view raw text
MARYLAND DERBY HOPE Sun Egret to Have Severe Test in Bowie Spring Handicap. Goes Longer Distance and Concedes Much Weight to Rivals Certain to Be Favorite. BOWIE, Md., April 8. Sun Egret, at present Marylands principal hope for conquest in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness,. will be tested against older horses once more when he goes forth at Prince Georges Park tomorrow in the Bowie Spring Handicap. Last Saturday .he decisively trounced more mature rivals in the six furlongs Rowe Memorial but in the week-end attraction he is being stretched out to a mile and seventy yards, while hes also conceding from sixteen to thirty-four pounds on the scale to seasoned opposition. Despite this, the Sun Briar Polly Egret colt, which races under the banner of A. C. Compton, looms forth as a certain favorite for the Bowie, it being anticipated home folk will make him an odds-on choice, as he was last Saturday. Eight have been named to oppose Guy Bed-wells charge and it is not expected there will be more than two scratches at the outside. Today the mile course was a sea of mud and there is little reason to reckon on any marked change in this condition, as rain continued steadily through the afternoon with no sign of a let-up tonight. The footing will be made to order for Sun Egret, as he is a superior mud runner. LAST YEARS WINNER. The half-holiday attraction will have its second running tomorrow, being inaugurated last year. Then as good a horse as Calumet Dick was first home, beating the better regarded Araho entry of Mucho Gusto and New Deal, there does not appear to be any such horse as Ray Brysons star slated to oppose the Compton colt, but at the weight arrangement there are several in the field which should give him a husky argument. Sun Egret gained chief fame as a juvenile when he whipped older horses in a Bowie sprint last November, the race proclaiming him a colt above the ordinary. He proceeded to Santa Anita to account for three stakes, the San Pasqual, San Vicente and Santa Maria, closing his California campaign by finishing an excellent third to Stagehand and Dauber in the Derby. Returning to his favorite track, he ran off with the Rowe Memorial and now is distinctly number one man among the three-year-olds which have been seen in action at this track. Guy Bedwell believes in running his charges when they are good and this means Sun Egret also will be sent after the Southern Maryland Handicap next Wednesday. There can be no excuses on the score of condition if hes beaten tomorrow, for he breezed a mile in 1:46 in his extended final and came back through this mornings mud with a half in ;50. PICCOLO WELL FANCIED. Piccolo, winner of the McLennan Memorial at Hialeah Park last winter, was seasoned in the Rowe Memorial, where the six furlongs route was too short for him. Tomorrows distance will be more to his fancy and this indicates the son of Whichone should give an excellent account of himself. He has a twenty-pound weight pull on the scale over Sun Egret and might give the Marylander a keen argument. Parmelee T., runner-up in the Rowe, was a Santa Anita campaigner, winning three out of four at that point. The son of Victorian has class and as long as he continues to go soundly should give an excellent account of himself. It appears that hes also in very nicely with 105 pounds. Moon Side and Eastport are a couple of New Orleans campaigners which shape up as keen possibilities. The first named shipped over from Long Island for the race, so one must figure hes at peak form. East-port had Zevson straight on one occasion at the Fair Grounds and turf-goers will recall the latters effort in the Widener Challenge Cup, where he led all but War Admiral past the judges. Eastport has been conditioned in a race over the track and with light weight must be respected. STAR MUD RUNNER. Challephen, a three-star mud-runner from the stable of W. L. Brann, makes his seasons bow in this stake and his soft track form in past seasons says hes by no means out of it. Swahili, third to High Velocity in Thursdays feature, seems over his head, the same holding true for the feather-weighted Singers Folly. Gerald, the only other entry, is a running mate of Sun Egret and dockers question if hes up to a hard race. Jack Campbell, in the face of adverse conditions, has arranged an excellent week-end card. Seven three-year-olds will travel a mile and seventy yards in the Montpelier Manor Handicap, with no distinct standout in the lot. The same holds true for the six furlongs Gridiron Handicap, for four-year-olds and upward. The fields in the remaining four events appear well balanced and should provide first-rate competition. Despite a muddy track, there should be a capacity crowd on hand if the skies clear and the sun breaks through to take the chill of winter from the air. The weather man has been so unkind thus far it would seem that the association is due for a break.
