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JKajSrasv- " $ JUDGES STAND By Charles Hatton Suffolk Outdraws Other Down East Sports Turfs Big Names in Yankee, Mass. Caps Guifstream Park Now Post-War Planning Opulent Events Ahead for Three-Year-Old Fillies BOSTON, Mass.. June 23. Suffolk Squibs: This breezy oceanside course is attracting crowds which average 18.000 daily despite some inclement weather and conflicts with big league ball. When the weather is fair some 40 per cent of favorites are winning. . . . The Yankee, on the Fourth, and the Massachusetts Handicap, which climaxes the getaway-day bill on August 11, have lured long and representative lists of nominees. "By staging the Massachusetts on Saturday we hope to give New Englanders a good show and more of them will have an opportunity to enjoy it." says managing director Allan Wilson. He added, shrewdly, that such "big days- in racing usually are followed by a couple of dull ones anyway when they are not on getaway days. . . . Operative 6 7-8 notes that Suffolk sport is attended by more cheering and less booing than in past seasons, evidently catering to a more genteel clientele. . . . After tentatively accepting a post with a New York establishment, jockey Harry Pratt has reconsidered and will remain Down East. He is a native of Pawtucket. . . . Sir Pennant, a son of Bull Dog whom many rated the smartest of the New England two-year-olds, bucked in his Gansett finale and has gone to Detroit with others of the A. F. Wall horses. . . . Texans in this effete East continue to think the thoroughbred sport will r ultimately return to the Lone Star State. . . Darby Dieppe, third in both the Derby and Preakness. shipped from Pimlico to Gansett. where he preps for the Yankee Handicap. . . . Polynesian is another interesting Yankee eligible. . . . Horace Wade, whose Believe won a ,500 overnighter a week ago at the Motor City, tells us a Kentucky breeding establishment is interested in the five-year-old as a prospective sire. He is by the rapid Apprehension. . . . R. B. Carroll of Miami, owner of the famed greyhound Rural Rube, is racing a useful three-year-old hereabout in Beldme, winner of the Connors Memorial last season at Pawtucket. . . . The rule adopted in Massachusetts last week prohibiting the sale of claiming horses for 90 days probably will be picked up in Rhode Island and New Hampshire. . . The sports literati accent on the last syllable in the Midwest are sniping at racing. . . . Pavot finally ran to his works with "blinkers on" in the Belmont, rating so well under Arcaro that he dissipated any doubts he will stay. The big three of the handicap division — Devil Diver, Thumbs Up and Rounders — were nominated for the Massachusetts Handicap, which is Suffolks chief contribution to the 45 turf season. Devil Diver has two legs on the Metropolitan-Suburban-Brooklyn triple, Thumbs Up looms formidably as the one to beat in the 00,000 Santa Anita Handicap and Rounders is fresh from a convincing Dixie victory. First Fiddle, who captured the 1944 Massachusetts, may make his seasons debut in the Carter on Saturday at Aqueduct. From this distance it appears the Boston 0,000 event again will attract a representative field and produce a race which will exert some bearing on handicap ratings. First Fiddle, last years victor, is another Cinderella horse," we are afraid. He is the richest gray thoroughbred, and we believe Mrs. Eddie Mulrenan, of the Jamaica Mulrenans, claimed him for ,500. Our recollection is that First Fiddle gave indications of being a "wobbler" as a youngster in the Whitney string. He now has wobbled 80,190 worth. Rounders Dixie was "a big race," discrediting the Preakness by comparison, but we feel sure Alex Barth, the perennial runner-up. can do better. Under the regulations which govern dates applications in Florida, those for the winter ahead must be filed with the commission by the end of the week. Hialeah, Tropical and Gulf-stream each are allowed a maximum of 40 days and, if a bill now pending is passed, these would be run off consecutively rather than in split meetings. Hialeah has asked for the period from January 17 through March 4. Guifstream, which was revived last winter, may apply for the final 40 days. Jimmy Donn has seeded the centerfield. streamlined the artificial islands in he lake, set out 1,400 new trees along the backstretch and otherwise made the Hallandale course more glamorous since its latest meeting. After the war he proposes to construct a sumptuous new clubhouse that will incorporate the present club terrace. Guifstream offered no stakes at its meeting last winter, but plans more ambitious programs at its next session, along with a substantial purse minimum. With California back in the field, Florida clubs must vie with a past pacemaker in this respect. The Coaching Club American Oaks developed still another shifty three-year-old filly In William Helis* lightly raced Elpis. We must have been gazing into an eight ball when we predicted a good run by Recce in the Oaks, for she was "sacrificed on the altar of pace." A first mile in 1:38*5 over that track might have stopped Busher. We are perhaps eccentric, but still cling stubbornly to a notion that this niece of Equipoise was "the class" of the field. There is almost a superabundance of chances for three-year-old fillies in the near future, what with the Delaware ____ Oaks, Gazelle and Arlington-Washingtons opulent array of stakes. Busher is, incidentally, in Garden States 0,000 Trenton. The many rich races for fillies has the enthusiastic approval of breeders everywhere, but there still is need for more races for cheaper members of the sex. Conflict has nimbly been avoided by track managements whenever that was possible, not only in the sundry "Oaks" events, but other lush stakes and handicaps. On this subject Charley McLennan muses that the Dixie drew a larger field than did the richer Suburban on the same day. Perhaps that was because "The Devil" jumped up in the Belmont event. But then, Pimlico draws many New York horses each fall, with small purses. Horsemen always hope for better luck at "the next town."
