view raw text
THIRTEEN NAMED FOR 0,000 TROPICAL HANDICAP Track Thoroughly Drenched Friday Morning But Dries Out Fast Francesco Carrying Top Weight Among Those Starting Rich Stake Finale of Regularly Scheduled Meeting Mondays Proceeds to Go to Charity CORAL GABLES, Fla., April 7. Tomorrow will be the final day of the regularly scheduled Florida racing season. The occasion will be marked by the running of the 0,000 added Tropical Handicap, a mile . and a sixteenth event and the only added money stake offered by the Gables Racing Association at its spring meeting. The Tropical Handicap, which will be having its second running, has drawn a jammed field overnight, with thirteen horses slated to go to starter Buddy Wingfields barrier. They are not the outstanding handicap performers of the land, but they are evenly matched and the race promises a thrilling contest from start to finish on any sort of track. The strip was thorouzhlv drenched : during the morning hours today, rain by the buckets falling for about forty-five minutes. However, the new top soil of the course can absorb a tremendous amount of water and still dry out very fast. Given a little of the famed Florida sunshine, it will be fast for the stake, unless more rain is in the offing. FRANCESCO TOP WEIGHT; The starting top weight in. the Tropical will be Darby Dan Farms Francesco. The Belmont winner, Pasteurized, was assigned the highest impost of the nominees. He was shipped to Columbia, S. C, however, following several races, including The Widener, in which he sulked and refused to extend himself. Although Francesco will be at the top of the handicap, he is hardly likely to rule the choice. It is generally anticipated that the post of favoritism will go to Tomara Stables Teddy Weed, which may rule at around 3 to 1 in a wide-open contest. Francesco is the probable second choice at a point or so higher. Teddy Weed is in tomorrows stake under 114 pounds and will be ridden by Ira "Babe" Hanford. He has won his last two starts in Florida and never appeared better in his career. Following a score at Hialeah Park, he came here to equal Co-Sports track record for a mile and seventy yards, scoring a highly convincing victory. This mark wa3 subsequently broken by J. B. Partridges Our Ketcham, which holds the record of 1:42, flat. Teddy Weed had a final blowout for the race this morning, going a half milo in :47. OUR KETCHAM DANGEROUS. Our Ketcham will start in the Tropical with 110 pounds up, and under this weight he appears a very serious factor. In fact, he is likely to be pressing Francesco closely , for second favoritism in the big field. After establishing a track record, Our Ketcham ran second to No Sir in an overnight handicap, but he has trained well since and will go into, the 0,000 event a fit horse. Many discerning handicappers believe he is distinctly the horse to beat at the weight arrangements. He will have the services of the able veteran Wayne Wright, a lad who makes few mistakes when the heavy money is posted. Francesco has started seven times inFlor-ida competition this season and has won Continued on thirty-first page. THIRTEEN NOMINATED FOR 0,000 TROPICAL HANDICAP Continued from first page. twice. All of his starts were made in top-class company. He is a horse which has come from far out of it and would probably prefer even "more distance than the mile and one-sixteenth of the Tropical. However, he holds a bit of class over most of his rivals and may be hard to beat, for he had been catching a lot. of tiring horses when they hit the short stretch here. Jack Long has been assigned the mount on Francesco. NO SIR GOOD FINISHER. No Sir, which carries the silks of Joseph Pepp, is another horse which does his best running in the final half mile. He must be highly respected off his defeat of Our Ketcham, although he has been beaten since. When he won an overnight handicap here he was fairly flying from the three-eighths post home after trailing the field by many lengths. If he runs the same sort of race tomorrow afternoon the early speedsters and there is plenty of speed in the field will have at least two sturdy horses challenging them when the field charges into the final straightaway. No Sir seems to have none the best of the weights under 114, however, the same package that has been assigned Teddy Weed. The latters record is far the brighter. Johnny Leyland rides No Sir in the Tropical. Bert Friends Co-Sport set a mile and seventy yards record here early in the meeting, but the mark has been equalled by Teddy Weed and broken by Our Ketcham since then. The mile and seventy yards distance, was a new route at Tropical this season. Co-Sports main forte is early speed, and he should be a factor in the Tropical as far as he goes. He is lightly weighted at 105. Dnieper lost a heart-breaking nose decision the other afternoon and will be one of the feather-weighted members of the field at 100. Palamede is a horse which has a touch of class and has shown some good races in Florida competition. On best form, he should go well under 108. PALAMEDE SHOWS CLASS. The others are "write your own ticket" horses. The field is completed by Buttermilk, Her Reigh, Bobs Boys, Maeriel, Your Buddy and Xavier. Although few tourists remain in Miami, a large gathering of native Floridians should be out for the richest race of the year at Tropical Park, a contest that will serve as a sort of consolation prize for horses that were beaten in the Widener or were unable to get up to the Hialeah classic. Although tomorrows, sport ends the regularly scheduled season, an extra day of racing will be held on. Monday to raise funds for the Florida, exhibit at the New York Worlds Fair.
