view raw text
Ireflections I By Nelson Dunstan _________„ Fasig-Tipton Sale at Belmont May 22 Domino, Teddy Lines Show Strength Last Week at Three Major Courses Why Brand, Suspend Innocent Men? There will be a sale of horses in training by Fasig-Tipton at Belmont Park on May 22, with many of Americas most prominent stables participating. . . . Suntica, the only mare retained by Mrs. Willis Sharpe Kilmer, has a filly foal by Challenger II. at side and is again in foal to Challenger II. She will go to War Admiral in I Kentucky after she delivers. . . . New Jerseys troop B was dismounted and changed to mechanized equipment after 52 years in the saddle. . . . Probably that will draw another speech on the use of cavalry in modern warfare. ... A filly named Equipoise is favorite for the One Thousand • Guineas in England. . . . William Woodwards Precipitous, a half brother to Boswell, was a recent winner at Newmarket. . . . President Camacho of Mexico, ardent horse fan, sent 50 saddle horses to General Ubeco I of Guatemala, as a gift. . . . Walter Donovan has established permanent quarters at Camden, N. J. . . . Exterminator and Sun Briar will be sent from Virginia to I Sun Briar Court at Binghamton early in the summer. . . . Baltimore hotels make no such outrageous charges as one encounters in Louisville for the Derby. . . . The State of Virginia has advanced ,000 to the Virginia Horsemens Association for furthering thoroughbred production. You are probably fed up with Derby dope by this time, but for those who are interested in the breeding of the thoroughbred it might be added that the trio of Alsab, Boot and Spur and Shut Out were of the Domino clan and that Requested and Sweep Swinger, both by Questionnaire, trace back to Himyar, the sire of Domino. The powerful Fair Play clan had only one representative, Fairy Manah, and the Ben Brush clan had a lone representative in With Regards. Of the foreign tribes, Teddy stood out with the quartet of Dogpatch, First Prize, Sir War and Sun Again. The Isonomy clan had representatives in Devil Diver and Valdina Orphan. Alcazar, Fair Call, First Fiddle and Hollywood all traced to foreign origins. Hollywood was the only imported colt to start and in view of the fact that the largest number of imported horses of all time were nominated this year, it was a distinct disappointment that more of them did not get to the post. That, in itself, is no reason to condemn them. Only the competition of later months will show whether Half Crown, Domingo and a few of the others are to improve over their early promise. Along around Saratoga time we will know about what to expect from the imported group, most of whom were sold at the Spa last August. Well, now that the big day is over we can turn some attention to the final week at Jamaica, Narragansett and Pimlico. At Jamaica, the highly successful meeting will close with the ,000 Youthful Stakes on Wednesday, and 5,000 added Grey Lag Handicap on Saturday. Narragansett Parks closing-day stake will be the ,000 added Blackstone Valley Handicap, while at historic Pimlico, the stake-a-day program will start with the ,000 Jennings Handicap on Monday and follow with the ,500 Survivor Stakes on Tuesday; 0,000 Dixie Handicap on Wednesday; ,500 Carroll Handicap on Thursday; Pimlico Nursery on Friday, and the 0,000 Preakness on Saturday. Pimlico should have an exceptional week of fine racing, with the Dixie on Wednesday bringing a shifty brand of older horses to the post. Some handicap performers may endeavor to try for both the Dixie and Grey Lag. The latter event was seen for the first time last year and, after running third to Haltal and Mioland in the Dixie, Dit came to New York to win the Grey Lag from Ringie and Olympus. Its a rich double and either one or both could be the medium of a meeting between Challedon, Whirlaway, Mioland and Market Wise. A get-together of this quartet would be something to see. We take our hat off to Thomas Howell of The Harrington Stable, who donated the ,100 won by Olympus in the Excelsior Handicap to the American Red Cross. This came about as a result of the disqualification of Waller, owned by John C. Clark, president of Hialeah, and trained by A. G. Robertson. This case is one of those unfortunate incidents that crop up every so often but still one that leaves a bad taste with every one. The fact of the matter is they found the horse had been drugged. But in suspending A. G. "Bob" Robertson and Ernest Edgarson, the groom, for 30 days, they stress that "the testimony showed no participation by either in the drugging," and after saying that Robertsons conduct has not been questioned in 30 years, they add that "the ruling is in conformity with the tradition of the turf and the rule of the commission and The Jockey Club that the trainer and groom are always responsible for the condition of the horses in their care." In so far as "tradition" is concerned, that is hard to understand. The sooner the commission sees that horses to race are placed in a receiving barn for a specified time, where tampering of any description is impossible, the better it will be for the American turf. As matters stand, the culprit gets away and by the officials own admission, an innocent man gets 30 days and a blot on his career. We also salute Dave Woods for his editorial "Today at Old Pimlico" in the program of that track on Thursday, April 30. It says: "Thoroughbred racing has never sounded but one horn in all its existence and that is the bugle call to the post. Today, however, it has become increasingly apparent that racing must sound another horn — its own." That does not necessarily mean that it must shout to the house tops about its contributions to war relief. But, in view of the lambasting it took it has every justification, in keeping with its pledge of ,000,000, to inform the public of its progress to that goal. To date, the result has been nothing less than astonishing. Over ,000,000 has been arranged for, and when large centers that have yet to announce their plans add to the sum, it is certain to mount quickly. Racing will do no boasting. It does not have to, for it is already far ahead of any other sport. Freely and gladly the horse sport has rallied to help the families of our armed men.
