Word: backstretchers
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Early one morning last week, a crew of painters arrived at Barn No. 48 on the backstretch of New York's Belmont Park. They started to work, patching cracks in the walls of the cramped two-room office next to the stables and applying a fresh coat of paint to the weathered picket fence. "Just regular maintenance," a workman explained. Then he added, "Of course, the big horse always gets regular maintenance just before the big race...
...hopes of smoothing some of Campo's rough edges, Neloy went so far as to enroll him in a Dale Carnegie course. That effort failed. Though Campo could never acquire the social skills of the racing swells, he learned well the lessons of the barn and backstretch. Says Trainer Woody Stephens: "Johnny was a very hardworking guy. Eddie gave him his first push when he sent him out to California with some horses. Buckpasser was one of them, and Johnny handled him well. Step by step, he went on from there...
...between Britain's middle-distance marvels, Sebastian Coe, 23, and Steve Ovett, 24. When they first squared off in the 800 meters at the end of the opening week, Coe let his countryman build an insurmountable lead, then misjudged his kick. Said he: "I blew it in the backstretch." He was determined not to make the same mistake in last Friday's 1,500. The first two laps were leisurely, with Coe and Ovett a few yards off the lead in third and fourth places. Then East Germany's Jurgen Straub, 26, spurted in front...
...bantam-size African (5 ft. 4 in., 117 Ibs.) and two teammates ran in alternating spurts to weary the bearded Finn. Said Viren: "The Ethiopians broke the pace, continuously changing the lead, stopping and then pushing harder again to crack our nerves." By the final backstretch, Viren was spent. His rival, known as "Yifter the Shifter" for his overdrive kicks, sprinted home. Yifter's time was 20 sec. slower than the world record, but this was of no consequence to the jubilant Ethiopians, who danced and sang in the stands afterward. "We are running for medals," exulted Yifter...
...Ethiopian rabbits made more mischief in the 5,000, taking runs at anyone with the temerity to challenge their flagship. The most elegant Alphonse and Gaston routine took place on the final backstretch when Ethiopian Mohammad Kedir, then second behind Kaarlo Maaninka of Finland, swerved to the outside so that the Shifter could rocket through for his second gold. Poor Kedir got tangled up with the pack, lost a shoe and finished dead last...