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t i ■■IHMIHB REFLECTIONS By Nelson Dunston June a Real Colorful Month of Racing Kentucky Derby This Weeks Highlight Belmont Offers Eighteen Stakes Events Suffolk Opens 54-Day Meet June 11 NEW YORK, N. Y., June 2. Junes first week comes in with the opening of the colorful Belmont meeting and goes out with the running of the historic Kentucky Derby. That by no means spans the importance of the month, month, for for in in the the three three weeks weeks to to follow, follow, Bel- t i month, month, for for in in the the three three weeks weeks to to follow, follow, Bel- Belmont Park, Delaware, Suffolk Downs, Lincoln Fields. Santa Anita. Charles Town, Beulah and Pascoag will offer racing in their respective localities. Pimlico will join the long parade by offering a one-day meeting on June 16, the feature race of the day being the Preakness, second leg of the "Triple Crown." When racing returned so suddenly in May there was a natural hesitancy on the part of players, as they had read that many of the horses were not in shape and that form form would would not not be be established established for for a a month month ; | i I form form would would not not be be established established for for a a month month ■■IHMIHB or more. But even so, the growing popularity of the sport brought forth great throngs, and on Memorial Day at least eight tracks created attendance records. Santa Anita alone accounted for 77.000 spectators. All things considered, it was one of the most remarkable months in the long annals of racing. Next weeks highlight, of course, will be the seventy-first running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. With the Wood Memorial in New York and the Blue Grass Stakes in Kentucky now history, it appears as if 14 or 15 three-year-olds will compete for the 5,000 prize. Jeep and Hoop Jr., winners of the two runnings of the Wood Memorial, are certain starters, and so, we dare say, are Alexis, Pot o Luck, Burning Dream, Air Sailor, Best Effort. Bymeabond. Fighting Step and possibly Adonis. Two that must be added to that list are Sea Swallow, the son of Seabiscuit who won the Tijuana Derby, and Fair Jester, the Canadian-bred who ran fourth to his stablemate, rttermost, in the Kings Plate at Toronto a week ago. Throughout recent weeks we have been writing that this is one of the most open renewals within our recollection, and we are still of that opinion. Everyone who knows John Marsch and Burley Parke will regret the absence of Free for All from the line-up. Conditioning a three-year-old for the Derby is one of the most difficult tasks assigned a trainer, and Parke is but one of many who have worked hard to bring an eligible to the peak of form only to have to place him on the sidelines. Belmont opens Monday with the running of the Toboggan Handicap, and before June 23, the closing day, 18 stake events will have been contested. On Wednesday of the coming week the 5,000 Withers will be the feature, and on Saturday the ,000 Juvenile, at five furlongs, for two-year-olds, will be co-featured with the 5,000 Metropolitan Handicap, for three-year-olds and older horses. During the meeting there will be two 0,000 events, the first being the Suburban Handicap, for three-year-olds and older horses, at one and one-quarter miles, and the second being the Belmont Stakes, for three-year-olds, at one and one-half miles. Steeplechasing will play a prominent part, as usual, and, besides daily events, there will be five stakes, namely, the International Steeplechase Handicap on June 5, the Charles L. Appleton Memorial Cup Steeplechase on June 12. the Belmont Spring Maiden Steeplechase on June 15, the Corinthian Steeplechase Handicap on June 18 and the ,500 Meadow Brook Steeplechase Handicap, which will be run on June 23, along with the National Stallion Stakes and the Belmont Stakes. Delaware will open its first full week of racing Monday and gives promise of drawing the largest throng of the meeting on Saturday with the staging of the 5,000 Kent Stakes, a race for three-year-olds, at a mile and a sixteenth. The popular Wilmington course has wisely delayed its steeplechase program so as not to conflict with Belmonts, and, as a result, the first event through the field will be the ,000 Spring Maiden Steeplechase, on June 22, this being just one day before the Belmont meeting closes. The Spring Maiden will be followed on June 27 by the 0,000 Georgetown Steeplechase Handicap, and on July 3 by the 0,000 Indian River Handicap. The Kent is not the only 5,000 race at Delaware, for the New Castle Handicap, on June 21, and the Sussex Handicap, on June 23, both have the same added money. The 0,000 Delaware Oaks will be contested on June 28, and the meeting will come to a close on July 4 with the 0,000 Diamond State Stakes being the feature. One week after Delaware closes. Garden State Park, at Camden, will open for a 50-day meeting. One of the most successful meetings in Narragansetts history comes to a close next Saturday with the running of the ,500 Blackstone Valley Handicap, a race at six furlongs for three-year-olds and older horses. On Monday, June 11, the sport moves over to Boston, where Suffolk Downs will open a 54-day meeting that will come to a close on August 11 with the running of the 0,000 Massachusetts Handicap, at a mile and a furlong, for three-year-olds and older horses. The Suffolk schedule is well balanced, offering rich events for horses in all divisions. There was a time when the three "Triple Crown" races ended a span of action for three-year-olds until the running of the Classic in Chicago, but in recent years Delaware Park, Garden State Park. Suffolk Downs and other tracks have filled in the blank spaces with events of rich appeal for that division. As a result, Suffolk Downs will stage the 5,000 Yankee Handicap on July 4, this event being at one and three-sixteenths miles, for three-year-olds, and, in the weeks to follow, fans will witness the Betsy Ross Stakes, Miles Standish Stakes, Hannah Dustin Handicap and on August 8 the 5,000 Mayflower Stakes, for two-year-olds, at five I and a half furlongs.
