view raw text
Here and There on the Turf Hastes Good Showing No Excuse for Pompey Belmont Prospects Churchill Dead Heat When Joseph E Wicleners Haste was the winner of the Withers Stakes at a mile at Bel inont Park on Wednesday he atoned brilliantly for his defeat in the running of the Toboggan Handicap on the opening day of that meet ¬ ing There were some who considered the vic ¬ tory a reversal of form but the main course and the Widcner Course over which the To ¬ boggan Handicap was run are decidedly dif ¬ ferent The footing over the Widener Course is constantly improving and next year it s safe to promise there will be scant if any difference but on the opening day of the pres ¬ ent meeting the new course was soft and alto ¬ gether different from the track over which the Withers Stakes was decided decidedThat That was conclusively shown by the two races run by Silver Fox In that same Tobog ¬ gan Handicap he was soundly beaten and floundered badly Then he was raced over the threequarters on the main course and he was an impressive winner The change in the form of Haste from one course to the other was not really as pronounced as that of Silver Fox But the difference in the going over the two courses seems to tell the story of the better race And analyzing the race run by Haste he surely was the best colt in the Withers Stakes on Wednesday It has been argued that both Crusader and Espino came from far back and were racing in a manner that would have beaten the Widener colt in another sixteenth of a mile if not at a shorter distance But it must be remembered that while these two came from far back Haste was out there making the pace He had killed off as fast a horse as Vespasian and he had put Sannaticus winner of the Toboggan Handicap among the beaten He also made Nichavo give up the struggle struggleFull Full credit must be accorded the son of Maintenant for having forced and made the pace and still carrying on to be the winner of the race And the Withers is a mile race and not a mile and a sixteenth dash Sande rode with rare skill and he knew just how far Haste had to run He made him run that far fast enough to be the winner winnerThe The result of the Withers Stakes would sug ¬ gest that Haste is at best a miler but over a longer distance and naturally under a different rider he might be a stayer after all He showed that he is able to go at a great pace and stick it out for a mile It is possible that waiting back of the pacemaker over a longer journey he might be able to gallop along within him ¬ self and then come on to victory with the speed he has not been asked to use useOf Of course that may only be determined by racing It is admitted that Haste was a tired horse at the end of the Withers Stakes but he had every reason to be tired after having raced such sprinters as opposed him into defeat It is just a bit significant that Ham Keene has avoided naming Haste for any of the races at a greater distance than a mile He is eligi ¬ ble to the Belmont Stakes at a mile and a Half but that was a future entry made before any line was obtained on the colt His other engagements arc in the Metropolitan Handicap at a mile and the Speed Handicap at five and aThalf furlongs over the Widener Course He has already filled his engagements in the To ¬ boggan Handicap at threequarters and the Withers Stakes at a mile At the Queens County Jockey Club meeting at Aqueduct which follows Belmont Park Haste is engaged in the Queens County Handicap at a mile for threeyearolds and over the Shevlin Stakes a condition race for threeyearolds at a mile and the Carter Handicap at seveneighths which is for threeyearolds and over overBut But Haste is not in the Brooklyn Handicap at a mile and an eighth the Brookdale Han ¬ dicap at a mile and an eighth or the Dwyer Stakes at a mile and a half which is exclu ¬ sively for threeyearolds Little excuse can be found for W R Coes Pompey in the Withers Stakes He was slug ¬ gish when leaving the barrier but even with that disadvantage he did not show anything like the speed that was expected taking a line through what he has shown in his exer ¬ cise work His Withers Stakes performance was not as good as his race in the Kentucky Derby in which he was also soundly beaten beatenIt It is possible that the son of Sun Briar and Cleopatra has staled off by reason of his early training for the Kentucky Derby and it may be that he has been overrated What ¬ ever the reason he has not shown enough to warrant the belief that he has even a remote chance of finishing out the early rac ¬ ing season anywhere close to the champion ¬ ship shipPompey Pompey looked exceedingly light when going to the post for the Withers Stakes He has always been light and effeminate in appear ¬ ance and as he paraded to the post he looked more like a delicately and lightly built filly than a colt And in his three starts this year it must be admitted he has done nothing to suggest possible championship calibre In the Wood Stakes Navigator had him driving to win In the Kentucky Derby he was easy not only for Bubbling Over but several others Then in the Withers Stakes he was at no time a prominent contender and he was beaten by Haste Crusader Espino Mars Blondin and Navigator But Pompey has shown enough in training to inspire high hopes There was every reason in his work for the high esteem in which he has been held but his public per ¬ formances have not reflected the promise of these workouts and it is only public perform ¬ ance that counts Continuing a discussion of the Withers it must be admitted that at least two potential candidates for the Belmont Stakes at a mile and a half to be run June 12 the closing day of the Belmont Park meeting were shown in Crusader and Espino EspinoThese These colts finished out the Withers Stakes with a gameness and clash that would have carried them on by Haste in a few more strides and each raced in a manner to suggest rare staying abilities Both are colts of excellent size and conformation and each has a smooth way of going that is demanded in a cup per ¬ former formerEspino Espino ran a good race in the Kentucky Derby and a better race than could be shown in the chart of that race He was in rather close quarters next to the inner rail for most of the race and through the stretch just when making up ground he was cut off by reason of his unfortunate position in the field fieldThe The Withers Stakes was only the second race of the year for Crusader His previous start was a threequarters dash in which he was beaten by Clap Trap and threequarters does not seem to be his distance He has everj chance to improve over his race in the Withers Stakes and a better chance than Espino for he has had a more thorough sea ¬ soning by actual racing racingIn In any event these two colts at this time stand out as particularly bright prospects for the Belmont Stakes at its trying mile and a half Dead heats are rare indeed on the American turf rarer than in any other country where horses are raced but one came at Churchill Downs on Wednesday when it was impossible to separate Brier Hill and Rose Mist at the end of a seveneighths dash dashIt It is admitted that there is a greater degree of skill exercised by American placing judges than those of any other country That is reason enough for the rarity of dead heats but there have been turfmen from time to time who have said there could be no such thing as a dead heat Judge Price answered this contention in a manner that admits of no ar ¬ gument To prove that dead heats could fre ¬ quently occur judge Price asked this question Say one horse beats another away from the barrier a couple of lengths and then is beaten by that same horse is it not a fact that at some stage of the running of the race he hadhjm dead heated Sure Be had hini1 dead heated and it could happen at the finish i line just as readily as it could happen at the head bf the stretch or Anywhere else in the running of the TaceJ
