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- it Here and There : on the Turf Fompoon Overcomes Lameness Working Steady Again at Columbia FitzGerald Beturns to Illinois j Wingfield to Start at Narra- J gansett ,. . Fompoon still reigns as the future book favorite for the Kentucky Derby but his odds should have taken a jump a few days back. It seems the son of Pompey and Oonagh turned up lame at Columbia, S. C, where he has been training for more than a month and his trainer, Cyrus Field Clarke was given numerous perplexing and uncomfortable moments. However, the cause of Pompoons soreness finally was located and it was so trifling that it was eliminated within a short time, So that the colt was able to resume his normal training grind the next day and he again is going through his workouts on schedule. So if the rumors reach you that Fompoon is lame, pay no attention to them because all is well with Jerome Louchhcims star at this writing and he is as well along In his training as trainer Clarke wishes. I After another trial or two, Pompoon will I be placed in an express car and shipped to New York, where he probably will be seen under silks in an overnight event at Jamaica to be followed by his appearance in the Wood Memorial Stakes on May 1, one week before the Derby running. So if all is well just a month from now the Philadelphia-owned colt will be at Churchill Downs to fulfill his engagement I in the event the public believes he will win. Also training smoothly at the South Carolina training grounds are such other notable Derby hopefuls as Walter Carters Clodion and Marshall Fields Sir Damion and Charing Cross. They have met with no interruptions in their training and are ready for almost immediate appearances in competition. We also have been advised from Columbia that Max Hirsch has decided against point- ing Dawn Play for the Derby, so the winter book operators will do the public a favor by scratching her name from their lists. The King Ranch miss, which was right at being the best two-year-old filly shown last season, is to be reserved for such events as the Coaching Club American Oaks, but when the spring season is over and members of her sex are not so susceptible to moods she may be called upon to go againt the colts in an event like the Arlington Classic. With Dawn Play out of the Derby, the number of filly candidates is reduced to five, the best of which seems to be Rifted Clouds, owned by Wool-ford Farm. The daughter of Insco is now at Arlington Downs, where she may be a starter in the Texas Derby. J Rumors that Christopher J. FitzGerald would not return to Illinois this year as the steward representing the state racing commission became so widespread that the news that he had been reappointed to the post came as something of a surprise. The veteran official has occupied the post ever since Illinois legislation made possible a racing commission four years ago. He had been in ill health the early part of the winter and was unable to serve in the stand at Santa Anita Park until the final few weeks of the meeting, but apparently the Illinois commissioners are satisfied that his health is such as to permit another season of service, even though the task is much more dif ficult and arduous than many persons suppose. FitzGerald is not the most popular steward in the country, but he is a man who never has traded his belief in how racing should be conducted for popularity. Walter E. OHara is to be commended upon his selection of George "Buddy" Wing-field to succeed Harry Morrissey as starter at Narragansett Park, and he will be in the stand when the Rhode Island course opens the first of its three meetings this year on May 1. The veteran Morrissey is to remain closer to home this summer, his home being at Redwood City, Calif. He has been appointed starter for the summer meeting planned at Agua Caliente by Gene Normile. Wingticld hasnt the country-wide fame of I ; I j j 1 I j 1 I j I 1 , I Morrissey, but he has been moving up in I the ranks steadily during the past few years, I becoming acquainted with many eastern I horsemen through his work at Tropical Park these past two winters. Wingfield has a competent crew of assistants and he has had unusually good luck with bad actors, for which trainers have been thankful. He is as quiet as Morrissey is loquacious, yet he commands the respect of the jockeys just the same, which is one reason for his advancement in bis chosen profession.
