view raw text
/j|p ~ f 5*NJF JUDGES STAND I — By Charles Hatton ———————— Lincoln Severe Test for Chi. Cappers Astoria Lures Classy Long Island Fillies Tracks Policy on Runaways Questioned Turf Groups Often Propose, Seldom Act Week-end sport here in Chicago will be notable for a renewal of the 5,000 Lincoln Handicap. The distance is a mile and a Quarter, which is an ideal test of both speed and stamina and is popular with the crowds, as it makes for two runs past the stands at most tracks, including Hawthorne. Topweight in the handicap was Challenge Me, who had 126, but he did not accept. Under 108 he hung out a breathtaking 2:00% in the 1945 Hollywood Cup. Only Whisk Broom II.s dubious 2:00 excels it in American records. But Challenge Me has done nothing spectacular in months. The reformed plater Historian will demand the most support, even though he has a steadier of 125. He has only four rivals to compete with, spotting Tiger Rebel 11 pounds and Take Wing 12. In the Far West the Saturday feature calls for speed, with or without stamina. This is Hollywood Parks 5,000 added Inglewood Handicap, for three-year-olds and upward, at six furlongs. There are some shifty sprinters at Jack Mackenzies modernistic plant, beginning with Occupy. Eastern tracks are running the "Triple Crown" consolations. Aqueducts Shevlin last Wednesday followed the Belmont rather closely, and there is a direct conflict between Delawares 5,000 Kent and Suffolks 5,000 Yankee this week-end. Whether you are for or against these conflicts depends on whether you own a horse or a race track. In this case it doesnt matter much to the public, as no very "big names" are involved. Aqueducts Astoria has drawn a few two-year-old fillies of genuine class, among them First Flight, winner of the Fashion, and Wheatleys unbeaten Keynote. After sprinting shorter distances in the spring, they move back to the five and a half furlong pole for this test. The Astoria will be followed at Empire by the Demoiselle, which is now a futurity and will be worth about 0,000 . Tracks are gradually getting around to offering opportunities for fillies comparable to their importance in the scheme of thoroughbred breeding. They are the foundation of the breed in any country. A good mare will produce a runner bred to a Jack. This is generally recognized among breeders and the first step in making a sire is to solicit the owners of the good mares. A Chicago reader poses the question: "What happens if a champion English horse is flown here for a great match race with the American champion, runs off a half-mile or so at the gate and the vet wants him scratched?" These hypothetical problems need not upset you but they are something for NARC and TRA members to think about on rainy Tuesdays. It is customary in such cases to act on the vets advice and order a refund. But it is clear from the question that our reader wonders if this is a tenable policy in every case, and if it would be unsatisfactory in an International match, should it apply in overnighters. Off-hand we would say that if the owner of a runaway disagrees with the vet about the degree in which his horse is distressed, he should be permitted to run for the purse, whether or not the track "booses to uphold the vet and bar him from the betting. The owner might think the vet is just being petty or is discriminating against him, and if the invader ran away there might be a lot of unpleasant talk the Yankees did him in. This whole thing may sound far-fetched, but if tracks do not think of such possibilities, they may one day wake up with a fine lot of law-suits on their hands. England is not boasting much about her Epsom Derby winner, Airborne, but he may come more importantly into the picture later on, as Assault has here. Airborne went into the race little better than a maiden. He was indeed a "bargain yearling" at 3,000 under the present English tax system. Gulf Stream, the runner-up in the Derby, is a three-quarter brother to the sire Helopolis, by the way. We cant guess what has become of the suggestion to take reciprocal action or the Jersey Act. It seems to have gotten nowhere in particular, like the idea of a National license committee, a turf congress and so many other proposals by racing groups. Many of our horsemen still think it would have been beneficial to bloodstock here if only to induce breeders to exploit the sturdy American lines rather than washy stock from abroad. In any case it is worth remembering that members of the British breeders society have mutually agreed not to seU us anything worthwhile. It is a matter of record. Turfiana: A Chicago reader "W. B.," corrects our Philadelphia correspondent about the origin of those names Evening Star and No Moaning for Mrs. George Wideners filly. It is not from Grays Elegy, but something of Tennysons. Either that or there was some plagiarism. . . . Doug Dodson has decided to go fishing until Arlington Park opens. . . . Preoccupy may run in a ,000 race on closing day at Lincoln. . . . John Jackson, of Arlington-Washington, is making a study of stable fireproofing. . . . Wonder how horses will like those metal roofs of their Atlantic City stalls in hot weather. . . . Spy Song is pointing for the Classic. . . . Jet Pilot and Eternal War are in Wednesdays 0,000 Tremont on Long Island. . . . Suffolk horsemens objection to the idea of a receiving barn there was that they could not use their own grooms. . . . Ben Jones says the Arlington strip now is the best he has ever seen.
