view raw text
, -S — mm ■and Connors Corner By "CHUCK" CONNORS . Chief of Chart Correspondents JAMAICA, L. I., N. Y., May 5.— So you want to buy a race horse, and get rich by winning all the stakes, handicaps on the , racing racing calendar? calendar? Well, Well, racing racing calendar? calendar? Well, Well, stop and think it over for a minute and then run into Norman Tallin a n , the converted trotting horseman and listen to a tale of woe. The sad story centers around a horse named, I Challenge, a five-year-old gelding of fashionable parentage. I Challenge was acquired quired as as a a yearling yearling — mm quired as as a a yearling yearling for 5,000 and to date has not enhanced the reputation of his ancestors who are Challenger II. and Equipet, she a daughter of the famed Equipoise. This representative of the thoroughbred family has yet to win a race and his purse earnings by finishing second, third or fourth are not of such volume as to upset the monetary standard of any country under the Marshall Plan. I Challenge, following his acquisition by the Twin Oaks Stable, out of the yearling Vendues, was placed in training for his two-year-old debut. The occasion was marked by a small celebration on the part of his owners. When the race was finished I Challenge was returned to his lavish Belmont Park stall, lamed and retired for the year. His debut as a three-year-old was attended by similar injuries and, for the second time, a long stretch of enforced idleness resulted. As a four-year-old the same old story was retold. This spring, dame fortune apparently reversed her tactics and smiled in a benign fashion upon the cripple. Just this week, the signals got crossed somewhere and misfortune again stepped into the picture. This time it was not the fault of I Challenge but of the mechanical monster known as the automobile. Trainer Norman Tallman had entered his charge in the third race for Thursday which was fashioned for maiden claiming platers. Tallman was confident that in this race I Challenge would show to advantage. His pre-race optimism gave way to despair as his charge failed to arrive on the scene. The paddock crew, in businesslike fashion, ordered that I Challenge be declared scratched. When the horses paraded postward the van carrying the horse rolled into the stable area. The excuse was that the mechanical machine went wrong and instead of showing up at the Belmont Park stable at 12:30 it was 1:45 when the driver arrived to complete the first part of his chore. G. H. "Pete" Bostwick reported that his stakes winner of other years, Risolater had foaled a colt by Rico Monte and would be returned to Shannon II. He also reported that Nellie Bly had been mated to Revoke. . . .Track superintendent Lennie Litwack came over from the Queens County course and gleefully reported that the number of Jamaica winners trained at his track was exceptionally high. No, he did not have any figures.. . Belmont Park is apparently turning away from the carriage trade to the more affluent subway patrons. Large, attractive, multi-colored signs in each subway car proclaim the fact that JSelmont Park will hold its annual spring meeting this year. At private terms, Fred Marshall, acting for Mrs. J. N. Loeb, acquired from C. T. Chenery the three-year-old maiden, Monte Casino. Dave Gorman, fortified with train and plane tickets, delayed his departure for Louisville, to finish out his Friday riding chores. . Sol Rutchick "blew the plane" to Louisville to saddle Count Turf for J. J. Amiel in the Derby. Pressure of work at Jamaica during the morning hours kept him busy and, before he realized it, the air wagon was flown out from nearby LaGuardia Field. . Trainer James Fitzsimmons reported the death of the two-year-old filly, Maracanda, from pneumonia. The miss was by Count Fleet, from Maraschino, and owned by the Belair Stud. John C. Clark, of Hialeah, plans to remain in this area for several days before returning to his Binghamton, N. Y., home. . . Bill Hastings, the veteran handicapper and Jamaica regular, will enter the Mary Immaculate Hospital next week for a "firing job." He is troubled with varicose veins. There was a touch of frost in the centerfield when the first horse showed up on the track at Jamaica this morning. The time was 5:00 a. m. and it was not May weather.. . ."Chief" Feltner, trainer for the Continued on Page Thirty-Six Connors Corner — j Continued from Page Three horses owned by Gustave Ring, who has ■ a Brahma steer as a stable mascot, will, in the near future, issue some invitations for a barbecue. The pet is about ready to | be divided up into T-bone steaks and prime i roast beef. . . . The overnight condition book : for the Belmont Park meeting opening on Monday, May 14, was distributed today. Five stakes are on the agenda for the "first week, with 7,500 as prize monies. The selections for Monday are NO- | THIRDCHANCE in the fifth, SHEILAS REWARD in the sixth and CAT BRIDGE in the eighth. I
