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REFLECTIONS B* NELSON dstan NEW YORK. N. Y.. May 11.— According to stories we hear around, and others that we read in the daily press, Ben Jones, the Calumet trainer, lost a lot of friends among newspapermen when Ponder was the upset winner of the Kentucky Derby. The stories have it that Jones "sold the men of the press down the river" by deliberately pointing to Olympia as the probable winner and. in the doing, was simply attempting to build up a juicy price on Ponder. Ben Jones does not need this writer, or anyone else, to fight his battles. He can take care of himself under any conditions, with the possible exception of combatting stories in whicr he is placed in a false light and for which he has no medium of answering. Hence, this column, in which we start out by branding as sheer humbug the story that Jones was double-dealing when he repeatedly said he did not think that Ponder had much of a chance in winning from the more-favored horses in the Diamond Jubilee running. Some two years ago, Ben Jones decided to confine his wagering to very small amounts, not only on his own horses, but on all horses. Mr. and Mrs. Warren Wright derive their pleasure from horse racing in watching Their horses win. and it has been known for many years that they are very modest when it comes to the mutuel windows. So why should Ben Jones try to keep up the price on Ponder. AAA The most surprising statement after the Derby came from my friend, Dan Parker, in a column which was titled "Derby Result Shows Up Expert Opinion. Dan went on to say: "Most of those who should know what they are talking about — handicappers, turf writers, owners and trainers — had tabbed Olympia as a sure thing. Hardly anyone we know of, except cousin Bill Corum, gave Ponder a chance. Some of the alleged experts, who want to retrieve their lost standing, are trying to blame Ben Jones for touting them off Ponder. That merely proves they are not experts, or they would have found out long since that the only time you can believe Ben Jones is when he is silent." We read that sentence two or three times and, while we. personally, have the high- Ben Jones Unjustly Accused About Ponder Claim He Double Crossed Newspaper Men Why Should He Worry About Mutuel Price? Whole Derby Affair Just a Lot of Humbug est regard for Dan Parker, we come to the conclusion that he did not know Ben Jones very well, or he never would have made that statement. It was the late Damon Runyon, we believe, who once said that "Parkers pen can drip vitriol," but, on the other hand, we know Parker to be a very fair-minded man and not given to statements which are absolutely opposite to the facts. Believe us, Dan was never so wrong in his life in the inference contained in that sentence. AAA This writer has known Ben Jones for close on to 20 years. In all that time, we have never known him to deliberately mislead us in regard to any of his horses. Time and again, he went out of his way to help us get the story we needed. Another thing we have always noticed about him and for which we have admired him, is that he always treated all newspapermen alike. He would be as quick to help the youngster as he would the famed sports columnists of the country. If, for one minute, we thought Ben Jones had deliberately hoodwinked the men of the press and the public, you can be assured we would mince no words in saying so. But we do not believe that he had any ulterior motive and that he was absolutely sincere when boosting Olympia and playing down the chances of De Luxe and Ponder in the Derby running. De Luxe, of course, did not live up to expectations, but after Ponder ran second to Olympia in the Derby Trial, it was only natural that Jones started him, although he still did not believe that Ponder could cope with the opposition. Why, ask yourself, should a famous trainer like Ben Jones stoop to such a cheap piece of touting as some people seem to believe he was doing. It just does not make sense. AAA Dan Parker points out that the handicappers, turf writers, owners and trainers had all tabbed Olympia to win the Derby. This writer was among those who expressed the opinion that the Hooper horse would win. If the same set of past performances were placed before me, at any time, I would have still selected the Heliopolis colt to win the race. Not one of the 14 starters had ever run a mile and a quarter before in their entire career, so all that anyone had to judge the race by was the past performances up to that time. Olympia won the San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita, then ran second to Old Rockport in the Santa Anita Derby, and then returned east to win five straight races prior to the Derby running. At that time, how could any person select a horse to defeat him, with the exception of Old Rockport. Ponder, on the other hand, had not won a race as a two-year-old, and then was beaten by a horse named You and Me, then by Ky. Colonel and then by Olympia. We are not attempting to make excuses for ourselves or for the thousands upon thousands of others who read the past performances, as we did. We just "blew" one, and we will probably do it many times more before we shuffle off. Never judge a handicapper by one race, not even a Kentucky Derby. A A - Naturally, there were some people at Churchill Downs who wagered on Ponder and — more power to them. The chances are that they, like Bill Corum, had in mind that old saying, "Never sell Ben Jones short" when it comes to a Kentucky Derby renewal. One day last winter, we sat in the trophy room at Calumet Farm and Mrs. Warren Wright, who would rather have a Derby cup than she would the purse, said to us, "We would certainly love to win the Diamond Jubilee cup, but Im afraid we do not have very much chance this year." At the time, it did not appear to us as if Calumet had any chance at all, but, in politness, we kept our thoughts to ourselves. As far as we see this three-year-old division now, anything can happen in the important events to come. This is not a year of a top group of three-year-olds, in fact, it looks to be a very mediocre lot, and the victory of Ponder convinces us of that fact. But, regardless of whether Ponder flops or goes on to win the "Triple Crown" — lets all forget these silly stories about Ben Jones.
