A few laughs with Uncle Miltie

Last week, we listed some thoroughbred farms that were in existence in Pennsylvania in 1947, right after the end of World War II.  Thanks to the curiosity of one reader, Holly (see comment in previous post, "A Trip Down Memory Lane") we learned that the old Zimmerman Farm in Wayne could now be Rohanna's Golf Course.

Some other interesting facts were discovered by yours truly about Point-of-View Stud Farm in Yardley, Pa., which was located on 200 acres on Langhorne-Yardley Road.  According to the Lower Makefield Historical Society:

"Point of View Stud Farm was where million dollar winning race horse 'Uncle Miltie' was trained on a quarter mile race track. Uncle Miltie won the Champagne Stakes and Wakefield Handicap in New York at the age of 2 and the Lamplighter Handicap at Monmouth Park at the age of 3."


We looked up the pedigree and race record of Uncle Miltie, since his name did not ring a bell as one of thoroughbred racing's millionaires, and we found that he did not win $1 million on the track.  Uncle Miltie won 12 of 27 races and just over $85,000, but he did indeed capture the Champagne, Wakefield and Lamplighter Stakes, and was second in the Sapling and Choice at Monmouth Park.  He was foaled in 1948, a son of Heather Broom (by The Porter) and was out of Twink-Mo, by Mokatam, and bred by Point-A-View, which was owned by Joseph J. Colando.

Uncle Miltie was named after the comedian, Milton Berle, and trained in 1950-51 by Dr. Andrew Charles Colando, Sr., the son of Joseph and Esther Colando. Uncle Miltie had been the winter-book favorite for the Kentucky Derby, but was injured and never entered in the "Run for the Roses."  According to an obituary written by Dr. Colando's daughter, Caroline, Life Magazine had prepared a big spread on Uncle Miltie, but it was never published. 

In Time magazine, on April 23, 1951, Uncle Miltie's status among the nation's top 3-year-olds was acknowledged:

"It was a tough week for the experts, who thought they had the Kentucky Derby winner all doped out. When ten of the nation's best three-year-olds paraded to the post in New York's Experimental Free Handicap No. 2, the horseplayers, agreeing with the experts, made Joseph J. Colando's blaze-faced bay colt Uncle Miltie an overwhelming odds-on (7-20) choice to come galloping home with the $18,500 purse.

With Battlefield and Big Stretch unwilling to try again against the horse that had beaten them in a six-furlong conditioner five days before, the Colando colt seemed to be a cinch. But the mile-and-a-sixteenth Experimental was an entirely different matter. Starting in the outside post position, and carrying top weight of 126 Ibs., he never made it a race. Uncle Miltie finished eighth, five lengths (i.e., 4½ & a nose & a head) behind the winner, King Ranch's Sonic, which carried only a feathery 105 Ibs. The time: 1:44 2/5.


Even so, Uncle Miltie might well be a tough horse to beat on Derby Day. At Experimental No. 2)'s distance, 2½ Ibs. is roughly equivalent to a length; on that basis, the experts were still inclined to string along with Uncle Miltie. Next chance to clear the Derby's clouded crystal ball: Jamaica's Wood Memorial this week, when every entry (except maidens and fillies) will carry the same weight (126 Ibs.)."

While it never published that big feature, Life Magazine did cover Uncle Miltie's exploits on the racetrack, including the following excerpt from the May 7, 1951 issue:

"If you read the sports pages, you may have notice the weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth this spring about a race horse named Uncle Miltie. It seems that Uncle Miltie, an unfashionably bred colt whose mother was worth only $600 and whose father was never even allowed to talk to the better mares on the farm, had turned into one of the more promising 3-year-olds of the season. The sportswriters were aghast at the thought that a colt bearing such a name as Uncle Miltie might win the Kentucky Derby. As a writer in the New York Times put it, great race horses are supposed to have names that 'ripple resonantly off the tongue' - and the case of Uncle Miltie was enough to set all bygone breeders of horses 'spinning in their graves.' Well, I note now that Uncle Miltie has been pulled out of the Derby.  Could this poissibly be because of his ugly name?" 

Here is a photo of Uncle Miltie from Life's archives:

Here's another photo of Uncle Miltie from Life Magazine:

Another little tidbit on Uncle Miltie - his dam, Twink-Mo, was one of the first broodmares acquired by Joe Giangiulio, who founded Castle Rock Farm in West Chester, and the father of Peter Giangiulio, former president of the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association.

Uncle Miltie wasn't much at stud, with his best being Our Hope, a foal of 1957 bred by Joseph Colando. Our Hope finished first in the 1961 Whitney Handicap, but was disqualified for "roughing" Kelso in the stretch.  From Uncle Miltie's 40 named foals, 36 started (90 percent!), 27 were winners (68 percent), and he had an average earnings index of 1.06.

It's not known what state Uncle Miltie was foaled in, since The Jockey Club only lists him as being bred in the United States.  However, there's a good chance that the Derby prospect was foaled right at Point-A-View Farm in Yardley, Pa.

As for Milton Berle, the comedian, he was known to have a fondness for betting the ponies ... and in some published reports, may have gambled away the bulk of his earnings at the track!