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Ij j Here and There j on the Turf ; Gold Seeker Back in Form j Is Strong Bidder for Filly Crown j Classic May Be Next Engage- j ! ment 2 Whitney to Sell Better Year- j ; lings j t : 1 Sent against her own kind for the first Jime this season, Gold Seeker demonstrated conclusively that she has championship aspirations in winning the Gazelle Stakes at Aqueduct in which she defeated High Fleet among others. The Gazelle was at a mile and one-sixteenth for three-year-old fillies and brought Gold Seeker, High Fleet and Blue Sheen together at 121 pounds each with the three other starters receiving as much as nine pounds each. Only Split Second was absent to make it a truly championship affair as far as the East was concerned, but the King Ranch miss, third in the Acorn Stakes and second in the Coaching Club American Oaks, was taking matters easy after her quest of the Detroit Derby. High Fleet had won the Oaks after being nosed out by Blue Sheen in tlie Acorn and Two Bob had the Kentucky Oaks to her credit. In her last start before the Gazelle, Gold Seeker was soundly beaten in the Kentucky Derby after being most unruly in the paddock. Richard Handlen, trainer of the Fox-catcher Farms filly, believes that display of nervousness had much to do with her disappointing performance in the Churchill Downs classic as considerable had been expected of the daughter of Messenger and Golden Fair, after she had come from last place to defeat Delphinium, Grand Slam, Teufel, Bright Plumage, Postage Due and other capable colts in the Chesapeake S tcllt 6S In another handy performance this spring, Gold Seeker was third to He Did and Valiant Fox in the Santa Anita Derby, finishing fastest of all and losing first honors by less than two lengths. She won two other races at Santa Anita, so her record as a three-year-old stands four victories and a third out of seven starts. Evidently an easy filly to make ready, as well as being trained by a man who knows her perfectly, Gold Seeker has won two stakes now, even though she had been away from the races for a protracted time. She did no racing between the Santa Anita Derby on February 15 and the Chesapeake on April 18, a lapse of more than two months, and she was inactive between the Kentucky Derby on May 2 and the Gazelle on June 24, a matter of nearly eight weeks. It had not been the plan to give Gold Seeker a vacation following the Kentucky Derby and she might have been left at Churchill Downs to run in the Kentucky Oaks but for getting so upset on Derby day, being overawed by the tremendous crowd and excitement. At any rate, the daughter of Messenger had been intended for the Coaching Club American Oaks, an engagement she had to forego when temporarily thrown out of training. Gold Seeker has been nominated for the Continued on third page.. HERE AND THERE ON THE TURF Continued from second page. Arlington Classic, which also has attracted the entries of Hal Price Headleys Sparta and E. K. Brysons Carvola, which have shown excellent form at midwestern tracks, the former finishing second to Hollyrood in the Detroit and the latter capturing secondary honors to ttie same colt in the Chicago Derby. If Gold Seeker can turn back these fillies in the Classic, even if she isnt successful against the colts, she can go to Saratoga with every hope of being crowned queen of the three-year-old filly division by winning the Alabama Stakes. Exceptionally well bred, Gold Seeker favors distance running and over the longer routes she very easily could prove invincible against her own kind, considering that she turned back some of the best contemporaries at a mile and one-sixteenth in the Gazelle. Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney has decided to sell two dozen of his yearlings at Saratoga in August, thus becoming the second prominent private breeder who has decided this year to give the public the opportunity to purchase the products of his farm. Samuel D. Riddle is putting Man o War youngsters on the block and now yearlings carrying the famous Whitney strains are being made available. The third member of this particular branch of the Whitney family is not contemplating retirement from racing, but will retain all the other youngsters. Under present plans the same policy will be pursued in future years, with preference of the youngsters to be kept being confined to those which hold promise of future value in the stud. As so much of the Whitney blood is identical, most of the better yearlings undoubtedly will be in the sales consignment.
