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OMAHAROMAN SOLDI I wo Great Derby Winners Expected to Clash In Arlington Classic Trainer of Roman Soldier Virtually Challenges Mr Woodwards Tri ¬ ple Crown Hero to Race HOMEWOOD 111 June 19 In his pres ¬ ent form Roman Soldier can beat Omaha over any distance long enough to furnish a fair test for the two horses In the next meeting between them Roman Soldier will beat Omaha If Omaha does not come west for the Arlington Classic which is the next natural engagement for the two horses both myself and my partner will be willing to conform to any fair conditions to get a crack at Omaha OmahaSpeaking Speaking thus in an exclusive interview with Daily Racing Form the frankest state ¬ ment he has ever made concerning the courageous black son of Cohort Miambi trainer Phil Reuter set the stage for a rivalry that promises to be the most bitter of the summer racing season in America and that may conceivably result in the stag ¬ ing of a special upon which the threeyear old championship of 1935 will hinge hingeThat That Omaha was a better colt than Ro ¬ man Soldier was seemingly indicated when the Eclair Stud star beat him a length and a half in the Kentucky Derby When three weeks later Roman Soldier was again beaten this time by Sun Portland in the Illinois Derby at Aurora horsemen began to nod their heads and to recall that no star of the winter tracks had ever turned out to be much when pitted against the fashionable threeyearolds reserved for the spring and summer competition competitionOmaha Omaha meanwhile went on to lose the Withers Stakes presumably because the mile distance was too short for him and to capture the Belmont Stakes at a mile and a half from Firethorn and Rosemont Race ¬ goers were ready to award him the three yearold title by acclaim despite his two 1935 defeats defeatsBut But last Saturday Roman Soldier stepped back into the running with a smashing vic ¬ tory in the Detroit Derby He revenged him ¬ self upon Sun Portland and the Firethorn which had finished on Omahas heels in the Belmont was not close enough to Ro ¬ man Soldier to count In the Detroit Derby while his condition left nothing to be de ¬ sired the bad racing luck to which his lack of early foot has made him subject again cost him ground and he was forced to show a great turn of late speed to come from behind to victory victoryOn On Saturday Roman Soldier goes to the post as favorite in the 25000 American Derby at Washington Park and with no Omaha to beat and the slow track which Roman Soldier prefers likely to prevail trainer Reuter cannot see how the colt which he owns in partnership with Elwood Sachsenmaier will be beaten beatenThe The Roman Soldier you will see in the American Derby is not the Roman Soldier that ran second in the Kentucky Derby and the Illinois Derby Reuter insists I might just as well admit that the horses legs are not the strongest in the world and when he is racing over a hard racing surface such as he encountered in the Illinois Derby he just cant turn in his best effort You wont know the colt on Saturday He thrives on work he has been training for over a year with scarcely a break but despite it he has picked up a hundred pounds poundsWith With so many major tracks in operation the arrangement of a special meeting be ¬ tween Roman Soldier and Omaha pro ¬ vided Omaha passes up the Arlington Clas ¬ sic should not be difficult and likely other ranking threeyearolds would be attracted on the off chance of picking up a purse of the sort that would probably be offered One of the most likely sites for such a meeting in fact would be Lincoln Fields in Chicago Col Matt Winn while opposed to match races has ever had one of the most dis ¬ cerning eyes in American racing for attrac 1 tions for which there is a real public de J mand
