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REFLECTIONS I By Nelson Dunstan Butler Optimistic About Gold Cup Race Owners Abroad Concerned With Footing New Trend in Campaigning English Horses Thoroughbreds Kept in Training Longer LongerNEW NEW YORK N Y June 21 21James James Butler just back from a flying trip to England Ire ¬ land and France is very optimistic concerning the prospects for his International Gold Cup next October Discussing the prog ¬ ress made toward building this valuable feature Butled told us that the Europeans have become quite accustomed to the idea of air travel and that the trainers with whom he talked at Newmarket are firmly convinced that their horses will hold form during a TransAtlantic crossing by plane Questions of transport evidently have ceased to worry European horsemen but differences between a dirt strip and grass still looms large in their minds Butler added that as a matter of persuasion he regretfully stated that many Englishmen were still thinking of Papyrus The trainer of Papyrus who ran dismally against Zev in the first American international race presented at Belmont Park as will be the Internationa Gold Cup unfortunately failed to heed the advice of American horsemen concerning the plating of the English Derby winner for that match Papyrus over an off track did not do himself justice and his poor showing has rankled abroad from that day to this thisMarcel Marcel Boussac the Gaekwar of Baroda the Aga Khan and several other important owners are all under ¬ stood to be committed to Butlers race and all are en ¬ thusiastic They are understandably shy about naming their prospects for an event for which the entries will close on October 1 but it is reasonably sure that the best in their stables at that time will be shipped over Speak ¬ ing of Boussacs Arbar recent winner of the Ascot Gold Cup Butler said that he is the true European staying type and that the distance of Empire Citys International Gold Cup one mile and fiveeighths may be short for the French horse strange as that statement will appear to American racegoers Goyama according to Butler is a more likely prospect Boussac has so nany good ones in training at Chantilly that it is hard to guess just which horse or horses he will eventually select on to make the Butler believes that the emphasis in Europe is gradually shifting away from threeyearolds such events as the Arc de Triomphe the King George VI Stakes and the Ascot Gold Cup now giving older horses the reputation they need to start a career in the stud Formerly Butler said a top colt was raced in only a very few threeyearold engagements such as the Two Thousand Guineas the Derby and the St Leger then if he made a good showing in those classics he was imme ¬ diately retired at a very high stud fee Times have changed Due chiefly to the invasion of the French who keep their good horses in training longer the English now realize that a thor ¬ oughbred must make his mark outside of his immediate division and they start them in the important aged races The class disputing these events at Ascot Epsom and Newmarket has improved distinctly during the past decade In seeking a gen ¬ eral impression we asked Butler directly whether he believed the privations of the war years had affected the English thor ¬ oughbred more than the French race horse and he replied that he thought the limitations on breeding and on proper feed had struck harder in England than in France but he added that the policy of the leading French owners in conserving their young stock might have something to do with the current continental supremacy supremacyHavahome Havahome Stables Lovely Night Tea Leaves filly Sweet Dream just lasted to earn the decision in the Gazelle Stakes by a nose from the fastclosing Scattered but Bobby Permane kept her going right to the end of the mile and a sixteenth the longest distance by the way that she has ever been asked to travel Sweet Dream was bred by the Long Island horsewoman Mrs F Ambrose Clark and she has raced like a good miss this season the weekend stake being her fourth score in seven starts She was meeting by far the best opposition in the Gazelle that she has so far encountered however and the 10 pounds she was receiving from the Coaching Club Ameri ¬ can Oaks winner Scattered must have been a help in the drive Scattered was gaining fast on her lightly weighted rival and th fact that she was coming off a race at the classic route for fillies over the spacious Belmont course may have interfered with her chances at Aqueduct AqueductThree Three Dot Shorts Elkridge despite his 10 years which after all is not so old for a chaser is still a pretty keen performer and he proved it in a sterling performance behind Adaptable in the Temple Gwathmey last week at the United Hunts The old horse crossed the final obstacle on even terms with the winner but gave way slightly in the stretch Dr Stanton won at Roosevelt Raceway defeating Little Judy in 204 over a track that was dull from rain in the morning but he was hardly as impressive on this occasion as one had been led to believe Last fall New Englanders were talking boldly about matching AgrarianTJ with Polynesian but the formers races this spring do not indicate that he could ever have given the Elmeridorf sprinter much trouble Roosevelt Raceway will turn the profits of its feature race on June 28 over to the Damon Runyon Memorial Fund Bill Cane at Goshen gave a generous donation to the fund last year That race was in heats and the longer the trotters fought it out the more money accrued to the fund The horses raced four separate miles that afternoon before Dunbar Bostwicks Chris Spencer won the decision and Cane wore the biggest smile on the grounds when presented the over ¬ size check for this worthy charity
