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Charles Hatton THE JUDGES STAND Br Charles Matton Interest Turns to Preakness Pimlico Play Exceeds 1942s Oaks Important Filly Test Black Swan Stout Kentucky Colt En Route Somehow to Pimlico The Maryland Jockey Clubs day in the turf is dawning The rustic Civil War course on Baltimores hilltop is the next stop in the annual spring itinerary of Americas glamorous threeyearolds and their nomadic camp followers Next Satur ¬ day that Democratic young aristocrat of the Free State Harry Parr III will stage the fiftythird edition of the 50000 Preakness at the creamcolored Belvidere AvenUe track All this week the arrival of the candidates and their training maneuvers will be the big news in turf circles The Preakness of course is the second phase of Americas Triple Crown which begins with the Derby and ends with the Belmont Stakes Provincial Mary landers stoutly proclaim it the greatest race of the trio and some springs it is at that Anyway we cannot think of a more delightful place to be during Preakness Week than up there on the hilltop Boswelling the aspirants for the Run for the Blackeyed Susans and exposing one ¬ self to the tall tales tubthumping and temperamental whimsies of hospitable Dave Woods An endlessly divert ¬ ing fellow the man of many titles We could wish there were more publicity purveyors like him himThe The Preakness this year is a trolleycar affair as was the Derby Again like Marse Matts extrava ¬ ganza one may attend it on an A card That is if he has gas enough Happily unlike Louisvilles Derby however there has been no effort to isolate Baltimore fromthe rest of the United States through curtailment of railroad facilities Preakness Week This means that the Preakness potential box office attractiveness attractivenessextends extends quite beyond the city limits to Washington Philadelphia New York YorkCity City and crowded way points Pimlicos meeting rather amazingly has been attended by larger crowds and handles than last spring Indeed its soaring statistics and those emanating from Jamaica amply attest the increased vogue of thoroughbred racing in these martial times A thing that renders this success all the more remarkable1 is that a large strata of turf enthusiasts was subtracted from tracks potential drawing power through selective service war industry etc since Pearl Harbor HarborRacing Racing is rapidly becoming Americas most popular sport Only the other day Walter Winchell noted rather pointedly that on a recent afternoon 9000 were at the Yankee Stadium 34000 at Jamaica Colonel Winn discussing the thoroughbreds widespreading appeal lasf week observed that During the first World War one could buy a new auto ¬ mobile or refrigerator or even build a new home from his earnings Now these things are not available Instead people buy bonds cultivate Victory gardens and find relaxation attending sports events eventsRacing Racing seemingly appeal to them more than ever bjkore And of all sports and forms of amusement racing contributes most to federal state and war relief coffers Break down the racing dollar and it will be found that the greatest share finds its way into channels in which it assists the war effort and the taxpayers The Preakness field will be smaller even than was the Derby lineup to all present indications At the moment W L Branns Marylandbred Vincentive is most familiar and formidable of those colts who ducked the Derby issue to await the Baltimore classic Tuesdays mile and a sixteenth prep feature the Survivor may develop one or two more however howeverThe The Survivor bears the same relation to the Preakness that the Derby Trial does to the Battle of Roses This 2500 event was inaugurated in 1938 and will have its fifth renewal during the week ahead It has been captured by some capable campaigners though it never has quite developed a Preakness winner Beginning with Hypocrite the Survivors honor roll runs the interesting gamut of Gilded Knight Your Chance Ocean Blue and Grey Wing A candidate for the ensuing Survivor by the way is Crispin Oglebays True Blue who is an own brother of the illfated 1941 winner Ocean Blue It strikes us that the Survivor is an apt bit of nomenclature for this Preakness test for it honors the name of the winner of the Inaugural Preak ¬ ness in 1873 This was J P Chamberlins Survivor who captured the lions share of a prize of just 1000 added So far as monetary significance and prestige are concerned however Wednesdays twentyfirst running of the Pimlico Oaks is the weeks second best stakes event Usually it requires a filly of the highest class to carry off v Pimlico Oaks honors Only last spring for classic example William Wood wards regal Vagrancy captured this 10000 added mile and a sixteenth Before that the Oaks was won by such Amazons as Fairy Chant Milkmaid v Cleopatra Careful and Nellie Morse He would be a brash prophet indeed who Tvould arrogate any such quality to the 40 nominees for Wednesdays Oaks But such as Hal Price Headleys Askmenow King Ranchs Too Timely Tony Pelleteris La Reign and J E Wideners Fair Weather assuredly are any of them better than an empty stall One thing it may be just as well for the amateur handicapper and who is not these days to bear in mind while perusing the Derby chart in search of the Preak ¬ ness winner DownsPrinceton is that vast difference in the soil substance at Pimlico and the Downs Princeton Johnny Gaver developer of Mrs Payne Whitneys gallant Shut Out will always believe it was the comparatively cuppy surface of the Baltimore course that deterred Ekkys son in last springs Preakness He much preferred the firmer foot ¬ ing of the Derby course and he simply loves that light sand at Belmont Park Shut Outs is merely one of innumerable cases in point So just by way of giving this paragraph ome nuisance value as a negative compensation for a lack of interest we reiterate jthat it might be important for those who burn the midnight oil to scan Preakness eligibles records for actual form over the Pimlico track Riverland the erstwhile plater whose record is decorated with triumphs over both Alsab and Whirlaway when those worthies essayed to concede a mite too much weight has a smart halfbrother in Black Swan the Burgoo King gelding who captured the fortysecond Bashford Manor on Derby Eve Black Swan is perhaps more precocious than his leggy kinsman He races for Clevelands Max Marmorstein arid in the Bashford Manor defeated a quick colt in Mrs Al Sabaths Civil Liberty Black Swan may prove well worth remembering in those Chicago twoyearold fixtures
