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JEFF ONEILS CAREER ENDS Honest and Consistent Plater Cut Down at Havana Course. . ; Will Be Sent to Farm With Hope of Saving Him Owner Intends to Pension Him for Remainder of Life. HAVANA. Cuba,. Feb.. 18. Jeff ONeils racing career probably is ended, due to hav-. ing been jumped upon as he was striding in second position, and to apparent victory in a. six furlongs dash over the Oriental Park course February 10. The winner was Translucent. This six-year-old son of Courtship Helma S., by Cesarion, owned by the Louisville turfman, Dr. C. A. Bidencope, is to be retired to the farm of Dr. Finch, at Jeffer-sonville, Ind., in the hope that he may be restored, but the injury suffered by the racer is such that it is believed the turf has seen him for the last time. Jeff ONeil, formerly raced by Lon Jones, originally belonged to James ONeil of Jef-fersonville. Throughout his career he has been a useful plater. His victories total fourteen. When Dr. Bidencope went to Jefferson Park, New Orleans, for the 1931-32 winter season, he had, in addition to Jeff ONeil, Estin and Eleanor M., with which he scored ten triumphs, said to have been a record with a trio of platers in Jefferson Park racing. -Jeff ONeil was a triple winner. Estin won five, Eleanor M., two, these being in succession. One was at -three-quarters of a mile, the other at one mile and a sixteenth. Eleanor M.s achievement over a route was a surprise. In fact the speed and courage she displayed in the sprint and the distance contests amazed Dr. Bidencope. "Jeff ONeil," said Dr. Bidencope, "may have belonged nowhere but in the plater division, but he was so game and honest that, in my estimation, he was close to the stake type. He always tried. He was victory bound when, as he made his final effort in his last race, he was cut down. Even then he was beaten less than four lengths. He was a peculiar individual. Never breezed more than a half mile for a race, he was always ready and willing to submit a worthwhile effort. "It is strange that in all of his trials he had to be started from the eighth post. Why, I do not know, unless it was because he fell on one occasion. Never again would he consent to break for a preliminary contest except from a certain spot. He had to be accompanied by a pony when in morning works, which seemed nothing more to him than play. If Jeff ONeil does not come back to the races I intend to pension him." Dr. Bidencopes other campaigners are Zeta, Stella F. and Tightrope, the latter formerly in the Greentree outfit, all of which are being trained at Louisville for Kentucky and Chicago racing. He has Estin and Eleanor M., also Alfaye B., Ipsara and Diodoro, the three last named being a part of the string of J. Marsch, Chicago contractor and sportsman. It is the plan of Dr. Bidencope to obtain other high-class thoroughbreds for his activities on the Chicago circuit.
