view raw text
ROSE OF SHARONS RIVAL ♦ Thistle Fyrn Strong Claimant for Title "Queen of the Turf." ♦ New Victory In Ohio State Derby Flevatea Collins* Miss Among the Topnotchera of Her Sex and Age. 1 - The title, "Queen of the Turf," when applied to Rose of Sharon, winner of last Saturdays niinois Oaks, is not so very farfetched as one might think, but it is a crow« that Rose of Sharon is not to wear without some uneasiness as long as Thistle Fyrn continues to perform with such consistency as has characterised her racing as a three-year-old from the day of the winter tracks right on up to the winning, last Saturday, of the Ohio State Derby. Neither filly has a clear claim to the title, which has had no constant possesser since Princess Doreen was retired, and it may be that Arlington Park or Hawthorne can put on a special attraction which will draw them together with the undisputed "queenship" resting upon the decision. The Latonia Oaks might have settled the matter had Thisile Fyrn been nominated, but she was not. Rose of Sharon has scored a monopoly in the various "Oaks" so far, having won the Ashland, the Kentucky and the Illinois. And in one of these events, the Ashland, Thistle Fyrn was included among her victims. But it wont do for the backers of Rose of Sharon to look too closely into that contest to back up their claims. Rose of Sharon had a three-pounds pull in the weights not only over Thistle Fyrn but over several others in the race, and she beat out Thistle Fyrn by only a nose. The only two in the race that got in at 118 pounds were Rose of Sharon and Florhi ; the others, including Thistle Fyrn, carried 121 pounds. NO EARLY INDICATIONS. Thistle Fyrns conquests have not been so exclusively feminine as have Rose of Sharons. Apparently owner George Collins held no very high opinion of his filly at the beginning of her racing career, for she was not nursed along as are the young racers of either sex that are believed to have big things in store for them. Indeed Thistle Fyrn gave slight indication as a two-year-old that she was anything but a moderately fair filly, winning only one race in ten starts and bein~ unplaced five times. So the stable was not at all particular where or when she was started : she was simply another plebeian of the horse family out to earn her oats and more if she could. She went in races with some of the average good colts on the winter tracks at New Orleans and usually defeated them, perhaps measuring out a lot of disappointment to some colts that had been pointing for the winter Derbys. After being unplaced in her first race as a three-year-old, she started a winning streak which was not finished until she had accounted for four successive races. Then she ran unplaced again and since then has not been out of the money. SPLENDID RECORD. Her record as a three-year-old shows eight victories, three seconds, three thirds and two out-of-the-money performances in sixteen races — a 50 per cent winning average. She is the only filly except Ben Machree. which finished third in the Latonia Derby upset last Saturday, to figure prominently in one of the summer Derbys. When she finished second to Karl Eitel in the Fairmount Derby she beat out Minotaur, Naishapur and Bather. Naishapur ran second in both the Kentucky and American Derbys. Following her Fairmount Derby she ran third in an ordinary purse race and then came her victory in the Ohio State Derby, in which such highly rated colts as Voltear, Upset Lad, Silverdale and Black Diamond were starters. She lowered the track record and scored the first Derby victory of a filly since Handy Mandy won the Latonia Derby in 1927. It will be recalled that in winning her Derby, Handy Mandy lowered Man o Wars American record for the mile and a half. That is the record, as a three-y.ar-old. of Rose of Sharons rival. Rose of Sharon has slightly the advantage in the amount of money won. She has taken down 6,400 m her nine races, the major portion of which represented her shares in the three "Oaks." She did not start as a two-year-old and went to the post the first time in late April. She has won six races, finished second twice and third once. Against her 6,400 in nine races. Thistle Fyrn won 1,022 in the fourteen events in which she won or received a share of the money. A
