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Here and There on the Turf Dark Secret Is Ready Another Obstacle for Equipoise Wheatley Star Has Fine Record Winooka Returning Home Hurricana Heard From Again Ajaccio May Become Star That James Fitzsimmons Aqueducts lead Ing personage has the Wheatley Stables Dark Secret ready for an early appearance under silks was indicated Monday morning when the fiveyearold son of Flying Ebony worked a mile and a furlong in 153 in handy fashion This is a smart training move over the Aqueduct course and means that Dark Secret is in good enough condition to accept the issue at any time perhaps without the necessity of another stiff trial News that the Flying Ebony veteran has about rounded to form may not set so well with Equipoises connections as the cham ¬ pion found Dark Secret a tough animal last fall in The Jockey Club Gold Cup to be specific specificAbsence Absence of Dark Secrets name in nomina ¬ tions to the early handicaps such as the Suburban and Dixie very likely caused some persons to wonder if something had hap ¬ pened to the sturdy member of the establish ¬ ment maintained by Mrs H C Phipps and her brother Ogden Mills but experience has taught trainer Fitzsimmons that the horse did his best racing later in the season and BO he Has taken his time about bringing the veteran to hand The horse is well engaged from now on being in the several handicaps at Aqueduct and also in the two 10000 spe ¬ cials at Arlington Park ParkIf If he follows the same campaign he pur ¬ sued in 1933 Dark Secret will go in the Brooklyn Handicap at Aqueduct on July 4 and perhaps try for the Empire City Handi ¬ cap at Yonkers before making the long trek to Chicago for the Arlington Handicap In which he may have the opportunity of engaging Equipoise Ladysman and perhaps a first class threeyearold like Cavalcade or Peace Chance Both of the latter are in the mile and a quarter affair at Arlington Park which shapes up like a contest worth more money than the 10000 with which it is endowed endowedThis This Dark Secret really has compiled a fine record in his three years of campaign ¬ ing with total earnings of 69870 All but 2150 of this was collected as a three and fouryearold Last season the Wheatley star accounted for nine of his seventeen starts and only one of these triumphs was in an overnight race He began his stakes winning spree by taking the Brooklyn Han ¬ dicap and followed with the Empire City Handicap Merchants and Citizens Handi ¬ cap Manhattan Handicap Jockey Club Gold Cup Laurel Stakes Washington Handicap and Whitney Gold Trophy Handicap As a threeyearold Dark Secret won fewer stakes but earned more money due to his score in the Potomac Handicap which had 20400 for the winner His largest award last season was 8575 earned in the Wash ¬ ington Handicap He also accounted for the Speculation Claiming Handicap and the Ken ner Stakes as a threeyearold and was sec ¬ ond in the Empire City Derby Knickerbocker Handicap Jerome Handicap and Bay Shore Handicap and third in the Southampton Handicap and Saratoga Cup The son of Flying Ebony has shown himself to be a natural stayer and when right he is a hard horse to handle as Equipoise found out in the Jockey Club Gold Cup when both carried equal weights of 126 pounds over the tedius two miles distance His return to the races puts one more obstacle in the path of Equi ¬ poise to the worlds moneywinning crown WinooTta is going home to Australia Michael Poison his trainer has made ar ¬ rangements to ship the son of Windbag and Continued on thirtieth page HERE AND THERE ON THE TURF Continued from third page Kanooka to the land down under within the t next several weeks and hes sorry he had to take such a step However the Australian trainer is not satisfied with the condition of Winooka and not unlikely the horse will race no more as he is destined for stud duty in his homeland Winooka did not achieve the honors he sought in America but he deported himself well especially in Mary ¬ land last fall under conditions his trainer had nothing to say about aboutPoison Poison hopes to return to America within a few years with another horse preferably a gelding for another chance against rep ¬ resentative topnotchers of this country He would like to see however a firstclass thor ¬ oughbred from this nation sent to Australia to compete especially in the Melbourne Cup a race of two miles which has about 50000 for the winner Poison thinks a horse like Cavalcade could overcome the wear and tear of the twentyone day sea journey and the change in climatic conditions to capture the Melbourne Cup The likeable trainer from the Antipodes also promises a worthy recep ¬ tion for any American horse going there Leading sportsmen here frequently like to take a try at the English classics and per haps one will give an Australian invasion a thought some time Two years ago word went the rounds that John Sanford squire of Amsterdam possessed a phenomenal twoyearold Per ¬ sons who got the report were interested because many years had gone by since the owner of Hurricana Farm had seen his silks borne by a smart performer on the flat al ¬ though he had been making a habit of pro ¬ ducing or acquiring the outstanding steeple ¬ chaser season after season Those with the tip awaited with eagjerness the debut of this fast colt which had been identified only as a son of Blue Pete but he was not brought out for competition competitionThat That colt came to the races last August at Saratoga but trailed badly as Helianthus won with Pilate second and Pompeius thircL He appeared again under colors in October at Jamaica and did considerably better but still he was beaten off Quel Jeu was the victor with Pompeius second and Sugar Cake third No more was heard of the fellow until a fortnight ago at Belmont Park when he was sent out by trainer Hoi lie Hughes to contest a dash of three quarters vith such as Changeling Omayya and Fighting Mike He won by a length and a half in the time of 112 under 115 pounds and his triumph was confidently predicted in several quarters as his final odds were but 11 to 5 5Hughes Hughes brought out the Sanford prospect again Friday at Belmont Park and once more his success was expected by certain parties as he ruled a 12 to 5 favorite over such nifty runners as Kievex Universe Blind Bowboy and Kawagoe Even though he was meeting sterner opposition the son of Blue Pete handled them much easier than he did the field in his recent outing Taking up 110 pounds and Wayne Wright he led all the way over the six furlong route step ¬ ping the opening quarter in 22 and the half mile in 45 Finishing out the route in 110 the fouryearold won by four lengths and he could have done better betterAjaccio Ajaccio is the name by which this promis ¬ ing fellow is known and if he continues to improve as he has so far this season the popular upstate New York sportsman may have a colt capable of meeting the best thoroughbreds in training Ajaccios true class has not yet been tested neither has his ability to go over a route but if he comes through to place his name alongside that of Caughnawaga Mohawk II George Smith Sir Johnt Johnson Molly Brant and other fine horses bred and raised at Hurri ¬ cana many persons will be happy because John Sanford is one of the most revered New York sportsmen
