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REFLECTIONS B NELSON DUNSTAN NEW YORK N Y May 11 Stymie showed his dash of old when he ran second to Fervent in the Dixie Handicap on Saturday His late rush was not sufficient to catch the leader and as a result he had to be satis ¬ fied with the second money of 5000 which brings his total earnings for his two starts this season to 7500 Adding that to the 816060 that he was credited with at the end of last years racing he now has total of 823560 That leaves him exactly 176440 still to earn before he reaches the 1000000 mark that has been speculated about so often In the last three years Stymie has earned well over 200000 annually in fact in 1947 his total for the year was 299775 There are some people who seem to think as apparently Jimmy Jones does about Armed that being a sevenyearold Stymie has passed his peak and that he will have a job cut out for him in vanquishing his oppo ¬ nents of more tender age The Jacobs horse will be watched very keenly in the Gallant Fox Handicap on the weekend for a victory in that race would send him close to within 100000 of the milliondollar goal There will be a lot of people pulling for him for it seems to us that he is now even more of a public idol than he was last Citation took a mighty leap on the moneywinning ladder when he garnered 83400 as a result of the Ken ¬ tucky Derby victory Last year this son of Bull Lea won 155680 From February 2 up until the Derby running he had won 92750 his only setback being at the heels of Saggy in the Chesapeake Trial Adding the three totals together we get 331830 a sum which places him directly under Phar Lap who js now fourteenth on the worlds moneywinning ladder with 332250 A victory in the Preakness on the weekend will send him to sixth posi ¬ tion under Seabiscuit who at the end of his career was credited with 437730 It does not pay to count chickens before they are hatched we know but it is safe to say Has Stymie Now Seven Snap of Yesteryear Saturdays Gallant Fox May Hold Answer Citation Rapidly Climbing Money Ladder Requesteds Youngsters Winning Races Racesthat that the Calumet champion is going to improve his position before the season is out Only time will tell how high he will go but it is hardly possible that he will come close to Stymie this year for it would mean that he would have to earn close to 500000 more to accomplish the feat Should be continue through his fouryearold career with no injuries there is a very good chance that he will eventually top the Jacobs racer who now sits securely on the throne as the worlds moneywinning champion As these lines are written it is difficult to make any solid predictions regarding the size of the field for the Preakness on Saturday Although the railroad situation is settled Coaltown will not teamup with his stablemate Citation Salmagundi started in the fifth race at Garden State Park and the outcome of that event may determine his status in the Pimlico 100000 race on the weekend One thing is certain and that is that Bovard winner of the Louisiana Derby and second to Citation in the Chesapeake Stakes will be a starter Yesterday Bovard won the Survivor Stakes defeating the C V Whitney entry of Mount Marcy and Vulcans Forge by three lengths Mount Marcy has been highly regarded during recent weeks but Bovard has demonstrated that he is a hardhitting colt who is entitled to his chance in the race that is the second leg of the Triple Crown Gas parilla is out of the race so Max Hirsch will place his hope in Better Self Regardless of how it all turns out we look for about five to go to the post in the running of the Preakness PreaknessA A A A ABen Ben Whitaker made a wise decision when he decided to put Requested in stud On Mondays card at Jamaica Wide Request owned by Mrs Whitaker was a winner over eight other twoyearolds in the third race In the fifth race Compliance a brown filly by Requested was a winner for the Lester Manor Stable with Mrs B F Whitakers Miss Request running third The best young ¬ ster by this sire of course is My Request who won both runnings of the Experimental Handicap and also the Wood Memorial before he went to Kentucky to run third to Citation and Coaltown in the Derby Whitaker has never hurried his colorbearers and he recently decided to pass up the Preakness for the Withers with this colt who has a fine record to date Whitaker is not a market breeder but we daresay if he sent youngsters by his sire to the yearling sales this season he would realize some fine prices While the Calumet pair of Citation and Coal town must be regarded as outstanding My Request has demonstrated that he is on a par with the other top threeyearolds now campaigning in this country It is the old old story of a horse who came in a year when champions were strutting their stuff stuffA A A A AYearling Yearling sales will be at the crossroads this season Last year there was a drastic drop in prices for the abes that are the racing material of the future We have never been able to square in our own mind the reason why prices dropped so drastically from the year before for it is very possible for a twoyearold in 1948 to win more money than has ever been the case in the history of the American turf We are likely to have quite a few sales this year for besides the summer and fall sales at Keene land the eastern sales at Saratoga and the Maryland sales Louis B Mayer will offer his breeding stock in October and a yearling sale in December We look for no such drastic drop this year as was the case last year With purses holding up there is no economic reason why horse values should drop as it is possible for a horse to earn more today than has ever been the case before The sale of breeding stock by Louis B Mayer should be one of the outstanding dispersals of all time in this country
