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r-- - - - ----..---------------r Here and There on the Turf Saturdays Doings. Stir Public Roman Soldier Better Than Ever j Plat Eye, Commonwealth Im- ! press 1 King Saxon Is Topnotcher Opening of the metropolitan season at Jamaica with the Paumonok Handicap as the feature, running of the Chesapeake Stakes at Havre de Grace and renewal of the Texas Derby at Arlington Downs made Saturday a very interesting day for the racing public. At all three tracks, notable candidates for the Kentucky Derby, which is fast drawing near, were seen in competition, some for the first time this season. The Texas Derby, which had 1,175 for its victor, served to emphasize that Roman Soldier was the best three-year-old seen in winter racing with the lone exception of Black Helen, and that he was a colt with more than an outside chance for the Churchill Downs special, his next engagement. The Chesapeake Stakes revealed Plat Eye and Commonwealth as potential candidates for the Derby, while the Paumonok re-established King Saxon as one of the fastest horses in the country. Roman Soldier perhaps displayed the best performance of his career in the Texas Derby, even though the field he mastered cannot begin to compare with the opposition he will haye in the Kentucky Derby. Over a muddy track and with 120 pounds on his back, he was permitted to drop out of contention in the first quarter mile and then he gained gradually until midway in the stretch, where he was sent into a good lead. His entire run was on the outside, yet he managed to finish out the mile and a furlong of slow going in the very creditable time of 1:53. Roman Soldiers victims included Whiskolo, which had finished second in the Santa Anita Derby, won by Gillie, The Sachsenmaier and Reuter colt beat Whis- kolo a whole lot easier than Gillie did. Another behind him was the sensational Whizz-away, which had finished first in his previous nine starts. This was the first time j Whizzaway met a colt with any such class as possessed by Roman Soldier. The son of Cohort aid Miamba, by Light Brigade, must be reckoned with in Kentucky Derby calculations because hes fit, can run over mud or dry, is a natural stayer and possesses a fair share of class. Plat Eye and Commonwealth, making their first starts as three-year-olds, finished first and third in the Chesapeake Stakes in j comparatively slow time. Naturally, a free-running horse and, perhaps, better tightened up than Commonwealth, Plat Eye went to the front in the run to the first turn and was rated in that position throughout the remainder of the race by the masterly Silvio Coucci. Commonwealth was permitted to run in the rear division in the early stages : and moved up stoutly when called upon, to suffer defeat by the winner by less than a lengthy Sun Fairplay taking the place over him by three-quarters of a length. Commonwealth had to fight his way forward between horses through the stretch or he might have finished closer up. His was an excellent effort, just as was that of the winner, and both colts can be expected to improve considerably with the benefit of seasoning. From a time standpoint, the Chesapeake does not appear, on the surface, to be giving Plat Eye and Commonwealth much recommendation, but it is doubtful if the course was quite up to the edge it possessed when Cavalcade won the event a year ago in track record time. It must be remembered that Cavalcade defeated a smart, field in the Chesapeake in 1934 in Discovery, Agrarian, Time Supply, Singing Wood and others and practically the entire field had seen previous competition during the year. No such field contested this springs renewal of the Chesapeake and, considering that Plat Eye .and Commonwealth were making their .first starts after a winters lay-off, their efforts, from a time standpoint, are satisfactory enough. Sun Fairplay, unless he has improved greatly, will never see the day when he will finish as close up to these two colts. C. H. Knebelkamp knew what he was doing when he refused an offer of 8,000 made for King Saxon right after the four-year-old son of Saxon and Poltova had won a dash of six furlongs at Hialeah Park, his first start of the season. Knebelkamp, in declining the bid, said King Saxon could sprint with the best of them and that he could run all day, adding that he had entered the colt, which he had claimed as a two-year-old for a very low price, in every worth while event in the East King Saxon started twice at Hialeah, winning at six furlongs in 1:11 and seven furlongs in 1:23, and now the colt comes back to gain an easy triumph in the historic Paumonok by lowering the Jamaica track record of three-quarters from 1:11 to 1:10, aand under 118 pounds, too. King Saxons Paumonok victory was his third of the season and his fifth in a row. Last season he faced the barrier on eight occasions and "was beaten but once, listing, a pair- of stakes at Empire City among his successes. The Knebelkamp colt now-ap pears better than ever, fully living up to the confidence placed in him by his Kentucky owner. King Saxon may now be considered a dangerous threat in the handicap division, especially if he stays as Knebelkamp says he can. His class over a distance of ground very likely will be tested in the Suburban Handicap, Belmont Parks important mile and a quarter special which should draw the best older horses in the East for its renewal a month hence. Psychic Bid, one of the Brookmeade Stables coterie of three-year-old prospects, did not fare so badly in the Paumonok in running sixth. He was the topweight of the field, according to the scale, with an impost of 116 pounds, and he displayed an even effort while compelled to lose much ground on the turn. Being his first start of the season, the son of Chance Play can be expected to improve, and he must be reckoned as dangerous in calculations for the Wood Memorial, Saturdays Jamaica headliner. Other promising three-year-olds expected to start in this test of a mile and seventy yards include C. V. Whitneys Today, the Belair -Studs Omaha, and the Greentree Stables Plat Eye, thereby making it a very important preparatory contest for the Kentucky Derby. The Wood will determine which of the New York horses will try for the Derby, and it -also will go. a. long way toward determining the post favorite for Americas most popular race.
