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Charles Hatton THE JUDGES STAND By Charles Matron Counts Campaign Depends Askmenow Improves at Pimlico Breeders Award Suggestion WeilBred Sagamore Juveniles BALTIMORE Md May 6 Mr and Mrs John Hertz are here to witness this catch Count Fleet Preakness as it is called by the more headlong observers Disclaiming any pretensions to being an expert this scrivener also believes Count Fleet will transform the Preakness into something of an encore of the Kentucky Derby We sincerely hope so for we cannot think of any more deserving folks in all the kaleidoscopic panorama of the American turf than are the Hertzes It is indeed a pleasure to us to race a horse like Count Fleet Hertz said upon arriving from Stoner Creek I do not recall having ever derived quite the thrill from racing before as when that colt we raised won the Derby The Hertzes attitude toward their really phenomenal colt and this ensuing Preakness is in the same conservative vein that they regarded his Derby possibilities It is rather more present indicative than future imperative That is the only intelligent view it seems to us usAt At the moment there is a kind of symposium in which sports followers are amusing themselves toy attempting to guess what engagements Count Fleet will fill following the Hilltop stake His connec ¬ tions are exactly as indefinite on this point as logic dictates Whether he appears for the Withers before the Belmont or awaits the latter stake is dependent upon how he does following the Preakness and con ¬ ditions surrounding the Withers WithersThe The Belmont of course is the third gem in Americas Triple Crown and the Hertzes propose that Count Fleet shall fill all his classic engagements engagementsMention Mention of The Counts Belraont Stakes engagement reminds us that he became eligible for both that mile and a half and the Preakness via their supplemental closings We do not suppose any one will deny that except for their supplementary clauses both the Maryland Jockey Club and Westchester Association fixtures now would loom about as good box office as the final race any evening at Waterloo Park ParkStrangely Strangely in view of the fact Count Fleet entered the Belmont through the back door the association has since deleted the supplementary closing clause from its conditions Before Alfred Vanderbilt interpolated it in the Belmonts conditions two such noted threeyearold developments of recent years as Challedon and Caval ¬ cade missed the boat The Hertzes by the way were more than casually interested in La Reighs performance in the Pimlico Oaks here the other day They bred this leggy chestnut daughter of Count Gallahad and Risque Reigh at Stoner Creek and leased her racing services to New Orleans Anthony Pelleteri La Reigh would have been almost anybodys onemillionth choice as a potential stake mare when she was an ungainly yearling and it is generally under ¬ stood that a mere 1100 was involved in the transaction by which Pelleteri shares in her actual worthv s sLa La Reigh performed inconspicuously in the Oaks Perhaps it had no bearing on the case really but we noted that she faded after pegging the pace closely for the first six furlongs whereas stretch running was her forte last Askmenow progressed rather remarkably in training at Pimlico for her Oaks triumph Menows looseeared thickset brown daughter had done nothing at Churchill Downs to encourage any high hopes in ownerbreeder Headley previous to shipping across the Blue Ridge We remember that at the time the master of Beau ¬ mont was inclined to believe it might be June before Askmenow quite recovered the form that enabled her to account for the Selima at Laurel LaurelAskmenow Askmenow is in the Acorn Coaching Club American Oaks and Withers at Belmont Parks forthcoming spring season and may be accounted the leading probable for the firstnamed brace of stakes Count Fleet obviously thinks Askmenow is quite a bewitch ¬ ing young mare remembering last falls Belmont Futurity New York tracks are to be commended for their generous resolution to contribute more toward improving the breed through breeders awards in their purses It is proposed to award 25 to the breeder of the winner 15 to the breeder of the runnerup these prizes being retroactive to April 1 1In In recent years the racing associations and owners have benefitted through increasing track business and purse values At the same time the yearling market has tobogganed alarmingly As a consequence breeders returns have diminished as racing prospered It is perfectly clear that some ¬ thing should be done to alter this rather incongruous situation situationThese These breeders awards will help jusfc that much If this bystander were asked for a suggestion which seems extremely unlikely it would be to graduate these awards to conform to the various classif icatipns of the horses t Not to be outdone by major tracks Wheeling Downs will devote the first seven days at both its 1943 meetings to War Relief Eddie Brennan tells us In fact Wheeling is rather outdoing some of the major tracks considering the volume of business businessA A list of officials is ready for the approval of turf solons with jurisdiction over i the insular course George Wideners attractive light and dark blue hoops were flown in two coveted stakes Wednesday Pomrose finishing third in the Pimlico Oaks while Lucky Draw garnered Jamaicas Youthful Pomrose performed creditably in defeat She is a halfsister of cantankerous but capable old Rosetown Lucky Draw emulated his stablemate Red Sonnet in last springs Youthful Lucky Draw is a bay gelding by Jack High from Tatanne The Juvenile is his only Belmont Park stakes engagement engagementPerhaps Perhaps there is somewhat of a tip in the fact that two of the Belmont Belmontpresidents presidents five Juvenile eligibles Platter and Who Goes There still are areentire entire horses Platter is a threequarter brother of Eight Thirty being by byi i Pilate Lets Dine Who Goes There is an aptlynamed son of Challenger ChallengerniAfter niAfter Dark Alfred Vanderbilt who assured his string the services of a firstrate jockey in portsider Wayne Cowboy Wright has an interesting pair of juveniles here this season These are the colts Extra Base by Discovery Balking and the filly Help Wanted by Discovery Galley Slave The dam of each established an American threefurlong mark
