leader, he put on another explosive drive to finish second by a nose to Holding Pattern. These two horses then met in the Travers Stakes with the same result.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Current#Belmont_Stakes
I had the pleasure of meeting him and his wife once and, throughout the course of the evening, found him to be a soft-spoken, gentle man.
Thorgrim is beside himself with grief!
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