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REFLECTIONS 1 By Nelson Dunstan Coaltown for Withers Citation for Jersey Small Field Prospect for Belmont Stakes Greentree Has Fleet Colt in Wine List Metropolitan Will Draw Many Top Milers MilersNEW NEW YORK N Y May 20 20ThreeDot ThreeDot Shorts Henry H Knight the famous Ken ¬ tucky breeder was among the many turf notables on hand to see Coaltown win the Swift Stakes at Belmont Knight is here to confer with Myron Fox of the MGM studios regarding the Louis B Mayer sales that will be staged in California during the fall Due to a broken leg Mrs Ashley T Cole wife of New Yorks racing commissioner will be confined to her home for some time Marshall Cassidy and Lou Walger will fly to London on June 2 to see the running of the Epsom Derby on the 5th and will fly back to New York on June 9 That old expression Eclipse first the rest nowhere has a modern ver ¬ sion in Calumet First Calumet Second We gratefully acknowledge a check for 500 from Mr Mrs Edward Moore of Circle M Farm and one from Max Hirsch for 250 for the Damon Runyon Memorial Fund With some wartime building restrictions ended many tracks are planning improvements thank goodness The Kings Plate will be run at Woodbine on Monday that being Victoria VictoriaDay Day Flushing II the Mahmoud stallion is now jointly jointlyowned owned by Mrs duPont Scott H B Delman and D Djordjadze DjordjadzeAfter After Coaltown made a runaway affair of the Swift Stakes New Yorkers who were seeing him for the first time agreed that he is just about the fastest horse in training today Following the race we asked Ben Jones what his plans were for the future and especially on May 29 when the Withers will be run at Belmont and the Jer ¬ sey Stakes at Garden State Park Yfe have not fully decided Jones answered the Jersey Stakes is at one and onequarter miles and I think Citation would be better suited for it even though he will have to carry 126 pounds while Coaltown would go to the post with about 118 Even at those weights I think Citation would beat him at the one and onequarter mile distance That came as something of a surprise to us so we asked Ben what he thought the result would be if the Calumet pair were to meet at one mile over a fast track I would not want to say Ben frankly answered for you must re ¬ member that Citation is a much more seasoned horse than Coaltown The latter did not start until February 3 of this year and todays race was the sixth of his entire career I expect he will still improve and by the fall he will probably be a tough horse for Citation or any horse at a mile or even a mile and a quarter quarterJust Just about everyone you meet pops the question How many will go to the post in the Belmont Stakes on June 12 Fol ¬ lowing the Swift it becomes even more difficult to vizualize the number of owners who will send their colorbearers out against Citation in that event Just a month ago many people were wondering whether Citation could hold his speed over the one and onehalf mile route After watching him in the Derby and Preakness it is our opinion that he will negotiate that distance just as cleverly as he did the shorter routes in the first two races of the Triple Crown As we see it now Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons might have Whirling Fox ready by June 12 and there is a possibility that Escadru will be back to try conclusions with Citation once again1 But beyond them it is hard to say what threeyearolds will contest the issue with the horse who is now being openly called the best since Man o War In fact quite a few are saying he will prove to be another Man o War But only time itself will decide the status of this Bull Lea colt who shapes up as a Triple Crown win ¬ ner At the moment four look like a big field for the Belmont Stakes StakesSome Some promising twoyearolds have been winning of late and a new addition to the list is the Greentree Sta ¬ bles Wine List who won the fourth race at Belmont Park yesterday This colt who is by Questionnaire out of Fizz II by Manna completed the four and a half fur ¬ longs in 54 defeating Twilight Trail by four lengths He was an oddson choice even though he was a first time starter Apparently Greentree think very well of him for he is an eligible for the Juvenile which will be a secondary feature to the Withers on May 29 and is also named for the colt division of the National Stallion Stakes which will be cofeatured with the Belmont on Saturday June 12 As in the case of Fond Embrace who won the Fashion Stakes on Tuesday he will be more thoroughly tested in the more important stake events ahead But we rather imagine that Greentree may have a betterthanaverage youngster in this Questionnaire colt It is much too early of course to contend with any surety that a particular twoyearold seems destined for seasonal honors but we would certainly class Wine List as a colt worthy of watching in the weeks ahead aheadTheres Theres an old expression in racing that a good milef makes a top sire It does not always hold true but from all indications there will be many good milers in the Metropolitan Handicap which will be the feature event at Belmont on the weekend It is going to take a good handicapper to pick this winner for from top to bottom the horses have been so weighted by John B Campbell that anyone of Jhe probables could win It would not surprise us if the Jones ooys sent both Fervent and Faultless to the post and in view of his Gallant Fox victory it appears to us that Faultless is very well placed at 122 pounds Then again William Helis has Rippey in at 124 and Gallorette while she may like a little more distance is in there with just 118 Stymie won this race last year and the Jacobs horse who was in close quarters at the head of the stretch in the Gallant Fox is asked to tote 126 But it does not end there for further down on the list there are many who could argue the point with the topnotchers the way they are weighted Campbell gives one a lot to think about in his weighting of the handicap stars and we are frank to say he has us puzzled with the manner in which he has assigned his weights for this Belmont feature on Saturday
