view raw text
REFLECTIONS *y NELS0N dunstan NEW YORK, N. Y., May 23.— Ocean Drive may have been entered in the Withers to help his stablemate, Olympia, but the .race was hardly under way when the latter demonstrated that he was in no need of aid. Showing a high turn of speed, Arcaro sent the Heliopolis colt out to make his own pace and, as the race devel oped, the open daylight was increased from two lengths at the half-mile post to six lengths at the finish. The expected challenge from Noble Impulse never materialized, for not only did the Oglebay colorbearer stumble at the start, but lost ground as steadily as Olympia gained it. After Eddie Arcaro dismounted, he said, "Olympia was a different horse than he was in the Derby — he could have gone a mile and a half today." Whether he will try the one and one-half miles of the Belmont Stakes on June 11 has not been announced at this writing, and whether he will cover the 12 furlongs against the more formidable three-year-olds he would meet in the third -event of the "Triple Crown," is a question in the minds of many. But there is no doubt that, at the one-mile distance, there are not many three-year-olds around that the Hooper colt need fear. Apparently that thought was shared by the vast majority of the 38,000 that were at Belmont on the week-end. AAA Although Memorial Day will be mainly given over to handicaps for three-year-olds and older horses, members of the three-year-old division will still occupy the spotlight for many week-ends to come. This Saturday, when three-year-old fillies will be seen in the 0,000 Coaching plub American Oaks, Garden State Park will offer the 0,000 Jersey Stakes for three-year-olds at one and one-quarter miles. Memorial Day will mark the renewal of the Peabody Memorial, for three-year-olds at Lincoln Fields-at-Washington Park. . Then, on June 4, Belmont will.stage the 5,000 Peter Pan Handicap for three-year-olds, while out on the West Coast, the 5,000 Hollywood Oaks at one mile will be the feature event of the day. The Peter Pan Handicap at one mile and one furlong has a list of eligibles which includes practically all of the outstanding three-year-olds of the season. Where so many of the three-year-old races come in such Olympia Again Proves Class at One Mile Sophomores Have Busy Schedule Ahead Juvenile Division Starting to Shape Up Counterfeiters Nabbed at Belmont Park close proximity to the Belmont and to the Kent, which will be run at Delaware on the same day, it is next .o impossible to guess the number of starters these rac»!S will attract. Although the Withers was well placed in the May schedule of racing, only six answered the bugle. The Kent and Belmont, on June 11, will be followed by the 0,0i0 Shevlin on June 15, the Gazelle on June 18, and then the 0,000 Dwyer on June 25, all three of these events being at Aqueduct. But a check of the schedule of events to come reveals that July also has many rich races for members of the sophomore ranks. AAA Wednesdays feature at Belmont will be the filly division of the National Stallion Stakes, and this event may be the one to point out some of the little ladies who will be competing in the juvenile stake events to come. On Saturday, Mrs. Ethel Jacobs sent a good-looking miss to the post in Our Patrice, a Bull Lea filly, who defeated 12 competitors in the second race of the day. Our Patrice is not an eligible for the mid-week stake, but Three and Two, from the Greentree Stable, and Circle M Farms Isle of Mist, who finished in that order behind her, may go to the post. The two-year-old colts have had more opportunities than the fillies, and Ferd, winner of the Juvenile Stakes and owned by Mrs. Andy Schuttinger, seems the best of the New York lot. Down at Garden State on the week-end, the favorite Quiz Show, owned by the Palatine Stable, was the winner over William Helis* Selector, while up in New England •the favored Faneuil Miss, a filly from the Honeywell Farm, defeated a group of youngsters, some of whom are Regarded as the best of the crop racing in New England. The Rancocas Stakes and William Penn, at Garden State Park, will be forerunners to the Polly Drummond Stakes at Delaware, and the National Stallion Stakes for colts at Belmont on June 4, and, by that time, the juvenile division may start to shape itself. The counterfeit crowd, which profited by some ,600 at Garden State Park, and some ,900 at the New England tracks in recent weeks, went to the window once too often at Belmont on Saturday. Andy Popola, a six-footer from Newark; was the gangs representative at the mutuel window, but the Pinkerton force, which had suspected him for quite some time, were also at the window, and then quietly escorted Popola to jail at Mineola, where he was charged with grand larceny. Popola stated that he had a suspicion the Pinkerton men were shadowing him, but what he did not know for sure was that these men, many of whom have had FBI training, were purposely letting him enter the track so as to catch him in the act of attempting to cash altered mutuel tickets. Lou Walger, chief of the mutuels . a,t all New York tracks, stated that the forgeries were the most expert he had ever seen in his years of experience. But, no matter how well these tickets are forged, it is a foregone conclusion that the law is goihk to catch up with these men and put them out of chA culation in places where mutuel tickets cannot be cashed. % AAA 1 Racing officials in the East are of the opinion that the convention of the National Association of State Rac- V ing Commissioners, held in New York last week, was the most progressive in the 15 years since the organization was formed. The delegates who were assembled at the Commodore Hotel were divided as to which of the subjects discussed was the most important. The majority we talked with, however, stressed the -vital necessity of racing establishing a public relations department which would keep lawmakers and the public better informed as to the activities of the sport. While the commissioners seemed unanimously in favor of such a bureau, practically no details as to how it would be handled were worked out. Some of those present thought the proposition should be handled nationwide through a central bureau, while others thought more would be accomplished if each locality was handled as a local proposition. The recent booklet released by the SHialeah race track and titled "Racing Builds a Healthier and Happier Florida," has drawn such fine comment through the country, it seems to us that race tracks in all states would find it money well spent if they printed such a booklet dealing with what racing accomplishes for their own community.
