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REFLECTIONS By Nelson DunstarT Pensive Platter in Showdown Remindful of Fox Whichone Duel Belmont Parks Patriotic Gestures HBPA to Establish Home for Old OldNEW NEW YORK N Y June 2 Well tomorrow is Belmont Day and the much discussed meeting of Pensive and Platter After the running of the Top Flight on Thursday one fellow said Every ¬ thing happens in threes Sun Again ran second in the Sub ¬ urban MarKell second in the B e 1 m o n t Whether that will prove so remains to be seen but we must go back some 14 years to recall a twohorse rivalry which over ¬ Belmont That was Belmont That was shadowed tomorrows in 1930 when everyone you met asked Who is going to win the Travers Gallant Fox or Whichone Its an old story now but that was the day which resulted in one of the major upsets of the American turf the mudrunning fool Jim Dandy de ¬ feating Gallant Fox with Whichone third We are not suggesting that the Belmont will get beyond Pensive or Platter for we believe that this pair is going to engage in a hammertong battle from start to fin ¬ ish Pensive will deservedly be the favo ¬ rite but he has the fight of his life facing him tomorrow This meeting of the out ¬ standing threeyearold colts to date will undoubtedly draw one of the biggest throngs of the current season seasonWhile While all eyes will center on Pen ¬ sive and Platter in the Belmont many argue that should this pair be defeated the honors will go to Who Goes There the runningmate of the Widener horse who may block Pen I sive from Triple Crown honors It is pretty much agreed that both Pensive and Platter will find the mile and a half to their liking but so too should Who Goes There a colt by Challenger II After Dark by Pompey After Dark was out of Kiss Again by Tracery out of Stolen Kiss The latter was by Best Man so the pedigree would lead to the thought that Who Goes There will not be found wanting in stamina even should it be that his speed will not match that of the more illus ¬ trious candidates But we cannot very well question the speed of Who Goes There for he was the winner of the Withers Mile He is a colt of good size and scope and from either side of the house his bloodlines stress that he should be able to carry his speed over the 12furlong route routeTomorrow Tomorrow is the last day at Belmont and this column would not be complete un ¬ less we referred to some of the accomplish ¬ ments of George D Widener and his asso ¬ ciates at the Elmont course A few days back was waste paper collection day and at that time it was announced by the sani ¬ tation department that the largest single daily contribution to the citys waste paper salvage drive came from the Belmont race track The daily haul averages over four tons of mutuel tickets racing papers daily newspapers and scratch sheets Even more significant has been the free admission to those who bought a War Bond The com ¬ plete figures will naturally not be available until some time next week but you can be assured that Belmont has quickened the sale of War Bonds by this means of ad ¬ mission Thirdly Suburban Day one of the biggest days of the American turf was de Voted to War Relief with many worthy or ¬ ganizations benefitting by the huge throng which attended on that occasion occasionThe The raising of the purse of the Saratoga Handicap from 20000 to 50000 came as no surprise follow ¬ ing the announcement the meeting would be staged at Belmont The in ¬ crease again emphasizes that an older horse can win a pot of gold from early July to early September At no time in history could a handi ¬ cap performer start with the Brook ¬ lyn Handicap July 1 and have so many chances at 50000 through September 4 when the Washington Park Handicap will be run at the Chicago track All this comes in a year when the older division is none tpo plentiful in top performers to say nothing of name horses The in ¬ jury to Devil Diver is a glaring ex ¬ ample of bad racing luck Sun Again will have some opportunities to avenge his Suburban defeat and in his present shape the Calumet star will be a husky threat in some of these golden affairs from July 1 to labor Day and possibly after that There are so many of them that no one horse can hope to cope in all but it only takes two to earn 100 000 That is not beyond possibility for there are seven or eight of these 50000 events during the twomonth periodAt period At a recent meeting in Chicago 100 mem ¬ bers of the Horsemens Benevolent and Protective Association formulated the plan for creating a home for aged horsemen Such a plan has been dreamed about as long as we can remember but although some of the plans reached the talking stage they usually blew up in the dust of the backstretch Lets hope that Al Sabath and his associates follow this through to a successful conclusion for horsemen who have given their life to the turf are certainly entitled to a place to live when they reach an age which bars them from further activity Sabath ex ¬ plains that it would by no means be a poor house but rather a farm where a few horses will be kept and where people with or without money will find a com ¬ fortable place to live We often hear the expression the turf takes care of its own but there Is no more concrete way of mak ¬ ing that an established fact than the caring for those who are no longer able to care for themselves due to age Funds will be raised by putting on races from which the profits will be donate to the home The HBPA Vfl be applauded by everyone on the American turf for this new activity
