view raw text
Here and There on the Turf Terr --- . Triumphant Out of Derby Whitney Colt Stays at Farm ; Stable to Assemble at Belmont ; ;; Several Youngsters Smartly ! Bred All Year Around Sport ; Unsound Hypothesis Operators of future books on the Kentucky Derby- may scratch a line across the name of Triumphant, because that son of Dis Done and Thais, is out of training, perhaps for the entire season. When Thos. J. Healey, senior trainer for Cornelius Van-derbilt Whitney, moves his large stable from the farm near Lexington, to Belmont Park, next Wednesday, Triumphant will be among those left home because of the ankle trouble which forced him to the side lines during the middle of last years campaign. Because of Triumphants defection, Whitneys principal hope for the Churchill Downs ; special is the winter-trained Bright Plumage. ! Neither Red Rain, nor Tatterdemalion, considered by stable attaches as the most promising of the Whitney three-year-olds, was named for the Derby as they are being reserved for later engagments like the Belmont Stakes. Triumphant, which has not been considered as one of the more prominent Derby . candidates, created something of a furore at Belmont Park last spring when in his first start he scored by five lengths over Gleeman, Saracen, Galloglass and other juveniles and on the strength of that performance he went into the National Stallion Stakes as the favorite, but was badly beaten. The son of Dis Done, moved over to Aqueduct to take two straight overnight events, beating Maxine F., Clocks and Wha Hae, among others in the first event, and Clocks, Billie Bane, Galsac, etc., in the other. Thereupon he was shipped to Arlington Park to participate in the Hyde Park Stakes, but lacked early speed and finished in fifth place, after making up some ground. Back In New York again, the Whitney colt took third honors back of Bien Joli and Parade Girl in the Eastview Stakes at Empire City. That was his last start. Healey will take twenty-nine horses to Belmont Park when he leaves the farm and they will be joined there by ten which have been campaigning in Florida all winter un-der the direction of John A. Healey. Later in the spring another split will be made and the division under the younger Healey will ship to another sector, yet to be determined. ,Two five-year-olds, Roustabout and Trumpery, head the farm-prepared division, but the older star is expected to be Today, four-year-old son of Whichone and Afternoon, which trained off last spring after accounting for the Wood Memorial Stakes. The Nuts half brother has wintered well and his connections are hopeful he will eventually !live up to the high promise held for him a year ago. Red Rain, winner of the Hopeful Stakes and one of the better youngsters developed during 1935, is the stables leading aspirant for three-year-old honors. Many well-bred youngster;; are in the establishment, and Healey is confident that several of the nineteen in his band will prove well above the ordinary. The two-year-olds include Wing Spread, a full brother to Top Flight, unbeaten and champion filly of her year. He is by Dis Done, from Flyatit Dis Done also is represented by Abaft, a colt from Afternoon and Thereafter, a half brother to Today and The Nut. Black Look, a son of Whichone and Beaming, is a half brother to High Glee and Gay Charles, by Blondin, from Yankee Maid, is a half brother to Bostonian, winner of the Preakness. High Glee, victorious in the Matron Stakes and other events, is being transferred to the Whitney farm from Florida to enter the stud. Another well-bred youngster is Ptolemy, by Whichone, from Thais, and therefore a half brother to Triumphant. i The Whitney horses have been able to move right along in their spring preparation at the farm because of the fine condition of the private track. A coating of sand jwas added to the course the year after it yas made and this has mixed in so well : . with the old soil that the track continued in usable condition, despite adverse weather. As a consequence, the Whitney horses are forward in their training and ready for more serious efforts at Belmont Park. Not unlikely several will be ready for the colors during the Jamaica meeting, but with members of the winter division available for campaigning at the Metropolitan Jockey club course, the elder Healey will be in no great hurry to bring out his performers until the opening of Belmont Park. Raymond Workman will remain with the main division after the split and efforts are being made to obtain the services of a capable rider for the stable handled by the younger Healey. Attempts were made to purchase the contract on M. L. Fallon, who displayed much promise in Florida, but an agreement on terms could not be reached. Operators of race tracks and others in a position of influence in the conduct of racing, too frequently forget that interest in the sport extends beyond the enclosures where the horses match speed and stamina. They go on the assumption that a racing fan lives from day to day just to go to the track and when no meeting is in progress he hibernates until the sport returns with his interest and knowledge just as keen as before. Because their meetings are so successful, some promoters have the notion that all that is necessary is to have a track, some horses and wagering pharaphernalia. They lose sight of the fact that racing is a sport whose appeal is so great that enthusiasts think about it even though there may be none near at hand. Proof enough of the widespread popularity of racing, even in winter time in such large cities as New York and Chicago when the horses are a thousand miles away, is to be found in the vast amount of space devoted to the sport in the daily newspapers. Some of them devote more than a page daily to publication of entries, results, charts, workouts, handicaps and reading matter. If there was no concern among the sport fans of New York and Chicago about the racing in Florida and California the newspapers would give very little if any space to the doings of the thoroughbreds so far away. But in serving the public the newspapers find out what is wanted and provide it. The public wishes racing information and news and the newspapers meet that demand. It is good for the sport in Florida and California that New York, Chicago and other cities and towns show interest in their racing, but not near as beneficial as to the racing in those communities the following summer. A baseball fan keeps up with his favorite team and players during the off-months and the racing enthusiast follows the thoroughbreds when theyre somewhere else, thankful for the opportunity to make a wager on his choice from time to time. Prevent "off-the-course" wagering, which some powerful racing men would do if given the chance, and the fan in New York or Chicago soon loses his interest in the sport in Florida or California. With no further demand for racing news, the newspapers find something more appealing to fill the columns which formerly were devoted to entries, charts, workouts, handicaps and stories about horses. When summer arrives and racing is offered in New York or Chicago, the track owners find the public has lost much of its interest and knowledge of the sport and attendances fall off. Racing leaders and track managers should devote considerable thought to this matter of sustaining interest. Heretofore, many of them unwittingly have attempted to stifle it, but recently more and more have gained a better understanding of the problem and they no longer are in a hurry to stop handbook betting. Realizing that the public should have its opportunity to bet away from the track, turf governors now are devising ways and means to institute regulation. Handbook betting under regulation and supervision may be the answer, but it is a very deep problem, requiring much careful thought and suggestions from persons who know about the situation before any drastic action should be taken. The follower of racing asks for freedom of wagering on and off the tracks. To that end he is entitled to the best wishes of the racing associations, because he may be their patron of tomorrow. Even though he may be thousand miles away from the track, if he so disposes the enthusiast should be in the position of learning all that is going on track condition, list of entries, names ot jockeys, probable odds and any other information that may be desirable. Denied such an opportunity, the friend of racing turns to som" otnr amusement. The sport needs every friend it can have. When one of the countrys outstanding racing impresarios said recently that new tracks in communities familiar with racing and betting seldom, if ever, fail to prove to be huge successes from the very beginning and that he, as an operator of tracks, under no circumstances could be interested in introducing racing in any population centers showing little interest in the sport, he dealt a most effective blow to the unsound hypothesis that racing might be better off if away-from-the-track interest were subjugated. From these statements, the words of a man whose experience places them beyond contradiction, spring several revelations. None of these is more poignant than the apparent fact that racing, which has used as stepping stones to its present position in the sports world only territories alive with racing interest, would close the way to greater expansion by preventing any such growth of interest in metropoli without tracks at this time. That in itself amplifies to its full deadly proportions the most reckless theory ever floated in the halls of racing. Unless racing is satisfied to destroy all possible chance to widen its field and at the same time stifle racing interest in many centers wherein tracks now flourish, then any step designed to suppress interest in states with or without racing may be expected to prove a costly boomerang.
