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r ; Field of Eight Expected for Preakness; Proposed Jubilee Stakes Is Called Off i i Count Turfs Illness Prompts* Latter Decision; Greentrees Pair Due at Pimlico Today By OSCAR OTIS PIMLICO, Baltimore, Md., May 14. — Preakness week was ushered in here today with the not entirely unexpected announcement that the proposed Jubilee Stakes, a race calculated to bring the leaders in the Kentucky Derby into combat with the first four horses across the line in the Preakness Stakes, had been canceled. Gen. Milton A. Reckord, executive head of the ancient Maryland Jockey Club, regretfully made the decision to forget all about the proposed 0,000 match, originally planned to be run a week from Saturday, one week after the Preakness, when it became known that Count Turf, winner of the Kentucky Derby, would be unable to compete. Sam Wilson, Jr., owner of Royal Mustang, had expressed a desire to race in the Jubilee, but also said he would rather train exclusively for the Belmont. Ruhe, the third horse in the Derby, is in Chicago, and Phil D., fourth, is temporarily on the shelf. The Jubilee special seemed like a good idea at the time it was proposed, inasmuch as the first five horses to finish in the Kentucky Derby were not Preakness eli- ► - _ gibles. It would have been, had it materialized, - a "dream race," but as cicumstances s turned out, it simply was not in the cards. ;. The cancellation of the Jubilee special ,1 did clear the future of any uncertainty and 3 allowed fans to concentrate on the business s at hand, namely, the seventy-fifth, diamond - jubilee running of the Preakness s itself. Racing secretary Charles McLennan was s counting equine noses this morning, and i expressed the opinion that a field of at t least eight would go postward. Battlefield -i has been quite properly counted out, and i while there is some sort of a chance that a stablemate, Knowitall, might be a starter, that prospect is rather dim at best. Four of the Preakness probables are on l the grounds and are either racing or training. The other contenders are due in from I New York either tomorrow or Wednesday v to take their final training licks over the ? Pimlico soil. Pimlico officials were getting ready to 3 welcome the Greentree pair, Hall of Fame e and Big Stretch, in the morning. C. V. Whitneys Counterpoint will have a drill in the morning at Belmont, and is expected to make the trek southward on Wednesday. • Timely Reward also is expected to check in Wednesday morning. Although the Preakness field has dwin- Continued on Page Three I I j Field of Eight Expected for Preakness; Proposed Jubilee Stakes Is Called Off d s g r t r t p ft s 0 0 v n D £ to n t ti y v c «* d 0 n n E * . n r, m *. ™ E is a b i. in tJ tl fi u ti -. -. ■ o: u.. ° „i s u •., "■ rj p» bl ti ■or _ V rt tl the ai r« his Count Turfs Illness Prompts t Tl Latter Decision; Greentrees Pair Due at Pimlico Today ] i Continued from Page One died to a workable .eight from a field of some 20 potentials less than a week ago, , there has been no loss of interest in the race. Indeed, perhaps just the reverse is I true. A field of eight will make for a truly run contest, and Pimlico expects one of the largest crowds in recent years. ! There were no works this morning on the ! part of Preakness candidates. Mrs. Nora J Mikells Repetoire has been training lightly since his arrival from Louisville. He worked on Saturday, has been walked and galloped J over the week-end. Repetoire left Louis- ville a fit horse, and it will take only a minimum of drilling to have him at his * peak on Saturday. Trainer Al Jensen plans give Repetoire an easy mile tomorrow t morning. * Fans who saw the Derby will recall that ] Repetoire ran an excellent race for nine of i the 10 furlongs, then faded from contention on "heartbreak highway," that last 220 i yards of the Churchill Downs stretch. It | was "heartbreak highway" to everyone but s Count Turf, who found it rather a lane to j glory. Repetoire is certain to draw a great l deal of public support in the Preakness if ] only for the reason that this race is at a mile and three-sixteenths as against a full ] mile and a quarter that prevailed in the Derby. Jockey Sammy Boulmetis checked in i from Garden State Park this morning and 1 secured the mount on Alerted in the Preak- • ness Prep. Should the Hampton Stable i representative perform creditably, it seems c likely that Boulmetis will ride in Saturdays race. j Trainers Max Hirsch, of Sonic, and Pres- i ton Burch, of Bold, were at the track this £ morning early checking their charges. £ Burch will return to New York tonight, but t due here again Thursday morning. In his i absence, the Brookmeade division on the grounds will be in charge of his first lieu- e tenant, Joe Kramer. c To return to the cancellation of the Ju- I bilee Stakes, for which the Maryland t Jockey Club was willing to put up 0,000 r purse money, it may be said that even £ though the race is now definitely off, the c thinking of the Maryland Club officials on the matter has gained it many friends throughout the nation. Letters began to i pour in today congratulating the club for e making a good try for a race which not c only would have been a credit to Pimlico, i is but to the entire turf as well. | General Reckord issued the following statement about the cancellation: | it "The Jubilee Stakes was prompted en- c tirely by a sincere desire on the part of the I Maryland Jockey club to give the Maryland r racing public an opportunity to see in com- I petition what promised to be one of the r best fields of three-year-olds in the coun- f try. From the very outset the special race t was a calculated risk, both in getting the r Derby horses to come to Pimlico for the o of race and in the outlay of 0,000 as the purse for the event. a "Specifically, here is what happened to t first four Derby horses: n "Count Turf has been running a fever lj and coughing ever since his return from p Churchill Downs. He has not been out of stall for four days. "Sam Wilson, Jr., owner of Royal Mus- ft j * ; c l J * 1 J j is J ■ - * x c l J l v ■ J t ] i i | s j l ] ] i 1 • i c j i £ £ t i e c I t r £ c i e c i is | | it c I r I r f t r o of a t n lj p ft stang, was the first to express a willing- ness to run in the Jubilee Stakes but would prefer to train solely for the Belmont Stakes on June 16. "Mrs. Emil Denemark, owner of Ruhe who finished third in the Derby, up to this time has not made a definite decision about the Jubilee Stakes since the prob- able starting field could not possibly have been known until after the running of the Preakness on Saturday. "Phil D., who finished fourth in the Derby, suffered an injury in that race and will be out of training for several weeks. "If the Jubilee Stakes had become a reality, we would have accomplished a most difficult feat, but certainly a most worthy one, well worth the effort and cost, both for the public and for the entire sport of horse racing. "At the same time, we feel that the Dia- mond Jubilee Preakness Stakes on this Saturday has considerably increased in stature because the probable starting field at this time represents the best horses of the three-year-old division with racing fitness. "I would particularly like to acknowl- edge with thanks the expressed willingness of the owners of Count Turf and Royal k Mustang to meet the first four horses in the Preakness, as well as the almost unani- / mous acclaim which the proposed Jubilee Stakes received from owners and trainers of horses and from the general public. This * was most gratifying to us. We are con- vinced that we made a good effort and a F popular one. On the basis of this experi- * ence we will continue to present the kind £ of racing, even special events, when there " an opportunity, that will appeal to the r public and the horsemen." ° The Maryland Jockey Club stated that C had received confirmation from Sol Rut-chick, trainer of Count Turf, that the • horse has not been out of his stall since his return to New York from Churchill Downs. Officials pointed out that by win- £ ning the Kentucky Derby, Count Turf qualified for the Pimlico Special to be run in tl the fall, and that trainer Rutchick said S he considered that race a major objective P the colts fall campaign. ei The Preakness winner this Saturday will n also qualify for the Pimlico Special and a thus set up many months in advance a sj meeting of the two horses which the Mary- o: of land Jockey Club hoped could be accom- T plished on May 26. n le BELMONT PARK, Elmont, L. I., N. Y., si May 14. — Trainer John M. Gaver reported di tl S P ei n a sj o: of T n le si di this morning that the Greentree pair, Big Stretch and Hall of Fame, would leave for Pimlico tomorrow to fill their Preakness engagements. They were tested over the main track here this morning at the mile and one furlong distance and turned in satisfactory chores. Atkinson will ride one the starters, which will be decided later. Trainer Syl Veitch of the C. V. Whitney menage stated that Counterpoint would leave on Wednesday for Pimlico with the same race in view. This fellow will be ridden by Dave Gorman.
