view raw text
..- Here and There on the Turf To Know Stagehands Status Soon Derby Favorite Moving to Downs Nedayr, Redbreast to Belmont Teddys Comet Notable Casualty With the beginning of the new week, Stagehand will have shifted his headquarters to Churchill Downs, where an anxious racing public will be able to learn direct information as to the manner in which the j Kentucky Derby favorite is preparing for his engagement on May 7. After the son of Sickle and Stagecraft, by Fair Play, had scored his sensational nose victory over Seabiscuit in the Santa Anita Handicap, he was taken back in his training by Earl Sande; who, as soon as conditions permitted, went to Arizona for a well deserved vacation. But the" popular former riding star has . been back at the Arcadia course for some time now and undoubtedly got Maxwell Howards colt back to serious training again because a horse must be thoroughly fit to show a good performance in the Derby, let alone win top honors in the nations greatest sporting event. Even with Sande back on the job, however, no definite reports have been received regarding Stagehands preparation. In being established at Churchill Downs, Stagehand will be closely watched by those whose business it is to report on such affairs and Sande, the ever obliging Sande, will be available to answer any questions necessary to keep information accurate. The public will want to know all about the stout finishing Stagehand, because Sande has an important task confronting him in bringing back the colt after having given him a vacation. If Sande is successful, Stagehand, so horsemen have informed the writer, will be a better developed horse than he was when winning the 00,000 handicap. His trainers worry is not whether the Ohio-owned three-year-old will possess greater ability, but to have him thoroughly fit, while fresh enough to race willing. Then further improvement will come in the natural order of events as Stagehand has yet to achieve full maturity. With Stagehand reaching Churchill Downs and Nedayr and Redbreast moving to Belmont Park, all of the leading Derby candidates will have been assembled at tracks where the public can better view their training progress. Menow has just arrived at Keeneland after his long but slow preparation at Hialeah Park, and the Milky Way Farm team of Tiger and Mountain Ridge has made the comparatively short jump" from Oaklawn Park to Churchill Downs. That Menow is about ready for the races was indicated by his mile in 1:41 at Hialeah Park Tuesday just before shipping, while Tiger is fresh from his galloping victory in the Arkansas Derby. Mountain Ridge has not started this season, but he has done a lot of training, so his status may be established before very long. No definite word has been received as to how far Nedayr and Redbreast have been worked, although both are reported as well advanced. Two of the better known Derby hopefuls drawing attention by their trials are Fighting Fox and Bull Lea. The former especially has trained steadily and should be ready for the word when sent postward during the Jamaica meeting, opening very soon. Bull Lea, which, with the exception of one appearance at Keeneland, has done all of his training this spring at Calumet Farm, demonstrated his approaching fitness by an excel- I I lent effort Wednesday morning over the mile and a furlong route, so he can be expected to furnish competition during the Lexington racing starting next Thursday. Meanwhile the three-year-olds in Maryland can go racing right now, as some, including Sun Egret, have done, but those which will try for the Derby will be tested at Havre de Grace during the latter half of the month. Derby eligibles are falling by the wayside with regularity, but the casualties will be more pronounced now that the candidates are being tried in competition or are being advanced in training. Most will be found not wanting, but the better known hopefuls dropping out will do so because of injuries, such as suffered by Teddys Comet. The Valdina Farms colt possibly could make ready for the race, but his connections properly just dont care to take a chance with him, even though he demonstrated last season that he was right at the top of the two-year-old division, having dead heated with Tiger in the Arlington Futurity, won the Richard Johnson Stakes and displayed a fine performance under a poorly-judged ride in the Spalding Lowe Jenkins Handicap, in which he was the top weight, over the mile route. Because of leg trouble developed last fall Menow and Bull Lea cannot be considered as Derby candidates with the certainty connected with Stagehand, Fighting Fox and other thoroughly sound prospects.
