view raw text
jwK*"* £»andand JUDGES STAND — ~~~~~~ ~~ By Charles Harton Abundance of Horses, Shortage of Riders Anent Futures of Junior and Poppy TRA Meets in New York to Discuss Plans Each State Knows Own Problems Best • BALTIMORE. Md.. June 16. Turfiana: "I believe there are more horses than ever before in training this year." says Charley McLennan. "We have so many in New England that 300 are stabled at Gansett during our Suffolk Downs meeting. Fewer than 30 are two-year-olds." ... It probably is just as well that national purse distribution is up. There still exists a deficit of about 40 per cent to be made up by horsemen. . . . There are more turf enthusiasts per acre in Maryland than in any other state, with the notable exception of Kentucky. In what are jocosely called "normal times" they support four milers and five half-milers. and there now is some project of another half-miler at Taneytown. . . John Swisher of the Jockeys Guild tells us the organization is completely in sympathy with the sundry new bug rules" designed to develop more riders, objecting only when officials are lax about the applicants experience in breezing horses. •"Believe it or not, I had to show one bug in the Middle West how to tie on last summer," Swisher observed. . . .Realizing that W. L. Brann must sell most of his Challenger II. fillies, many breeders have offered large sums for Gallorette. But he intends retaining this one, apparently. . . . Three more tracks are in uncertain prospect in New Jersey after the war. . . . A. B. Hancock, who will offer yearling buyers some attractive Sir Gallahad III. colts next month at Keeneland. was able to be present for the Derby and writes: "I think we saw a very high-class horse win from flagfall to finish, one turned out in beautiful condition, a great credit to his trainer." Take a bow, Ivam. . . . The Stevens menu is an inducement in itself to go racing these days, when downtown hostelries serve little else but plant life. . . . The number of thoroughbred sires in service in Maryland has increased 60 per cent in the last two years. . . . The M.J.C.s regular boxholders cooperated with the management on Preakness Day, graciously relinquishing a seat or box here and there for last-minute arrivals among owners. . . . Delaware Parks average attendance is up 2.500 daily. Constructed to seat 7.500, the track entertained 29,000 Memorial Day. . . . "He seems to me the type to make a grand four-year-old," Jimmy Smith says of Burning Dream. Be Faithfuls juvenile campaign was interrupted by an injury behind, but she is better for the enforced idleness tins year. . . . Contrary to rumors, only the residence at Sagamore is on the market. Lieutenant Vanderbilt may become a leading Santa Anita stockholder. Now that the Preakness result has been written into the records, racegoers thoughts will lightly turn to the Belmont. It may or may not seem topical now, but Ivan Parke proposes a respite for Hoop Jr. after July 14, when the colt from Bama will appear for the Classic or Dwyer, which conflict on that date. A perusal of the Preakness chart will give one at least a vague notion about Pavots future. "If it seems he will go on, we plan to point him for the Belmont and other races," Oscar White said just before the run over the Hilltop. "Otherwise," he continued, "I shall shorten him up for racing at lesser routes." A native of Marylands fabled Eastern Shore. White has for many years been a member of the Jeffords staff. He thinks Case Aces son a superior prospective sire. "He has the usual qualifications for it and I think his conformation and action are unusual," White said. Recalling Coquelicot, he noted that: "She broke her maiden going a mile and a sixteenth in the mud at Pimlico. We thought her a nice prospect as a yearling, but she developed a habit of hitting herself in action. That seemed to take away her confidence." White describes Lovat, Pavots half-brother, as a colt who is perhaps "too leggy to be very clever." Coquelicot. incidentally, slipped to Johnstown this year and was bred back to Case Ace. All of the four mares Walter Jeffords threw out of training and bred to the big-quartered son of Teddy in 1941 produced winners. We do not speak of his average of colts to fillies among Faraway foals this year, however. With one mare to go, there were 12 fillies, a single colt. The Thoroughbred Racing Associations will meet in their swank Gotham offices on Wednesday for a general discussion of the racing prospectus. The TRA does not make a great deal of noise, but he has managed to achieve some beneficial things for racing and bloodstock breeding. Harry Parr finds it "helpful to associations, if only as a statistical department." Parr himself advocated one of the TRAs projects in the idea of graduating purses to make them more commensurate with the thoroughbreds actual worth, "so that a ,000 horse might earn five times as much as a ,000 plater, putting a premium on breeding a better horse." TRA members have devoted some thought to the matter of an extensive public relations bureau. Discussing the controversial subject of whether it is advisable, or even possible, to have a "czar of racing" with Col. Matt Daiger here at a recent kaffee-klatche, he said: "I feel sure that those within racing know their own particular problems and are best qualified to cope with them." He questions further if any "national turf commission" would be practicable, and for the same reason. We believe this is the general view of the matter in turf circles. Association policies differ right here in Maryland, ranging all the way from Pimlico to Cumberland. It is really amazing to us that the NARC, TRA and other groups have been able to agree on so many points as they have because the operation of race tracks is intrinsically a highly competitive business. We believe that untoward occurrences of these war years have made tracks rather poignantly aware of the fact that, whereas their methods may differ unalterably, a certain amount of unity is absolutely necessary. —
