Egyptian Candor - 1965
Egyptian Candor: A Dark Horse in Near Darkness The 1965 race is memorable for a lot of reasons. With an awe-some, torrential rain on Hambletonian eve, the Du Quoin track was reduced to a sea of mud. The first heat of the day’s program did not get off until nearly 4:00 and then the Hambletonian field proceeded to take four heats in determining a winner. It was both an uplifting and disheartening day for Stanley Dancer, trainer of the eventual winner, Egyptian Candor, a colt owned and bred by the Dancers. Dancer had Noble Victory in the race as the prohibitive favorite. Both before and after the Hambletonian, Noble Victory would be the cream of the crop, but on Hambletonian Day, Noble Victory could not handle the off track . Short Stop, with the veteran Ned Bower in the sulky, took the first heat, trotted in 2:051 over the sticky going, defeating Nimble Boy by a head. Noble Victory made a break in the opening heat and finished a badly beaten ninth. In the second heat, Del Cameron, substituting for Dancer, got Egyptian Candor home a winner over Nimble Boy and Armbro Flight. The mile was trotted in 2:04.3. The three heat winners were barely visible as they loafed through the opening three-quarters. Egyptian Candor came out just after the half, and engaged the filly Armbro Flight from there home, and recorded a narrow win. For Del Cameron, it was his second Hambletonian victory, and for Stanley Dancer, victory was tinged with the defeat of Noble Victory, who was fourth overall.
Stanley Dancer won his first Hambletonian as a trainer, with a horse owned by his wife. However, he elected to drive the overwhelming pre-race favorite, and seemingly unbeatable, Noble Victory, who came into the Hambletonian with a 20-race win streak. In the first heat, Noble Victory made a break over the sticky racetrack and finished ninth. In the second heat, Del Cameron, subbing for Dancer, won with Noble Victory's stablemate Egyptian Candor. Noble Victory, still struggling over the surface, was seventh. When the great filly Armbro Flight beat Egyptian Candor to win the third heat (Noble Victory was third) the race was forced to a fourth heat for just the fifth time in its history. Cameron asked Dancer to take over and drive Egyptian Candor in the three-horse race-off, but Dancer told him "it's your race to win or lose." Del Cameron won his second Hambletonian in near darkness, a little before 8:00 p.m. The photographer's flashes illuminated a narrow win for Egyptian Candor over Armbro Flight. A homebred form the Dancer's Egyptain Acres Stable, Egyptian Candor was the fourth sond of 1950 runner-up Star's Pride to win the classic.
