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R E F L E C T I O N S * NELSON DUNSTAN j NEW YORK, N. Y., May 28.— Memorial Day has always been a high spot in American racing, and this year England joins, with us by staging her most colorful race, the Epsom Derby on that date. Important races will be run at tracks from Coast to Coast on the holiday, and while most of them will be for three- year-olds and older horses, the Jersey Handicap at Garden State Park and Peabody Memorial at the Lincoln Fields meeting near Chicago are likely to throw some light on the sophomore situation. In New York, the time-honored Suburban Handicap for three-year-olds and older horses is likely to prove the thriller that it has on so many occasions through the years of the present century. Last year, a throng of 51,864 was present when A. G. Vanderbilts Loser Weeper was a neck winner over My Request with the odds-on favorite, Hill Prince, finishing third. It was a disastrous race for the Chenery colt, who was later to be voted the champion of his age and sex, for it placed him on the sidelines for a long spell. In the sixty-fifth running on Wednesday, the Brook-meade Stables Greek Ship, who was something of a giant-killer as a three-year-old, has been assigned top weight of 126 pounds. He faces a tough assignment in being asked to give weight to such horses as Lights Up, County Delight and Three Rings, to mention only three. AAA Delaware Park throws open its gates tomorrow for a 32-day meeting and, with the closing of Garden State Park in New Jersey, the popular Wilmington track will be without opposition in the Philadelphia-Baltimore area until July 4. The mid-week feature is the .Christiana Stakes, which is for two-year-old colts and geldings at Memorial Day High Point of Season Epsom Derby to Have 176th Running Greek Ship Faces Acid Test in Suburban Weights for Jersey Study in Handicaps five furlongs. This will be the first of v14 stakes which will-have~35,000 added. Four events will be for steeplechasers, as this track, since its first meeting in 1937, has been a bulwark .of jump racing liere in the East. The richest stake will be the 0,000 New Castle Handicap which, at one and one-quarter miles, will be run on June 30. It is for fillies and mares three years old and older. In a comparatively few years, Delaware Park has become one of the most important courses in the East, and in these days of commercialism has endeavored to uphold the "sporting" traditions of our forefathers. With racings constant increase in popularity, this could be the most successful meeting staged since the track came into existence. No less than 975 horses were nominated for the 14 stakes, so good-sized fields are assured. AAA Ty Sheas weights for the 0,000 Jersey Handicap, which will bfr run at Garden State Park on Wednesday, are an interesting study of the three-year-old division as it stands today. A month ago, no handicapper in the country would have thought of placing Count Turf on top with 126 pounds. He is followed by Uncle Miltie, Battle Morn and Yildiz at 120 pounds each, and then Alerted, Counterpoint and Repetoire at 119 each. Probably there never has been a season when the Experimental Handicap had to undergo such complete revision as was the case this year. Following the Jersey, the Peter Pan Handicap will be run at Belmont on June 9, and, a week later, the 00,000 Belmont Stakes will at least be a milestone for members of that division. The Belmont, in our opinion, will be just as "open" as the Kentucky Derby and Preakness were for the simple reason that there still will be a question of which sophomores can negotiate one and one-half miles, While some people are grumbling about the muddled three-year-old ranks, it wouldnot surprise us if the Belmont drew a huge throng-on June 16. AAA Judge Charley Hatton recently pointed out that the handicap division "appears to be spread rather thin at the moment." This will probably be more apparent with the opening of Delaware Park and the departure of eastern horses to California for the Hollywood Gold Cup and to Chicago when Arlington Park throws open its gates on June 18. Following the running of the Suburban Handicap, the Brookmeade Stable will ship a division to the California track, and one of these horses is Greek Ship. Another likely starter in the Suburban, who will ship West, is Great Circle, winner of the Maturity at Santa Anita. Oh paper, the Hollywood Gold Cup, which was won by Noor last year, shapes up again as one of the most colorful handicaps of the year. With a guarantee of 00,000 to the winner, the race has attracted all of the older stars now in training in the Golden State, including Moonrush, winner of the Santa Anita Handicap. Citation is an eligible, and with his present earnings of 39,060, this event could make him the first horse to pass the ,000,000 mark in earnings. Although he was out of the money for the first time in his last start, he did show some improvement over his Continued on Page Fourteen REFLECTIONS I By NELSON DUNSTAN Continued from Page Forty-Four previous efforts. Whether he can cope with the field he will oppose in the Gold Clip this "writer doubts. AAA The week-end feature at Belmont will be the 0,000 Coaching Club American Oaks which, at a mile and three furlongs, is a searching test for three-year-old fillies. No less than 74 members of that sex and age were nominated for this event, which has been won by champion fillies of former years. With few exceptions, the 23 who ran in the two divisions of the Acorn Stakes last Wednesday are named for Saturdays race, and indications point to a good-sized field. Kiss Me Kate and No-thirdchance, winners of the two divisions of the Acorn, earned their right to* start, and so, too, did Wisteria and Jacodema, along with Gorgeous Reded, Vulcania, Sweet Talk and How. The latter, winner of the Kentucky Oaks, finished fifth in the second division of the Acorn, While many thought she did not like the going on the sloppy track, Herman Delman, her owner, tells us she threw a shoe in the early stages of the race. When Eddie Arcaro was informed of the mishap, he said, "I knew something must have been wrong with her, for she was a very different filly from the one I rode in Kentucky." While making no predictions, Delman stated that he expected How to show to much better advantage in the Coaching Club.
