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THREE-YEAR-OLDS OF 1935 Commonwealth Graduates From ,500 Plater Into One of "Outstanding Candidates for Kentucky Derby His Victory in Endurance Handicap Indication of His Real Ability Editors Note This is the fifth of a series of articles covering the three-year-olds of 1935, their racing credentials as juveniles and prospects during the current year. By NORRIS HOYDEN. Owner, Mrs. W. M. Jeffords. Breeder, W. M. Jeffords. Trainer, P. M. Burch. fi fBen Brush , f Bramble , 3 f r Broomstick . j - Roseville o lElf .... Galliard " sf.gj SylvabelIe 3 I , T Peter Pan f Commando bo .Yankee Maid Cinderella .Yankee Girl Sir Dixon a - i Breakwater 2 f Sweeper . f Broomstick Golden Broom J , ?RavelloII. . I Zuna ; Hamburg go - ElizabethL. i fi o . . x . fStar Shoot Isinglass o Christmas Star. . .- Astrology 3 I Breakwater Hindoo W . I Ricochet Sts. 1st. 2d. 3d. Unp. Won. 1934 record 9 5 2 0 2 ? 5,705 By NORRIS ROYDEN. In nine starts as a juvenile, Commonwealth climbed the ladder from a ,500 plater to a winner of the Endurance Handicap and that is why the bay gelding by Bostonian from Etoile dOr, owned by Mrs. Walter M. Jeffords, of Philadelphia, is now regarded as an outstanding candidate for the Kentucky Derby and other important three-year-old stakes. Commonwealths record might not have been spotted with performances in ordinary claiming events had trainer Preston Burch any idea the youngster would find himself late in the season and prove so formidable in what are known as distance races for two-year-olds. Commonwealth quite probably improved beyond Burchs expectations because the youngster would not have been thrown at the mercy of the haltermen so often had the trainer possessed the faintest notion the Bostonian gelding would prove of stakes-winning class before the end of the season. However, Commonwealth did go up the scale gradually to reach the peak of his form in the Endurance, in which he scored an easy Victory at the expense of such other fair juveniles as Sound Advice, Firethorn, Legume, Gillie, Dowdy Dell, Peradventure and Direct Hit. The Jeffords youngster made his debut at Saratoga early in August by finishing far back in a dash of five and one-half furlongs for platers of the ,000 to ,500 grade. Three weeks later he was pitted against fourteen other two-year-olds, each entered to be claimed for ,500, and he came from far in the ruck in the final three furlongs to gain a clean-cut victory. The event was at five and a half furlongs and his time of 1:08 was among the slowest of the meeting at this distance. Commonwealth was valued at ,500 in his next start, a straightaway dash at Belmont Park, and he finished fourth, but in a test at six furlongs over a slow track at Havre de Grace, when his claiming tag was ,000, the Jeffords gelding came from well back to score by four lengths. This caused trainer Burch to raise him to a value of ,000 in his next effort, in which he was barely nosed out by Back Fence after having made up three lengths in the last furlong of the three-quarters sprint. By now, Burch had more than a suspicion that Commonwealth was a youngster of some pretension to class and in his next start, which was over the mile route at Laurel, the Bostonian gelding was jumped up to a claiming price of ,500. With top weight of 116 pounds on his back, he was beaten slightly more than a length by Ta-bitha, to which he was giving nine pounds on the scale. Last of the nine starters turning into the back stretch, Commonwealth had only two horses beaten entering the final quarter and he made up four or five lengths on the winner in the stretch run. Commonwealth left claiming races behind in his next start, which was in the Magothy Handicap, a run of a mile and seventy yards for horses of all ages. With his customary closing rush, the Bostonian gelding came from last place in the final half mile to defeat High Glee by nearly a length, with Okapi, Chatmoss, Dark Winter and Miss Monoa well back. Although only carrying ninety-eight pounds, Commonwealth received but two pounds off the scale and his effort was an impressive one. In a mile and seventy yards effort at Bowie, serving as a qualifier for the Endurance, Commonwealth won by ten lengths over Rough Diamond, with Our Reigh taking third place and this hollow triumph, coupled with the fact that he had Fire-thorn as a stablemate, sent him into the Endurance a 7 to 20 favorite. Under one hundred and fourteen pounds, he moved readily when called upon to reach the end of the mile and seventy yards affair with six lengths to spare over Sound Advice, while his running mate barely missed getting the place. The track was slow, but it made no difference to Commonwealth, and his performance was that of a first-class two-year-old. Before he attained his true class, Commonwealth had stamped himself as a natural distance runner, a fact that will stand him in good stead this season. He is well qualified to be a good horse according to his breeding, his sire, Bostonian, being a stout-performing son of Broomstick and a Peter Pan mare, while his dam is a half-sister to Escoba and Mars, both good race horses. His third dam and that of his sire are the same, the prolific Breakwater. Except his maternal grandsire, Golden Broom, Commonwealth bred more for stamina than for speed and he shows it.
