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BETWEEN RACES I By Oscar Otis 1 1Neary Neary High on Apprentice Milligan Following in Illustrious Footsteps Young Riders Need Opportunities Lead Pony Demonstrates His Worth WorthHOLLYWOOD HOLLYWOOD PARK Inglewood Calif May 31 Wesley Quarter Horse Neary veteran starter at Caliente sends word along that young Eddie Milligan is perhaps the best apprentice pros ¬ pect lie has seen in several years Neary has been at the border course for more than 30 years first as an assistant starter later as a starter in his own right Inasmuch as Caliente and its prede ¬ cessor old Tijuana has turned out more good riders than most any other of several tracks put together the comments of Neary always are taken with sincerity Asked to name the most promising youngster he had ever seen Neary answered without hesitation that Alfred Johnson had them all topped Had not weight forced Johnson from the sad ¬ dle Neary believes he still would be riding stakes winners Two of the most notable alumni of the Caliente school are Eddie Arcaro and Johnny Longden Neary says that Arcaro had promise but during his apprentice days below the border he gave no hint to the worldwide fame that he eventually was to attain Rated as least likely to succeed was Longden But Neary qualifies that by insisting that Longden is a rider who has reached success by con ¬ stant use of his headrather than depend ¬ ing solely upon physical ability A Olin Gentry was the first good appren ¬ tice ever to be developed iri Tijuana fol ¬ lowed by George Yeargin then Alfred Johnson In other years there followed Ivan Parke Steve ODonnell Georgie Ellis Georgie Woolf Willie Munden Joey Inzel one Silvio Coucci Hank Mills Wayne D1 Wright Bobby Jones Monte Edwards Hurst Philpot Graceton Philpot Arthur Mortensen Willie Saunders Harvey Elston and Willie Moran to name a few If this boy Milligan can live up to any of the per ¬ formances of lads listed above he will in ¬ deed be a whirlwind Neary says he has the makings and that is that For the records it might be mentioned that Long ¬ den did not ride as an apprentice at Cali ¬ ente through a technicality but he might as well have been through lack of experi ¬ ence even though his year had expired Eddie Arcaro told the writer in the East recently that if California racing had any faults it would lie along the lines of not giving apprentice riders enough opportun ¬ ities The man might be right at that Arcaro explained that while it might sound like he was trying to hasten his own even ¬ tual slip from the pinnacle of success he was grateful to the turf for being so kind to him and that if any suggestion of his j could improve it he wouldnt mind making an earlier exit from the saddle than other ¬ wise might prevail In any event no track in California offers apprentices races al ¬ though Hollywood Park has announced it will have one a week in their next condi ¬ tion books The apprentice races will be graded from no allowance to 10 pounds depending upon the number of winners ridden This step was decided upon after lengthy discussion and weighing of argu ¬ ments on both sides Of course the West other than California offers an apprentice an opportunity Phoenix as well as Cali ¬ ente plus the northwest circuit of Portland Long Acres Spokane Exhibition Lans downe Parks annually sees one or more youngsters get their big breaks But in the last few years few of these riders have gone on to the California major circuit and continued their winning strides On a day taken at random during the week there were but two apprentices on the entire card here with three mounts Whether one race a week for novice riders will be of much true material help remains to be seen But at least the management here is giving thought to the problems 4 4The The value of a stable pony was never demonstrated more forcibly than the other day when the eccentric Fair Truckle went postwards Much against the will of trainer Hurst Philpot Fair Truckle went to the post wearing blinkers The California stewards cant make up their minds from one track to another whether or not to allow blinkers to be carried to the post and the headgear donned at the post At Hol ¬ lywood it was decreed he would have to wear them to the post if he raced with them Fair Truckle was accompanied by a stable pony and Fair Truckle started shov ¬ ing the pony around and nipped at him One of the tracks two outriders with a well trained and courageous mount then took over Fair Truckle shoved the pony and the pony shoved back just a bit harder Once Fair Truckle found out he could not bulldoze the pony he proceeded on to the post without further incident He won too Philpot explains that Fair Truckle hates blinkers but he is forced to wear them during a race to avoid his crashing through the outside fence The horse cannot get it thoroughly through his skull that over here he is supposed to run the wrong way of the course
