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BOWIE HANDICAP TODAY Half Dozen Nominated for ,000 Feature of Saturdays Card. Five of Overnight Eligibles Trained at Different Points Challephen Appears To Be Likely Choice. BOWIE, Md., March 31. The Bowie Handicap, mile and seventy yards stake which will feature week-end racing at Prince Georges Park has drawn only half a dozen entrants, the group being unique in that it comprises horses which were fitted for the ,000 event in five different sectors. High Velocity, high weight of the party under his 120 pounds impost, wintered at nearby Bennings, as did Challephen. Hypocrite returned to his home area after a winters campaign at Santa Anita, Short Distance was active in Miami, Bunny Baby did her racing at New Orleans and Unheralded was tightened at Hot Springs, in the same fashion as Rough Time, winner of the Rowe Memorial. It will be the first start of the meeting for all but Bunny Baby and her condition, coupled with feather weight, indicates the Transmute filly will take considerable beating. BEST ON BOWIE TRACK. Last spring Sun Egret won the Rowe and came right back to gain the award in the Bowie. However, these stakes were separated by eight days in 1938, with only one intervening this season. For that renewal Guy Bedwells charge ruled a 2 to 5 choice but its a cinch tomorrows favorite will be no such prohibitive choice. Present indications point to Challephen receiving principal public consideration. This fellow, which runs to peak form over this track, finished third in the Bowie last April and came right back to win the Southern Maryland Handicap. Reports from Bennings say that Louie Schaefer has William Branns home-bred in perfect condition and it appears that the Challenger II. gelding is nicely suited by the arrangement which permits him to get in with 110 pounds. Hell draw George Seabo, saddle veteran, who will start the season with the Brann outfit, an establishment which is best known throughout the land because it houses Challedon, one of the leading Kentucky Derby prospects. HIGH VELOCITY IN DEMAND. .High Velocity, a smart Bowie performer himself, was rated the pick of the Bowie candidates by Jack Campbell, doubtless due to his victory in the Admiral Grayson Stakes at Pimlico in November and numerous good efforts over the track. Whether hell come back at his best after two hard races in as many days at the Baltimore track last fall is being questioned Continued on thirty-fourth page. BOWIE HANDICAP TODAY Continued from first page. by some folks but hejs had a long winters rest and appears sharp and good. Hypocrite showed little in competition in California during the winter but he is partial to a soft track and has worked steadily over the Bowie oval since returning from California. Campbell rates him four pounds bet ter than Challephen. Short Distance, the lone Miami campaigner in the party, was a four-time winner at Hialeah Park, though she appeared to tail off a bit at the end of her Florida campaigning. The daughter of St. James and Nearby has been freshened slightly during recent weeks, with trials saying shes fit. It will be her first crack at a major race this j season. Unheralded was beaten by about half a j length when he finished third to Conquer j and Clodion in the Lynch Memorial last November. Later he raced at Charles Town and then went into temporary retirement. At Hot Springs he was conditioned for his spring campaign in Maryland andhe appears a ready horse. Though there are only six in the Bowie, it appears a very well matched lot under the prevailing weight arrangement, and a good contest should result. The race should point out the favorite for the Southern Maryland at one mile and a sixteenth on the following week-end. The six furlongs dash for platers of the better sort, which is the secondary attrac- j tion, also should prove a stirring race. While this has drawn only seven entrants, I there does not appear to be a standout, overnight. Another dash for juvenile maidens will bring forth seven males with the other four events being given over to platers. Lowering clouds hung over the track this afternoon with the mile oval slowly" drying. Barring rain and given a bright sun tomorrow, it should be good for the half-holiday sport, with a capacity crowd being anticipated by Joe Boyle and his associates in the Southern Maryland Agricultural Association.
