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CHALLEDON— Is slated to meet Whirlaway and Mioland in the Dixie Handicap tomorrow. REFLECTIONS By Nelson Dunstan _. Shut Out Brings Honors to Ekky Alsab Proves Real Iron Horse NEW YORK, N. Y., May 4. Some experts picked "Greentree entry" to win the Derby, but the vast majority y had Devil Diver in mind. Eddie Arcaro selected the wrong end of the entry, and even a Wayne Wright, with a grin from ear to ear, admitted he thought he had the second best colt in his mount. However, Shut Out was the winner, and not_ only brought the e honors to the "first lady of the turf," but justified the confidence "of many who, at t Saratoga Springs last August, openly declared this son of Equipoise would go on to Colchis Awaiting Derby Rivals Whirlaway, Challedon in Dixie important future triumphs. With the e honors to Mrs. Whitney, what could be e more fitting than a colt by the "Chocolate 2 Soldier" taking the honors at Churchill 1 Downs? This might well be the son who j will carry on for the ill-fated "Ekky," whose passing was a severe blow to the i American breeding structure. John Gaver r is entitled to a world of credit for the way j in which he brought his charge up to the ; race. Shut Out raced nine times as a juvenile and was sent to winter quarters 5 after finishing fourth in the Pimlico Futurity . on November 1. He had started j twice prior to the Derby this year and I went to the post a fresh, fit horse. What he will do from now on is just one of the many things that make horse racing such an interesting sport. From a breeding viewpoint it was a Domino Derby, for both Shut Out and Alsab are members of the Domino clan. Deep down we had a sneaking hope Alsab would win, although we must add we were surprised that he even finished in the money. The Derby was his thirtieth start, the same total as Shut Out and Valdina Orphan combined. We were told he "was being raced into shape," but no matter how often they brought him out, this little horse who was unbeatable in the fall of last year, always gave his best. We never took seriously the claim he was "another Man o War," nor did we take too seriously his connections claim that he would win the Derby. But, regardless of all that, our admiration j * j j 1 j I t ; t i i j £ j I j , j | 1 j J " for him is even greater today than before. He once had all the earmarks of greatness — a "natural" if there ever was one. The Derby was his eighth straight defeat this season, and it may be after the Preakness he will get the rest that is coming to him, as he is not an eligible for any of the Belmont Stake events. His bubble of "greatness" has long since broken, but from it has emerged an honest, game and colorful youngster who is a better youngster than the majority in his division. Both Shut Out and Devil Diver are Preakness eligibles, and it is only natural that the Greentree contingent hope to win with Shut Out, so that they can go on to the Belmont and thus the "triple crown" for "the first lady." Besides the Green- tree pair, the only Derby starters eligible for the Preakness are Alsab, Requested, Valdina Orphan, Hollywood, Fair Call, Apache, Fairy Manah and Dogpatch. Colchis, the pride of Maryland, will have to be at his best. In cold retrospect, Colchis has been a steadier performer than any of them, and as they have been beating one another with regularity, he certainly cannot be discarded just because he ran one bad race in the Wood Memorial. There was nothing in Shut Outs time to scare any horse, and especially one who, prior to the Wood, had been in the money 16 times in 16 starts, in the last of which he defeated Alsab twice and Requested. George Woolf rode Colchis in these two victories and some fans attribute the defeat of the Clark colt in the Wood to the manner in which Peters rode him. Woolf again will have the mount in the Preakness. Sun Again still is some two weeks behind in ! his training and we doubt if he will be seen in the Preakness. While the Preakness will draw most of the week-end attention, Wednesdays 0,000 Dixie will be the first of many important events for older horses. Whirlaway is a promised starter in this historic stake, and if both 1 Challedon and Mioland oppose him, the race promises to go far in establish- lishing whether the Wright champion is destined to be the handicap cham- pion, or again whether Challedon is to be the medium of the most brilliant I comeback in American racing annals, and this notwithstanding Seabiscuits amazing return to win the Santa Anita Handicap. On Saturday at Jamaica, the closing day offering will be the 5,000 Grey Lag Handicap, the event for ! which Market Wise is definitely pointing and whose eligibility list is a "whos who" of handicap aristocracy. With the transfer to Belmont Park on Monday, the Toboggan, Metropolitan, Roseben and Suburban will draw the attention of owners and trainers. The ,000 Blackstone Valley Handicap , will bring the Narragansett meeting to a close on Saturday, and with the change to Suffolk Downs, the ,000 Governors Handicap on May 16, followed by the Tomasello Handicap, Puritan Handicap and Bunker Hill Handicap, will lead the older horses up to the 0,000 Massachusetts Handicap, at a mile and a furlong on July 15. | Three of the best juveniles to show to date are George D. Wideners Red Sonnet; John Hay Whitneys Four Freedoms, and Mrs. J. S. Letelliers Jack S. L. Red " Sonnet is a gelded son of Balladier, and while he showed nothing in his first start, i his two since then have demonstrated he has a high turn of speed. He won his j second start by seven lengths, and on Saturday scored as he pleased from Hoosier Wolf, Bullpen and Joe Burger. John Hay Whitneys Four Freedoms, a brown colt by Peace Chance — Nea Lap, by Night Raid, has won his two starts in excellent j fashion, and from the manner Jack S. L. drew away from Is I Is at Jamaica last Wednesday, he will be a colt to contend with in the weeks to come. Is I Is came . back to win the first race on Saturday and, judging by the manner in which this Islam gelding graduated, his name might well be linked with the trio mentioned. It is much too early to enthuse over any of those in the baby parade, for the coming months are going to see many royally-bred youngsters emerge from the barns. | The juvenile situation seldom takes definite shaping before Saratoga, but for the time being those named above have shown more than ordinary promise. s
