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I REFLECTIONS •« By-Nelson Dunstan Field of 10 Likely for Preakness Renewal Mr. Trouble to Avoid Early Duel at Pimlico? Metropolitan Shapes Up as Sizzling Mile Myrtle Charm Now Adds to Handicap Interest NEW YORK, N. Y., May 9. Three-Dot Shorts: Gallorette is still a very popular mare for it seems that everywhere we go people keep asking, "Did you hear that Gallorette had her first foal at Mrs. Moores High Hope Hope Farm Farm in in Virginia?". Virginia?". . . .Colonel .Colonel John John Hope Hope Farm Farm in in Virginia?". Virginia?". . . .Colonel .Colonel John John Wofford, of Milford, Kan., will head a committee to select and train riders and horses for a United States jumping team at the 1952 Olympic games. Now retired from the Army, Colonel Wofford was a member of the 1932 Olympic team and is one of the best horsemen in this country. . .Skiddy von Stade does not know it as yet, but he will be honored by the City of Saratoga before the opening of the Spa meeting this year. . . Mrs. Margaret Glass, who knows every blade of grass at Calumet Farm, writes us to say that Bull cuii Lea j-ica abiineu started in m stud sum in ill 1940 ±»4u at at a a cuii Lea j-ica abiineu started in m stud sum in ill 1940 ±»4u at at a a fee of 50, dropped to 50 in 1943 due to "ole debbil" depression, went to 00 in 1944, ,000 in 1945, ,500 in 1946 and 1947; ,500 in 1948 and ,000 in 1949— still it is next to impossible to obtain a service at the largest stud fee ever asked in this country. . .If you like fine books on sports, by all means get a copy of "Out of the Red," by Red Smith. . .In any mating, the sire gets 95 per cent of the credit for a successful horse, just as PrincequiUo does for Hill Prince and Prince Simon, the Epsom Derby favorite. . .Just to give some credit where it is due. Prince Simon is out of Dancing Dora, by Sir Gallahad III ...Pine Pep, winner of this years Maryland Hunt Cup. has been retired until the 1951 running of the same event. . .Elmen-dorf Farm has a yearling by Bemborough — Black Lashes dam of Wisconsin Boy that will catch your eye and hold it. Until the final day, there was speculation as to the number of Derby starters, but it seems safe to say that not more than 10 will go to the post in the Preakness. We figure that six Derby starters will oppose Middle-ground in the race that is the second leg of the "Triple Crown," and they are Hill Prince, Mr. Trouble, Sunglow, Oil -Capitol, Hawley and Your Host. Hill Prince was a supplementary nomination and so, too, were Kinsman and Balkan. Although Your Host was a disappointment, just as other speed horses were in bygone years, we rather imagine that his connections will give him one more chance against the topnotchers before they confine his future outings to races that are limited at one and one-sixteenth miles. True, he won the Santa Anita Derby at one and one-eighth miles, but in that event did not meet the type of competition that he was asked to oppose in. the Derby, or, for that matter, the Preakness. Hill Prince looms as the one that Middleground will have to beat, but if the Whitney contingent allow Mr. Trouble to omit an early duel with such a speed horse as Your Host, he will undoubtedly show to better advantage. Sunglow is another who cannot be eliminated and, if Middleground is to win the Preakness, we look for these three to again test him every inch of the way. This column seldom refers back to predictions or guesses for the simple reason that many of them fail to materialize. We did predict that this Derby would be the fastest run since Whirl-away was timed in 2:01%. We further made the hazard that this would be the third Derby run in under 2:02, and that happened to come true. Then, we stuck our chin out when we doubted that the Derby winner, whoever he might be, would not join the "Triple Crown" list. With all due respect to Middleground, we are still of the same opinion, for this is about the most evenly matched group of three-year-olds that have come up in many a reason. Middleground is a good colt, but whether he is good enough to take the Preakness at a mile and three-sixteenths and then the Belmont Stakes at a mile and a half is still a moot question. If it happens, we will be the first to doff our cap to Robert J. Kleberg, Max Hirsch and, of course, the son of Bold Venture. It is a very easy thing to say that a horse will not win all of these three races, for the odds are all against the horse. But, right or wrong, we are of the same opinion that we were — even before we knew the outcome of the Kentucky Derby. The Preakness will naturally claim most of the nations attention a week from Saturday, but, on the same day, Belmont Park will offer the Metropolitan Handicap, a race which now shapes up as one of the best of the spring season. This event seems certain to draw Piet, who, with a 10-pound pull, won the Toboggan from Olympia, and also Loser Weeper, who won the Valley Forge Handicap at Garden State Park on the week-end. Myrtle Charm,— the two-year-old filly champion of 1948, made a very successful comeback on Monday when she defeated a good field in the fifth race at Belmont. The Maine Chance miss, who was out of competition for the entire year of 1949, is also a Metropolitan eligible. But, the list by no means ends there, for among the 75 nominated for the race are Arise, Capot, Wine List, Olympia, Three Rings, Our John Wm, Donor, Yankee Hill, Nell K., My Request, Mount Marcy and Better Self. Such a noted three-year-old as Middleground is on the list, "but it is a foregone conclusion he will be at Pimlico that afternoon. Myrtle Charms successful comeback on Monday will add considerable interest to the handicap ranks. In John B. Campbells 1949 Experimental ratings, he rated this daughter of Alsab at 121 pounds, making her the equal of Blue Peter, who headed the list at 126. This gave her a higher rating than either Mr. Busher or Capot, to say nothing of Ocean Drive, Olympia, Johns Joy and ever so many others who went on to successful competition last year. Her 1948 campaign consisted of but four races and, although it tested nothing except her speed, she was undoubtedly one of the fastest two-year-old fillies of the present century. The Maine Chance miss, besides the Metropolitan, is an eligible for the Roseben Handicap at six furlongs on May 24, and then the Top Flight Handicap, which at a mile and one-sixteenth will be run at Belmont on June 7. In this event, Myrtle Charm will be thoroughly tested, for among the eligibles are Gaffery, Sunday Evening, Nell K., Miss Request, Red Camelia, * Roman Zephyr, Adile and others. Two Lea, who was rated in the Experimental Handicap at 110, 11 pounds under Myrtle Charm, is an eligible for the Top Flight, but a doubtful starter, as she will be shipped from California direct to Arlington Park in, Chicago.
