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Nelson Dunstan REFLECTIONS By Nelson Dunstan Older Division Far Above Average Ocean Wave Ready for Training Whirlaway Set for 1943 Campaign Acorn Promises Real Filly Test NEW YORK NY May 17 17Bill Bill Kyne of Bay Meadows is coming East for a vacation The Detroit Racing Association will contribute the admission receipts of the first four Saturdays and Memorial Day to War Relief Unidentified aircraft crashed at Newmarket last Wednesday night so the meeting scheduled to open today has been postponed a week 55000 witnessed a football game in England on Saturday and a still larger throng including the King and Queen attended the first meetingat Ascot since the beginning of the war Henry H Knight Kentucky breeder is taking a quick vacation at Belmont and Max Factor of Holly ¬ wood makeup fame was a weekend spectator Nathan McKenzie an 89yearold excowboy recently bought an Arabian horse he liked and rode him from Chicago to Crystal Lake a distance of 30 miles Aqueduct is almost certain to get the Saratoga meeting The first week at Wheeling Downs will go to War Relief W F Patterson has compiled a booklet on books covering the history of the American thorough ¬ bred horse After our order of twelve weeks stand ¬ ing the book The Mating of Thoroughbred Horses arrived in New York They are still ribbing Ted Husing about Lawrins Derby in which he forgot to mention any horse but Lawrin Eugene Mori was at Belmont Saturday and we are trying to think of a track head who makes an appearance at so many courses other than his own The fiftieth running of the Metropolitan Handicap was just another indi ¬ cation that the handicap division is far above average this season Alsab Whirlaway and Attention were missing from the lineup Yet it was one of the most thrilling renewals we have seen on Long Island in many a day Shut Out was a disappointment to the Greentree fIlowers but Devil Diver with George Woolf up upheld the entry in a manner which points him out as the most improved of the fouryearolds now in the older division Follow ¬ ing the trio of money horses came Riverland Boysy Doublrab Market Wise and Shut Out Market Wise trailed the field and then closed with a rush that was a harbinger of better efforts to come Half a length behind the Tufano horse was Shut Out who has yet to show a semblance of the form he dis played as a threeyearold It will be hammer and tongs this year and especially so when Whirlaway Alsab and Attention get back into the thick of it This is really a year in which the handicap performers have us excited We hope that Alsab returns as sound as a dollar for we would like nothing more than a settlement of the controversy that carried over from last year It will be a grand contest when they meet but at no tune will Whirlaway or Alsab have a pushover with the racers who favored by weight are around today Belmont Park took on an appearance of old as 28000 of Saturdays children hit the road from Queens Village looked wonderingly at the idle trains on the sidings and then cast their turnstile votes for Americas most favorite sport Edwin C Hill noted commentator and who has the courage to speak out for a sport he loves took a sweeping view of the scene and said If I wear out my tires I am the one who will suffer But think of the shoeleather that is being worn out just because some of us have frozen cars that are of no earthly use for any other purpose They forget that these people are American citizens and that the sport of racing is an important contributor to the treasury of this state Thousands at Belmont thought as Hill did and are not to be stopped by magistrates who refer only to the gambling side of the sport nor the inconveniences sponsored by clucks who apparently take sadistic delight in making the hard way harder Racing is aiding the war effort and as long as the people want it the reform tubthumpers can go to the devil or his oft reported hangout After the weekend races Ben Jones took us over to Barn 41 to have a look at the 31 Calumet cplorbearers now in training An imposing lot indeed but the attention mostly centered on that Mr Longtail who is due to make his bow within the next two or three weeks We have never seen the champion look better Standing 153 hands he has filled out and is naturally more maturelooking than heretofore No I dont say he will win all his races Ben said I will have him in a sprint or two then send him out for the longer distances and he will win his share There are some mighty good horses in the older ranks this year and the competition will be tough Like most people the Calumet trainer is an admirer of Count Fleet he said I doubt if Ocean Wave would have beaten the Hertz colt in the Derby or any other race And take it from nTe Blue Swords is a right smart colt I agree with Walter Kelley when he says they belong on the track and not in the barn Count Fleet notwithstanding It was tough luck when Ocean Wave was injured but take a look and with that he pressed hard on the injury The horse did not budge so it would not be surprising if Ocean Wave would be one of those opposing Count Fleet in the Classic at Washington Park We will go to Chicago Ben said and I plan to point him for that race The Acorn to be run Wednesday has always been looked upon as a prep for the Coaching Club American Oaks This years renewal however has all the ear ¬ marks of a top contest in itself Hal Price Headleys Askmenow should be something to see if a starter and we are told she will be The brown daughter of Menow has plenty of lick and showed in the Pimlico Oaks she was ready for all comers Too Timely ran second in the Oaks and second again in the La Tosca Purse at Belmont Saturday In the latter race the King Ranch miss closed like a bullet and is certain to appreciate the longer distance Wednesday Terse the winner on Saturday is not an Acorn eligible but the list includes Calumet Farms Nellie L along with Good Morning La Reigh Pomrose Fair Weather and Our Page the latter a very doubtful starter Nellie L a sister to MarKell who defeated Vagrancy by eight lengths last week is one of Ben Jones favorites and we look for her to give a good account of herself But on the cold dope we narrow it to Askmenow and Too Timely assum ¬ ing that Our Page will nofc start The Coaching Club American Oaks will be run on Wednesday May 26 and with the exception of Nellie L practically all of the Acorn starters are eligible for the Oaks which is at one and onehalf miles
