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BETWEEN RACES I By Oscar Otis Exercise Boys Heroes of Flood Portland Stable Area Shambles Fourteen Grands lips and Downs Dunn Training Another Foreigner ForeignerHOLLYWOOD HOLLYWOOD PARK Inglewood Calif June 8 Tales are drifting south from the floodstricken Portland area reflecting nothing but credit for the turf The hardhit town of Vanport for instance and adjacent to Portland Meadows was the temporary home of a great num ¬ ber of turf personnel One of the most excit ¬ ing and well authenti ¬ cated by the way stories to emerge from the confusion and dis ¬ aster was that of three exercise boys who are as yet nameless but for whom the whole town of Portland is hunting to pay homage to for their heroism and ingenu ¬ ity during the distress It seems this trio of exercise boys fashioned a raft from rafters lashed it together armed them ¬ selves with wooden paddles and boldly sailed into the raging waters to rescue not one but dozens of Vanport residents Jockey Stanley Noffsinger distinguished himself by working for interminable strelches at the backbreaking labor of hauling sand bags to protect a dike Noff ¬ singer worked in danger of being drowned if the dike on which he was working went out and from all accounts it was pretty prettywobbly wobbly The story of Portland is one that when it becomes fully known will stand as a lasting tribute to Oregons turf colony The stables wisely were evacuated before the flood finally reached the protective dikes and put the track itself some 15 feet under water The tote equipment was saved by storing most of it in the upper decks of the grandstand which stood firm despite water lapping over the elevated boxes in said stand Portland was quite proud of its hol ¬ low concrete cement and fireproof stables The wall of water aided by debris of con ¬ sequence smashed them all The stable area is a total loss The flood was one of the worst debacles ever to strike a West Coast race course It has a counterpart only in 1916 when Jim Coffroths Tijuana washed out and forced cancellation of the entire meeting Once again the floods threatened the track and the late C B Irwin with a force of 700 men under his direction sandbagged the backstretch with untiring efforts The water rose to within a half inch of the top of the levee then subsided You might be interested to know that Longacres which has experienced floods in the past was not damaged a bit A Fourteen Grand a threeyearold son of Stimulus Eschutcheon she by Sir Galla had m was entered the other day in a race here along with another threeyear old called Teddys Rose The team repre ¬ sented the stable of Frank Frankel Four ¬ teen Grand on the also eligible list did not get in Teddys Rose ran second to the favored Brolite Fourteen Grand was so named because he cost that sum plus a few odd dollars in the auction ring Teddys Rose was a gift horse to the Frankels from Leslie Combs n The stable thinks Teddys Rose had excellent prospects Fourteen Grand is looked upon as having little better opportunities than in claiming ranks Early in his training Fourteen Grand looked like a potential Eagle Bird The Frankels turned down 50000 for him Now they are sorry of course but not too sorry as their enthusiasm for racing made them feel the risk operated as much for them as against them Teddys Rose a gelded son of Rosemont Teddys Cross broke down at two was given to the Frank ¬ els with the proviso that when and if he proved himself they could send along a acheck check for whatever they felt he was worth Horses and People Mashie the South American recently purchased by F Ronald Graham Vancouver capitalist and sports ¬ man is a chestnut horse five by Niblick Carebity she by Take Care and was a winner in 1947 and 1948 in the Argentine Mashie will be the third imported horse to run in this country in the Graham Montrose stable colors The others are the sensational Mafosta and Plover Result of purchase is that T W Wally Dunn now has two horses to train instead of one and is thus relieved of some mo ¬ notony Eddie Read who does the good goodwill will work for the Louis B Mayer horses and who has an easy task in that the ex ¬ ploits of said horses speak out boldly for themselves believes that Citations exploits can only add to the prestige of Alibhai
