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REFLECTIONS By Nelson Dunstan 500000 Attended tracks During Holidays Defeat of Coaltown Outstanding Episode Citation Looms as Great of Our Turf Calumet Pair Out of Peter Pan Yankee YankeeNEW NEW YORK N Y June 1 1Over Over 500000 fans attended the races at the various tracks on Saturday and Monday but although Stymie was defeated in New York and Elpis was beaten at Garden State Park the out ¬ standing features were probably the victory of Citation in the Jersey Stakes and the de ¬ feat of Coaltown in the Withers Strangely enough although the Calumet pair appeared to dominate the threeyearold group before the weekend the members of that division have held the spotlight of the turf up to this time There is something of a question as to whether the members of the three yearold group are as mediocre as they were in general last season or whether Citation has been such a standout that he has made the others look secondary If anything the i tne interest lor there was a question prior to the Withers as to whether or not the two Bull Lea colts from the Calumet Farm were not head and shoulders above all their opponents Making excuses for Coaltown is unnecessary but it did seem to us that in the Withers he simply tired and that probably was the result of the broken wind which was one of the reasons why he did not start as a twoyearold On the other hand it may be that we have another good threeyearold in our midst in Vulcans Forge ForgeIt It is now obvious to everyone that we have an out ¬ standing horse in our midst in Citation This writer pre ¬ fers to call him a great horse for in 19 starts to date he has won 17 and been second in the remaining two From all indications he will create additional records as the season progresses His next start will be in the Bel ¬ mont Stakes on June 12 and in all probability he will join the list of Triple Crown winners in that race Another record he seems destined to smash and before many weeks have elapsed is Assaults mark of 424195 which represents the greatest sum ever won by a thor ¬ oughbred in one season It took many years for Assault to break the record of Gallant Fox who earned 308275 as a threeyearold in 1930 So far this season Citation has garnered 311320 and that leaves him 112875 to earn to tie Assault The Belmont Stakes will net the win ¬ ner approximately 79000 and should that winner be Citation it will carry him close to the 400000 mark so far this season There is always a possibility of a horse being injured or forced to the sidelines for one reason or another but if Citation remains as sound as he is today it is very possible he will create a new money earning record of one horse in one season In a recent release the New York State Racing Commission stated From time to time an outstanding horse is developed with which there can be no reasonable competition Such a horse was Man o War and such another is Citation They probably limited their statement to these two horses because Man o War is now generally regarded as the greatest ever to race in this country There were others before Big Red and others who came after him whose records as three year olds were formidable The mighty Hindoo won 19 straight races as a threeyearold in 1881 and then had that brilliant record marred by a defeat in his last two starts In all Hindoo raced 36 times to win 31 finish second in three and third in two Colin is another whose record points him out for in 15 starts as a two and threeyearold he was never to meet defeat Count Fleet War Admiral Gallant Fox and Sysonby were a foursome who never knew defeat as threeyearolds and they too must be added to the list of outstanding or great horses whose latest addition appears to be Citation even though he has a long way to go before the season comes to a close Recently we made the statement that Citation could hardly become the worlds moneywinning champion before this year is out Quite a few readers have chal ¬ lenged us on this point It is not impossible we know for now that Citation is in fifth position with earnings of 467000 we can see on paper where it would be pos ¬ sible for him to earn close to 500000 more Naturally we do not know what races he will be pointed for as there is always a question whether threeyearolds will be sent against older horses in the fall of the year even in races which are at weightforage Let us just as a supposition figure that he is to start in seven events namely the Bel ¬ mont Dwyer Classic American Derby The Jockey Club Gold Cup Empire City Stakes International Gold Cup and the Fimlico Special Based on last years figures and remembering that The Jockey Club Gold Cup has been raised to 100000 in added value the possible earning power of a horse who won all seven of these races would be approximately 470000 Adding that figure to the sum Citation already has would bring it to 937000 but even with those figures it is safe to say that Stymie is also going to improve his position If Citation continues throughout this season as he has in the past and then continues as a fouryearold it is a pretty safe bet that he will eventually wind up as the worlds moneywinning champion But we still hold that it would be a herculean task if he accomplished it this year yearThis This weekend will be something of a novelty in that two nportant threeyearold events will be staged without the Presence of either Citation or Coaltown In New York the fea ¬ ture event will be the 15000 Peter Pan Handicap and it is only natural that Vulcans Forge who ran second to Citation in the Preakness and won over Coaltown in the Withers should be the topweight at 126 pounds Practically every threeyearold now in training in the East is eligible for the event and it is difficult to say which of them will remain in New York to oppose Vul ¬ cans Forge and who will go to New England to try for the 50000 Yankee Handicap Vulcans Forge is not an eligible for this race so the post of honor has been assigned to Better Self and My Request who are equally weighted at 122 each Salma ¬ gundi one of the few horses whom Citation has yet to beat is in the Peter Pan at 120 while his assignment in the Yankee is 118 From all indications both races should draw good fields But it would be futile at this writing to attempt to guess those who will stay in New York and those who will journey up to Boston for the 50000 race at Suffolk Downs
