He Had Them All Buffaloed, Until Things Turned Around

At Blue Ribbon Downs in Sillasaw, Okla., attendance has been off.

So, between the third and fourth races on Sunday’s card, the track’s marketing department sent four animals to the starting gate--two Appaloosa horses, a female Himalayan brown bear and an 11-year-old, 2,700-pound buffalo.

Clyde Harold, the buffalo, was ridden by Buddy Heaton, a 251-pound former steer wrestling champion who has been staging such novelty races since 1953. From the fourth post position, he broke on top and had a commanding lead halfway through the 110-yard sprint.

“But then the buffalo took a U-turn, right in the middle of the track,” track spokesperson Robin Carr said.

Moving like a winner, Hutch Clutch Moon, a 5-year-old Appaloosa gelding, drew clear for the victory.

Add Blue Ribbon: The event drew a crowd of 3,000, up from the track’s Sunday average of 1,700.

But the fans were nearly deprived of a full field when Teddy, the bear, climbed to the top of the starting gate and had to be coaxed down with peppermint candy.

Said Carr: “When the gate opened, she took a few steps, went to the ground and rolled around on her back. In the results, we had to list her ‘did not finish.’ ”

Last add Blue Ribbon: Next to Teddy’s name in the program, in the space usually reserved to indicate that a horse is using the anti-bleeding medication Lasix, were the letters CC , circled.

Said Carr: “A first-time chocolate cookie user.”

Trivia time: New York Giant center fielder Willie Mays made his famous over-the-shoulder catch of Vic Wertz’s long drive in Game 1 of the Giants’ four-game World Series sweep against Cleveland in 1954. Which Giant pitcher served up Wertz’s blast?

Buddy, can you spare . . . ?: Although the Philadelphia Eagles are off to a lackluster start, Coach Buddy Ryan thinks it’s great that his team has its own Monday night bowling league--12 three-man teams--at Coliseum Lanes in Voorhees, N.J.

Said Ryan: “Can you imagine that? Thirty-six out of 47 guys going bowling every week. That’s a hell of a deal. That’s what’s going to pull us out of this (slow start). We’ve got togetherness.”

The Eagles were especially together last week, bowling twice to compensate for this week’s Monday night game with Minnesota.

Add Eagle bowlers: Fans were interfering with the Eagles’ league, so management had to rope off the football players’ lanes.

Fullback Anthony Toney told Greg Logan of Newsday: “I heard a couple fans say, ‘I hope they bowl better than they play football.’ Then, those same fans wanted autographs later.”

Shark skinned: In Monday’s New York Times, Jerry Tarkanian, coach of University of Nevada Las Vegas’ NCAA champion basketball team, lamented the Rebels’ suspension from the 1991 NCAA tournament.

Tarkanian told writer Robin Finn: “For the first time I can remember, practice is less than a week away and I haven’t even thought about basketball. At this time of year, it’s usually all you think about. I’ve never been this close to a start of a season feeling as miserable as I do now.”

Trivia answer: Sal Maglie.

Quotebook: Cincinnati Manager Lou Pinella, on being fired twice as New York Yankee manager by George Steinbrenner: “Getting fired by George doesn’t mean so much. It’s not a true measure of your qualifications.”