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BETWEEN RACES byoscar om PIMLICO, Baltimore, Md., May 8. — On Trust made history when he became the first horse ever to fly to the Kentucky Derby and when he landed at Baltimore Municipal Airport on Tuesday, he also established the precedent of being the first horse ever to make an aerial "try" in the Preakness. According to owner Earl Slice, the Eagle Rock, Calif., plumber, On Trust has just began his aerial forays, and by the time he has reached the age where he will be retired to stud, he probably .vill have rolled up a mileage log that would be the envy of many a globetrotter. On Trust is flying back to Los Angeles on Tuesday, will be pointed there for the Hollywood Derby, then will catch a plane to Chicago to keep his two engagements there. Following the Chicago strike, he will return to California by plane and take a well-deserved vacation until the Santa Anita winter meeting. Owner Stice does not plan, as do the owners of some other three-year-olds, of trying him against older horses. Nor does he wish to race On Trust into "old age," belie ing he has one of the best stud prospects in California. Despite the heady wine of a bang-up fourth in the Kentucky Derby, plus a hoped-for better showing in the Preakness on Saturday, Stice does not intend to expand his thoroughbred holdings into anything really extensive, but rather will concentrate on a few horses and endeavor to improve the quality of his racing stock. As for the stud career of On Trust, he will stand at a ranch yet to be acquired, and where the Eagle Rock plumber will keep three or four mares of his own, and offer the majority of the On Trust services to other breeders. AAA Naturally, the Californian is quite pleased with the good showing made by On Trust, and felt that despite the fact the horse did not win, that the good effort "proved" the great advances made in California breeding in the last decade. Jockey John Longden said after the On Trust Sets Another Flying First Tommy Daly Dean of Race Announcers Guerin in Perfect Record for Tom Smith Simple Derby Instructions Successful race that he believes he may have made a mistake in not going out head and head with Jet Pilot instead of rating along to the far turn just off the pace and within striking distance. He thinks that by "bulldogging" Jet Pilot he might have forced the latter to weaken; then, in front, be able to pick his own track. At it was, he was forced to race a bit out from the rail, where the track was at its slowest, and he missed his chance turning into the stretch when his mount slipped a bit and faltered. Had he been able to pick his own way, Longden feels he might have been able to avoid the soft spot on the turn. Of course, this is all "hindsight," so to speak, but it does serve to prove two things — one, that On Trust might be just a trifle better horse than the Derby result would indicate on the beaten distance and, two, that Longden is a rider who gives careful study to racing strategy, and is thinking quite seriously in terms of returning to the winners circle in the Preakness. AAA It appears to me as if quite a few race courses are overlooking a point in the matter of their public address announcers. The American announcers range from plain poor to very good, and in traveling about a bit, the contrast becomes quite apparent. The announcer is there to add to the public pleasure and enjoyment of the races, and it is quite obvious that he is just as important in the all-over picture as the electrical starting gate, che officials, and the camera finish. Each of these makes racing either "safer" or more enjoyable. It is a pleasure here at Pimlico to hear the calling of the veteran Tommy Daly, who has seen as much or more service than any other American "caller." Daly broke in at Long Branch back in 1927, since then has worked at 33 different tracks at one time or another, and by his calculations, will call his 34,0000th race before the coming season ends at Havre de Grace. Daly, a former newspaper man and a good one, was given the job of "doubling" on the horns when they were first installed in Canada, and here **t Pimlico followed the pioneering Clem McCarthy. The horns have done much to transfer racing to the sport of the people instead of being confined to kings and, perhaps, dukes. It has given the fellow wno doesnt own a pair of expensive binoculars a chance to follow the progress of a race with as much enjoyment as the man who sports the fancy imported 10 by fifties. AAA Tom Smith, trainer of Jet Pilot, signed on Eric Guerin to ride the Maine Chance horse in the Kentucky Derby only after he had made lengthy overtures to jockey Ralph Neves, currently riding in California. Neves, as it turns out, wasnt too keen to ride Jet Pilot, hemmed and hawed, and changed his mind. One day he thought he would fly to Kentucky, the next day thought he wouldnt. "I finally gathered that he didnt want to ride Jet Pilot," Smith told me on his arrival here from Louisville, "and when a boy rides for me, I want him to be more than anxious to get the mount. Guerin was. Not that I wouldnt have liked to have had Neves. He is one of the finest of riders. But unless a boy believes in his heart that his horse is the winner, you cant get tne ultimate in a ride. Funny, too, about Guerin. Jet Pilot was the sixth horse he has ridden for me, and he was the sixth winner. By that, I mean horses that I personally have saddled." Smith then said that he had signed on Guerin to ride Jet Pilot in the Belmont Stakes as well as the Preakness. Asked whether he thought Jet Pilot could go the mile and a half Belmont distance, Smith replied, "Well, he went a mile and a quarter." Incidentally, the riding instructions in the Derby were about as simple as possible. "Take him to the front, then nurse him" were the only orders given.
