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ie second secona jewel jewel oi of * ► Connors .Corner By "CHUCK" CONNORS Chief of Chart Correspondents—— PIMLICO, Baltimore, Md., May 17.— With the Preakness moving into the week-end picture picture to to round round out out th the ie second secona jewel jewel oi of picture picture to to round round out out th the the "Triple Crown," the starting field for that stake is not overburdened with greatness. The race, nevertheless, should be an interesting one, and, no doubt, will give the boys and girls several talking points oh which to compare it to the Derby and then leave a whole lot of conjecture ture for for the the Belmont Belmont ture for for the the Belmont Belmont Stakes to be decided in June. John H. Clark, tub thumper at Keeneland, ambassador at large for all thoroughbred products of the Blue Grass country, be it horses or racing, has decided that this years running of the Derby should not be dismissed in an offhand way. Clark gathered about him a taff. of assistants and delved into research work and came up with some interesting data. In outlining his objective on this score, he writes, "Our reasons for doing this study is fairly obvious. From a time standpoint — that is the only way that the race can be judged at this time for quality — it was a good race." Clarks tabulated figures, as he analyzed the race from a time standpoint, covered a goodly span. Breaking down the fractional times, he takes his first quarter-mile. Three starters, Dominant, Olympic and Your Host, sped this distance in :22%, while Bubbling Over, Mata Hari and Plat Eye, in their respective years, were timed in :23. War Admiral, Count Fleet and Hoop Jr. were steadied along in :23% while on the head end. The fastest second quarters on record are Dispose, in :23; Coaltown, on a sloppy track, in :23and. The fastest third-quarter saw Count Fleet, Count Turfs sire, turn the distance iri :24; with Ladder in 1931 next in :24%. The* fastest fourth-quarter, and here is where* Count Turf loomed into the picture, was timed in :24%, two-fifths faster than his noted sire; who with War Admiral and Omaha, had shown such high speed. The fastest final quarter on record is held by Wbirlaway, when, in 1941, he was timed in. a flatf24 seconds. Count. Turf took :25%-to negotiate this part of the journey. Whirlaway sped the full route in 2:01%, while Mid-dleground took one-fifth of a second, longer. Count Turf was one second and one-fifth away from the Calumet stars time. Yet he raced the distance faster than War Admiral, Old Rosebud, Bold Venture, Bubbling Over, Cavalcade, George Smith, Pensive, Behave Yourself, Count -Fleet, Shut Out, Morvich, Omar -Khayyam, Lawrin and Donerail. For sheer high speed, however. Count Fleet, in 1943, showed the boys something. He put in two fast furlongs in his race, the j second: and fifth, in :10% and under 126 | pounds-in. May is something to boast about. Coaltown, on a sloppy track, his stablemate, Citation was the winner, put in two furlongs, second and third, in which is highly commendable. Jimmy Ross, of Bowie, made the trek to the track early.- He was forced to double in brass during the day, first as master of ceremonies at the yearling show and secondly in making the presentation to the winner of the featured race" of the after-nooriT. . . Mr. and Mrs. George D. Widener are deserting Belmont Park for the Preakness. Following" the running of the big event they are scheduled to leave for New York. . . . Mr. and Mrs. Wallace Gilroy, she races Timely Reward in charge of George M.Odom.-are among the early arrivals for the big week-end event. . . . Mrs. Dodge Sloane is scheduled to arrive Saturday to witness her Bold start in the Preakness. She is at present in New York. . . . Years ago racing was known "as the sport of :kings. A glance through the ownership list of the Preakness starters says that it is not so. Two-thirds of the expected starters race in the silks of women. . . .. The only international flavor injected into • the Preakness is that two of the jockeys, Ted Atkinson and Hedley" Wood-house, were born iri Canada. . . . Joe Stevens, of the noted catering clan, reported that he and his associates are ready- for the crowd. Wednesday night, a buffet was tossed by the Maryland -breeders in the old clubhouse and a good time was had by all. Humphrey Finney, one of the landmarks of Maryland racing, was out early to supervise the staging of the annual t yearling show. Among those missing at the scene was Jim Fitzsimmons, who for many years served as one of the judges. ... Danny Shea, -an old hand at horse Continued on Page Thirty-Four Connors Corner Continued from Page Five shows as a participant and official, was among the early visitors at the yearling parade. He was on hand to pick up a few tips, for he will serve as a judge at several this coming summer, in the Pennsylvania countryside. . . . The New York jockey invaders who have mounts in the Preakness are not expected until Saturday morning. The trip from Bag-dad-on-the-subway can be made to this track in a hurry. • • • Washington officialdom will be well represented over the week-end according to the reservation lists. John Gaver supervised the final blowouts of the Greentree pair for the big race. . . . Trainer Syl Veitch reported that Ray Adair would be astride C. V. Whitneys Counterpoint and not Dave Gorman. The latter will be seen under colors on a starter in the Metropolitan at Belmont Park. . . . The blanket of black-eyed Susans draped about the winning thoroughbreds neck are not the real McCoy. The posies are artificially colored by local florists. The real black-eyed susans do not come into bloom until late in June. . . . There will be no steeplechase offerings Friday or Saturday. The infield is in readiness for an overflow crowd. . . Jouett Shouse, of the diplomatic set, was on hand to lend support to his Cinda in the Back Again Purse. The starters in the dash were shown at last years yearling show Murray Heagerty, father of Daily Racing Forms Palmer, is convalescing from an attack of pneumonia. The doctors forbade him to attend the Preakhess and the absence will be his first in several decades. . . . The Preakness brochure, designed and written by Dave Woods and Alice Doughton, is a collectors item. The pages are crammed with data relative to the old track and its racing offerings. . . . According to its research but one black horse, Coventry, ever won the Preakness. He was owned by the late" Gif-ford Cochran and trained by William Duke. . . . The weather forecasts for the Preakness are cloudy and cooler weather, with rain due late Saturday night. The selections are: EAST IS EAST in second; CAMPER in fifth and NICKIE C, in the eighth.
