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Fighting Don Goes In Lincoln Sprint Meets Up With Navy Cross, Jacks Jill, Daily Trouble And Duquesne in Feature HAWTHORNE, Cicero. 111., May 28.— Miss Gertrude Donovans Fighting Don, a scrappy fellow who forced some of the smartest sprinters in training last season to step swiftly before admitting defeat, makes his midwestern bow here tomorrow when he tangles with four honest-to-good-ness performers in the Lincoln Highway Purse, a six and one-half furlongs dash that shapes up as one of the best sprints offered at this meeting. The four-year-old son of Fighting Fox-Bird Nest, by Mad Hatter, was a recent arrival at Arlington Park from Churchill Downs and he will be vanned here for the race. At the Downs course he was kept in hard training, and it is reported that he retains all the blazing speed he flashed last season when he won five of his 13 starts and 9,015. H. H. "Pete" Battle, his veteran trainer, sent him into action during the Florida campaign, and in one of his starts he merely galloped to beat Occupy and others in a six-furlong race that was run in l:093/j . He failed to maintain his fine form thereafter and it was then that Battle let up on his conditioning, and he was later shipped to Kentucky, where he once again was asked for speed. Withdrawn From Steger While he didnt start at either Keene -land or Churchill Downs, he showed some favorable foot in his trials, his latest morning jaunt being five -eighths of a mile in 1:01%. The colt was entered in last Saturdays Steger Handicap, but declined the issue because his trainer is of the belief that he runs best on a fast racing strip. He will carry top weight of 119 pounds. Possibly the most formidable foes for the Donovan stalwart in the small field are John McShanes Navy Cross and J. A. Goodwins Jacks Jill. Of the two, Navy Cross emerged victorious when they met in a race at Churchill Downs on May 11, but it was Jacks Jills first start of the year, after having shown blistering speed in most of his 1945 races, and there were many who were of the opinion that the latter probably needed the dash as a tightener. Navy Cross piled up two wins in three starts at the Downs course, but he failed miserably against the crack sprinters who competed in the Steger Handicap here Saturday. He led until the field made the bend into the stretch, where he quit or tired badly and finished far in the ruck. Jacks Jill, winner of his last four races in 1945 before going to winter quarters, is in the capable hands of trainer John M. Goode, who is reported to have him set for his best performance. David Straus Daily Trouble, who proved himself a fine performer while winning 7,075 in purse money last season, will be making his first start of the year. He, too, was entered in Saturdays Steger, but was declared because of the muddy condition of the track. Trainer Howard Wells is another who prefers a fast track for a horse who has been away from competition for any length of time. Completing the field will be the Shady Brook Farms Duquesne. a four-year-old gelding who scored a convincing victory here recently over a much cheaper field than he faces tomorrow. He is at the top of his form and may go better than generally expected because of his fine conditioning.
