view raw text
Nelson Dunstan REFLECTIONS By Nelson Dunstan Revising Our Derby Selections That Old Difference of Opinion Longdens Fourth Derby Mount Dopley Tries Hard to Please OPA NEW YORK N Y April 30 30If If Frank Menke would send that selection card back and allow us another chance our five Derby horses would be Count Fleet Blue Swords Ocean Wave Slide Rule and Amber Light On the cold dope it is hard to get away from The Count but should one of them take it on the Bill Daly and forget to stop some rosy red ears would be on display in the sports department of every newspaper in the land In our book it is a tight tussle between Blue Swords and Ocean Wave in the Wholl be second con ¬ troversy Both can get the Derby distance but right or wrong we believe Blue Swords will improve on his Wood Memorial showing Second in that event he was nan icngtns i Derby distance will be more to his liking Ocean Wave too is a much improved horse over his winter efforts and more than one will tell you that if the boat is going to be upset The Wave will do the upsetting Beaten by nine lengths in the Derby Trial we cannot see Slide Rule breaking up the above trio but as many people keep talk ¬ ing of Derby mistakes it will be the Boeing racer who should benefit if the above three make any We cannot vision beyond these four for the occupant of the winners circle in fact we believe the others are below Derby class If ever that expression difference of opinion makes horse racing is doubted we refer the doubters to Frank Menkes poll mentioned above Some 443 newspapermen and broadcasters were asked to name the first five horses in order of finish Needless to say the final figures showed an overwhelming vote for Count Fleet no less than 319 selecting the fleet Hertz youngster But that left over 120 selectors naming horses other than Count Fleet and it is safe to say that every one of the starters were given at least one vote and so were many who will not be starters Even now on Derby eve you will find many who will go beyond Ocean Wave and Blue Swords in selecting their Derby winner Many of them will tell you of Exterminator and other long shots who graced the win ¬ ners circle And still others will justify their longshot choice on the premise that over fifty different things can happen to a horse once he leaves the paddock Last night one fan argued with us that Gold Shower had beaten Count Fleet as a twoyearold and to his way of thinking there was no way of determining that he would not do the same at three Any reference to Count Fleets two races this year made little impression on him Indeed it is the difference of opinion that makes horse racing Alfred Robertson who will ride Amber Light is the most experienced jockey in the Derby tomorrow During his long career he has ridden over 2000 winners a record among contemporary American race riders He has not had a Derby mount since 1939 when he finished last with On Location A veteran is Johnny Adams who rode Tech ¬ nician in 1939 Swain in 1941 and Sir War in 1942 All three were out of the money but he should be much closer with Blue Swords Eads who will ride Ocean Wave is a Derby newcomer as is Roy Adair No Wrinkles Tommy Atkins Gold Shower Charley Swain Modest Lad and Ferril Zufelt Bankrupt should he start Conn McCreary is something of a veteran having piloted Our Boots in 1941 and First Fiddle in 1942 Johnny Longden who has ridden CountrFleet in every one of his starts is not far behind Alfred Robertsons 2000 winning mounts mark Longden rode Melodist in the Derby of 1937 Sirocco in 1940 and With Regards in 1942 the latter being fourth to Shut Out Alsab and Valdina Orphan James who rode Alsab is now in the Army ArmyIn In the controversy between Narragansett and the New England OPA directors we feel that judge Dooley went more than half way in Thursdays conference regarding the closing of the parking lots Kenneth B Backman New England OPA regional director stated in answer to a question that the driving ban is off that there is no restriction to an A card holder in the thex x use of his one and onehalf gallons gasoline allowance and that no one else in New England had yet been requested to close parking lots This writer has grown to dislike the word discrimination but in view of Mr Backmans answers this in our opinion is an out and out case of discrimination During the conference judge Dooley offered to finance a campaign to instruct auto mobile drivers what they can and cannot do and he also stated he would pro vide special parking spaces for holders of B and C cards so that it would be a simple matter for the OPA inspectors to check them He even said he would consider banning the B and C card holders if the regional directors thought there were any violations But despite these offers there was a deadlock and it would seem to us that the regional directors are hardly in keeping with the statement of Administrator Prentis Brown who a few weeks ago said it is not the intent of the OPA to police A cars in any way But apparently the regional directors think differently and are going to do some policing on their account accountGovernor Governor Charles Edison of New Jersey is going to make certain that Fred Ryan secretary of the State Racing Commission was legally correct when he said that the Garden State Park track near Camden would operate even though only two com ¬ missioners were in active service This is one of the most peculiar cases since horse racing was legalized in the various states The New Jersey commission is composed of four members but when one died and the other resigned to accept the position of postmaster of New Jersey it left an embarrassing position for the reason that the state legislature was not in session and therefore another commissioner could not be ap ¬ pointed It was thought that the twoman commission could not legally operate but Fred Ryan secretary of the commission claims there is no legal obstacle as the permit to Garden State was issued when all four commissioners were present Now to make sure of their stand Governor Edison has asked Assistant Attorney General Backes to make a ruling which will clear up the situation There is hardly a doubt that that ruling will be in favor of Garden State operating It would seem from a laymans viewpoint that the approval of four men who were acting officially should hold even though it is now a twoman commission
