view raw text
: Here and There on the Turf I I It is to be regretted that Dedicate, which races for Frederick A. Burton and John S. Ward will not be a starter in the Kentucky Derby. There were high hopes that the son of Dodge would gallantly uphold the fame of Kentucky against all the invaders, but his withdrawal from the "classic" is not altogether unexpected in the light of his recent defeat at Lexington. It was plainly apparent . in that running that there was something the matter with Dedicate and an X-ray examination of one of the knees revealed a growth that accounted for the colts failure. This fellow, on his form of last fall, appeared ,a particularly strong eligible for the three-year-old "classics," but this means he will be out of training until next fall, when an effort will be made to bring him back. ; And Dedicate surely attracted some attention in the future books on the Kentucky Derby. There will be other withdrawals as the date for the running approaches, for it is inevitable that a thinning out will come as eligibles fail to measure up to expectations. Then, of course, it is possible that some few may, in the short time left, race into a chance for the big prize, but with all the natural changes before post time, it seems safe to promise the 1930 running will bring out one of the largest fields in the Derby history. Nothing has been done by any of the candidates for either the Preakness or the Kentucky Derby that has approached the winning of the Wood Memorial by Gallant Fox, as far as public performance is concerned and, should William Woodward decide to send the son of Sir Gallahad III. after both the Preakness and the Kentucky Derby, he is a wonderfully strong eligible for the double. Of course the Preakness has to be decided first and on its result will depend the plans for many an eligible for the Kentucky prize. At this time there is an excellent line through racing on the Quality of Gallant Fox. That line is taken through Sandy Ford, the son of Sand Mole that won the Dixie Handicap for Mrs. Myrtle Shea. Desert Light, carrying 126 pounds and giving away nine pounds on the scale to Sandy Ford, was a good second to the four-year-old and would probably have beaten him if punished and asked to do his best in the running. Then along comes the Wood Memorial and Gallant Fox simply galloped home in front of Desert Light, which was also beaten in the running by Crack Brigade. The line then returns to Sandy Ford when he journeys to Pimlico and in a wonderfully good game performance is winner of the Dixie Handicap, which brought out the best that could be fitted for the running. Admitted that the older division, thus far has shown little, Sandy Ford is at least a first class trial horse. Desert Light ran a remarkable race back of the son of Sand Moie and then came back to be beaten with ridiculous ease by Gallant Fox. The three placed colts in the Wood, Gallant Fox, Crack Brigade and Desert Light, will all be started in the Preakness, barring accident before post time, and it appears safe to predict that all three of them will lead home any of the eligibles that have thus far been shown in the Maryland racing. There is nothing unusual for smart maiden three-year-olds to be shown in the early spring racing. There are various legitimate reasons for failure to win as juveniles and it must be remembered that Sir Barton was a maiden when he won the Kentucky Derby and then followed that up by winning the Preakness at Pimlico. The three-year-old maidens must always be respected. In this connection Gwyn Tompkins introduced rather a good one at Pimlico Tuesday when he sent Timon to the post for the Brookmead Stable. He was winner over the six furlong route in a fashion to suggest that he may go on to much better things as the season advances. Timon is a son of Pandion and the Camp-fire mare, Wee Dear, and was raced sparingly He wintered in a as a two-year-old. fashion that pleased as shrewd a conditioner as Tompkins, and he was nominated for several of the sprint features to be run. at Belmont Park. This race of Tuesday was his first effort of the year and enough to warrant the Tompkins opinion of the colt. There come along many of these maidens in the spring that race to big things before the end of the season, and this unsexed son of Pandion may be one of them.
