view raw text
BETWEEN RACES * «e« -ore HOLLYWOOD PARK, Inglewood, Calif., May 24. — Admitted that this is an unusual three-year-old year, the discussions under way of the advisability of taking some of the myth out of the mythical "Triple Crown" are still a matter of interest. Whether anything will come of the suggestion tion that that has has been been made, made, namely, namely, tion that that has has been been made, made, namely, namely, that one entry blank be issued to enable horsemen to name a horse for all three races, the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes, remains to be seen. However, some people in high turf positions think it a good idea, and that by making a three-year-old eligible for the entire series instead of race-by-race, something worthwhile could be accomplished for racing as a whole. Actually, to make the "Triple Crown" a more cohesive unit would require only two things, a willingness on the part of the three managements concerned, and changing the conditions of the Belmont and/or the Preakness and Kentucky Derby. The Belmont bars geldings, whereas the Derby and the Preakness do not. We understand that Pimlicq would be willing to go along with Belmont on the barring of geldings, and it is believed some support could be found in Kentucky, as Churchill Downs is, in a way, the home and center of the American breeding industry. Geldings, of course,* cannot improve the breed, but even so, their admittance to competition is of some value in determining the merits of the seasons three-year-old crop. AAA Regardless of the outcome of these discussions by "Brownie" Leach of Churchill Downs, Dave Woods of Pimlico, and Bob Kelley of Belmont Park preparatory to More tohesive Triple Crown Is Envisioned Ponder Uniformity of Entries, Conditions May Abandon Early Closing for Preakness . More Pliable Conditions Made Derby Great ■ presenting a plan to their respective managements, we dare say there will be some changes made in the conditions of the Preakness for 1953. At present, nominations are made for the Preakness, 0 each, when the coltsnd fillies are yearlings, to be specific, in September. Another eligibility fee of 5 is payable the following August, still another of 00 on January 15, when the nominees turn three, arid the middle of April supplementary nominations close, those wishing to nominate at that time paying ,250 each. It is rather complicated, and the Preakness in past years has lost many valuable horses it might otherwise have had because of its early closing. The Kentucky Derby has but one. closing date, February 15, while the Belmont closes in January. AAA The conditions of the Preakness will be modified to make it, like the Derby and the Belmont, a later closing stake. One other change at Pimlico already has been decreed, the shifting of the Black-Eyed Susan, the new name for the Pimlico Oaks, back to a mile and one-sixteenth. The Susan did not draw a representative field this year simply because the distance was too far for too little money 0,000 added and too early in the year, especially with the 0,000 Coaching Club American Oaks in the offing at Belmont. Pimlico thinks it will get the top three-year-old fillies by shortening the distance to the old Oaks standard, and while the money may not be too important, the prestige value of the race will insure a number of top starters. This year, the prestige value did not warrant the extra furlong. AAA With the exception of the introduction to the American racing calendar of the 00,000 Maturity at Santa Anita, the trend has been away from early closing stakes. There was a maturity at Jerome Park, originated by the American Jockey Club, and it had 12 runnings as a fall feature. In 1869, its inaugural resulted in a walk-over for Abd-El-Kader. It was for four-year-olds at three miles. Prior to 1878, weights were colts, 108, fillies and geldings, 105. After 1878, colts were required to carry 118 and geldings 115. In 1870, the race was won by Glenelg, owned by August Belmont, and it drew only two starters. The largest field in all 12 runnings numbered seven starters. The Belmont, until comparatively recent years, was an early closing race, and it almost ruined the stake as a championship test, which it professes to be, becausewhen the roll was called the good ones would be missing. As in the case of Reigh Count, his name was not on the roster, or his fees were not kept up to date. Result was short fields and often boring contests. AAA There is one school which holds that the Kentucky Derby is the number one race attraction in America because of all the "Triple Crown" races, its conditions are the most pliable. The Belmont had but three starters in 1919, two in 1920, four in 1921 and 1922, six in 1927 and six in 1928, when Vito won, with some of the great horses of America ,on the sidelines because of ineligibility. The Preakness had penalties and conditions until 1924 when the Maryland Jockey Club* wisely made it a set Continued on Page Thirty-Nine BETWEEN RACES By OSCAR OTIS Continued from Page FortyEight weight event, and brought it partially up to Kentucky Derby specifications. There seems no sense in having a "Triple Crown," emblematic of the sophomore championship, if it is not possible to have the best horses in America engaged. The Preakness has saved itself time and time again through costly supplemental nominations. Handicaps and penalty races have never been considered true championship tests. In the 1923 running of the Preakness, for instance, Vigil won under 114 pounds and the really good General Thatcher was second, and in the 1920 running Man o War was penalized to 126 pounds, while the third horse, Wildair, got in with 114 pounds. The Preakness really began to go places, as a race to determine championship qualifications of its starters, when the penalty and allowance factors were discarded. In modern American racing, the only early closing races that have claimed any degree of success have been the Futurities, and those mostly in the East, more specifically in New York. Weight-for-age races for four-year-olds and older horses amount to next to nothing. The weight-for-age has tremendous value, however, in the spring for three-year-olds. We rather think the changes in the Preakness will be for .the better, and if it is possible for the three "Triple Crown" tracks to work in closer cooperation to give the series the full prestige it deserves so much the better for-racing. Change is not to be resisted as such. After all, the distance of the Belmont has been changed some nine times, and this has not detracted from its appeal today.
