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Ferd Has Thirteen Rivals in Swift Myrtle Charm Goes" In Overnight Event Seven-Furlong Fixture for Sophomores at Belmont Also Brings Out Curtain Raiser BELMONT PARK, Elmont, L. I., N. Y., May 6. — Belmont Park begins its first full ■week of racing on Monday, with the Swift Stakes, a 0,000 added test at seven furlongs for three-year-olds as the feature attraction. The presence of Maine Chance Farms Myrtle Charm, juvenile filly champion of 1948 and idle since then, in the entries for the six furlong Action Purse on the main course, which precedes the Swift somewhat overshadows the stake. Mondays Swift will be followed by the fifty-second running of the Fashion Stakes for juvenile fillies at four and a half furlongs on the Widener straightway on Tuesday; the 5,000 Acorn Stakes at one mile for three-year-old fillies on Wednesday; the ,500 International Steeplechase Handicap at about two miles on Thursday, and the seveny-fifth running of the Withers mile for three-year-olds on Saturday. It adds up to a brilliant week of racing at the Hempstead Turnpike track. The Swift, which will be the sixth race, has attracted a field of 14, all of whom carry 126 pounds, scale weight. Mrs. Andy Schuttingers Ferd, who beat Middleground at Jamaica, then finished third to Hill Prince and Middleground and in front of Next Move in the Wood Memorial, looms the choice with Eddie Arcaco in the saddle. Two Couplings in Stake Ferds chief rivals appear to be Frank Frankels much improved Curtain Raiser, George D. Wideners Lights Up, William Helis Selector, James Cox Bradys Stare-case, Maine Chance Farms Admirals Pride, Mrs. Colin MacLeods Torr and Walter M. Jeffords* Suleiman. Curtain Raiser will have a running mate in Fabricate, while Torr will be coupled with Elmcrest Farms Bull Page. The others in the Swift are Ben F. Whit-akers Deep Blue, C. T. Chenerys Bryan G., Susan P. Markus Erosion and Mrs. Louis Lazares Sheilas Reward. Curtain Raiser won his last two starts at Jamaica and the Widener cast-off seems to have gained in stamina since changing barns. Sam Boulmetis will be in the saddle. Lights Up won the Remsen Handicap last year, with Selector finishing third, but has showed little this year and finished fifth in the Wood last out. Selector won the East View last year, beating Lotowhite and Androcles, among others. He has. not been out since finishing last in the California Breeders Champion Stakes at Santa Anita on December 26. Ted Atkinson will ride. Starecase has speed, but stops at times. After finishing second to Hill Prince in Experimental Number 1, he scored easily in a six-furlong overnight - race, then was a soundly beaten favorite behind Curtain Raiser and Admiral Drake. Impressive Performance Admirals Pride turned in an impressive race in his only start at Jamaica, drawing away from his field at the end of six furlongs and merely coasting home in 1:11%, four and a half lengths before Fabricate. Torr beat a field that included Erosion in the next race that day, but in 1:12 under a mild drive. Suleiman showed signs of being intrinsically a good colt last year, but his two races in Maryland this year were unimpressive, the last being a fourth in the Chesapeake Stakes. None of the others get much of a figure here. Myrtle Charm gets in the Action Purse with only 103. pounds, including the five-pound allowance accorded apprentice Glen Lasswell. The daughter of Alsab — Crepe Myrtle, by Equipoise, has been on the .sidelines since her close second to Blue Peter in the 1948 Futurity, which followed clever scores in the Matron at Belmont and the Spinaway at Saratoga, but she has been training very well on muddy and sloppy tracks. Myrtle Charm was withdrawn from todays Toboggan in which she would have had to carry 115 pounds. Her chief rival tomorrow may be another Toboggan scratch, Mrs. Tilyou Christophers Renown II., who would have to pick up only 113 in the stake and gets 121 here. Others who may provide competition for Myrtle Charm include Laico, Mr. Jay, Energetic, Coyote and Take Ten, not to mention the improved Magic Words. The first steeplechase of the year on Long Island, the Battleship at about two miles, will be the third event on the program. This test has attracted such stars as Rokeby Stables Genancoke, the one to catch; Isidore Biebers Repose, who will be coupled with him; Rigan McKinneys Hot, Montpeliers Navy Gun, Happy Hill Farms Adaptable and A. E. Masters Le Buis Fleurl. This race is to mark the return to action of the good French rider, Albert Foot, who suffered a broken back last fall, and the American debut of his brother, t Georges Foot.
