view raw text
JUDGES STAND i By Charles Hatton Colonel Whitney Meant Pukka Gen But Pukka Gins Rare Nowadays, Too Havent Heard Last of Crauneen Boojiana Noted for Sheer Speed LOUISVILLE. Ky.. April 1. Those of you who have been reading friend Dunstans mail are all cordially invited to drop around to our place with your letter - opener some time. You had better bring a quantity of aspirin, too. For. oftener than not, our mail is pretty shocking literature. One might find almost anything in it, including "the letter" of the play, or Long John Silvers black spot. Usually when our readers write they be gin with some such whimsical salutation as Dear Sir: You insufferable cad!" Then launch upon an orgy of the most sulphurous Billingsgate this side of Wuthering Heights. Some of this correspondence reveals a latent genius for inventing fascinating new terms, passages that would enrich the most irascible longshoremans vocabulary of cuss words. We often philosophize that the readers thus rid themselves of a great deal of spleen. It keeps them young. This morning, the postman delivered a missive that is rather unusual in that it begins, simply and disarmingly. Dear Charley." Moreover, every word of it is printable and it is thoroughly interesting. If you must know, it chances to be from Col. C. V. Whitney, who is off somewhere helping to win the war and hoping also Pukka Gin will win the Derby. We know any number of people who think that a sure-fire parlay. A Derby victory for Pukka Gin would contain some special gratification for Col. Whitney, it is permisible to guess, as he owns and bred that stalwart son of Firethorn — Crauneen, himself. Whether or not Pukka Gin succeeds, the New York sportsman has the satisfaction of knowing he has bred and raised a good colt. It is just that it is conventional and seasonable to think of three-year-olds in terms of the Derby at the moment. Pukka Gins name has excited almost as much curiosity as his deeds have admiration. It is our understanding Colonel Whitney did not plan to call his chunky brown colt Pukka Gin at all. It just came out that way through an error in transcription. "We intended it to be Pukka Gen, which was a slang expression used by the R. A. F. in India, meaning Good News." The Derby favorites owner supplies, adding "the slip, however, was acceptable to me as A-l Gin which is what the present name means, is something rare these days too. It is indeed! There is a saucy half-sister of Pukka Gin, by the way, in the Blue Bookish band of juveniles that will attempt to distinguish themselves under the Whitney standard this season. She is by Halcyon and is called Crawfish. We would not insist Crawfish has some rendezvous with destiny, but she is at least promising. The mare Crauneen is a young producer who exhibited the kind of speed you might expect from a half-sister to Boojum in training, and is the sort to foal runners. Crauneen now is only eight, and we feel sure, we shall all hear from her again. Because of his championship aspirations and demonstrable class, Pukka Gin rather obscures his stablemates in Andy Schut-tingers care at Belmont. But that canny horseman can vouch for it Hoodoo is -better than an empty stall" as the picturesque shed row idiom goes. And if Boojianas poor, twisted limbs permit, she will confirm the quality she showed in Belmonts Matron last autumn. Really Pukka Gin has nothing on Boojiana in the matter of sheer speed. And jockey Ted Atkinson seems convinced Boojums dusky daughter would have accounted for the Belmont Futurity only for her bobble at the break. Colonel Whitney is a shade disappointed Boojianas yearling sister is not a colt. But we dare say that if she can stir about as lively as Boojiana, she will do, eh. Colonel?
