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Distance Runners Meet in Tomasello Tilenny Seen Choice Oyer Abstract, First Nighter, Cup King and All At Once By AVERY BROWN Staff Correspondent SUFFOLK DOWNS, East Boston, Mass., May 29. — The fourteenth running of the nine-furlong Tomasello Memorial Handicap highlights the best program of nine races offered in New England this year and should attract a large holiday crowd to Suffolk Downs tomorrow. Ten top distance runners are slated to vie for the ,500 added prize. Anthony Cataldos Tilenny, Who just a year ago made the headlines with a startling upset of Brandwine Stables Cochise in the event, will be seeking ■ his second in a row. Tomorrows test does not appear near as difficult for the son of Selalbeda but he will have to be at his best and can not afford to make any mistakes. The complete line-up to meet Tilenny is • made up of M and M Farms Lambent, Cobble Stables Abstract, Cherry Ocas First Nighter, J. W. Nizleks All At Once, Bar-Sue Stables Outland, Oakhurst Farms Brick, Ralph Lowes Regal, Mrs. Henry Nias Cup King and E. E Craigs Peace Mission. First Nighter and Cup King are New York invaders. Abstract has been assigned top impost of 117 pounds for the Tomasello but the manner in which the Isolater five-year-old has been performing locally will have to be greatly improved to make up for the eight pounds he is obliged to concede to Tilenny. Although Tilenny has failed to win a race since his seasonal debut earlier in the meeting, the Cataldo star has been displaying steady improvement and served notice last Saturday that he is ready for a return to winning form. In that race, the Puritan Handicap, Tilenny lost considerable ground on the extreme outside of a mile and one-sixteenth event only to fail by a neck in catching Phil Schwartz Charleston. Off Track Held Likely The prospect of an "off" track is very probable and Tilenny has always been at his best in mud. It was a sloppy track last year, when he annexed the most important triumph of his career. Cataldo is going along with the hard riding apprentice, .Charles Burr, who was Tilennys pilot in the Puritan. There is no doubt that Abstract holds a trace of class. The son of Isolater — Strange Device won a starting berth in last years Pimllco Special by virtue of his triumph in the Washington Handicap at Laurel. In addition to that victory, Abstract was second in the Southern Maryland at Bowie and third in the Bryan and OHara Memorial Handicap, also at the Maryland oval. In six starts this season, Abstract has accounted for a pair of victories. Cup King arrived here fresh from a score at Belmont Park, where on May 14, he defeated Extinguisher and Aegina at a mile. It was only the third start of the season for the Contradiction colt and with his sophomore year serving as the background in determinging his class, he appears well suited at 110 pounds. Winning twice as a three-year-old, Cup King raced with such stalwarts as Your Host, Lights Up and Ferd. The most impressive race turned in last year by Cup King was at Delaware Park when he scored a front-running victory at the "direct expense of the highly regarded, Adopt. FirsJ Nighter must be considered only a threat if the track is muddy. This son of Eight Thirty holds a triumph in the Massachusetts Handicap back in 1949, when he astounded the racing world to upset Going Away, Michigan m. and Assault over a muddy racing strip. His trips to the winners circle have been few and far between since that memorable afternoon. First Nighter gets in the Tomasello with 112 pounds. All At Once has the class to debate the issue in the mile and a furlong test but recently the son of Grand Slam has been displaying signs of going sour. He may have been raced too strenuously, going postward 16 times this year at varied distances. Last Saturday, All At Once established the pace in the Puritan Handicap but wilted when the real test came. His victory in a division of the Inaugural Purse at Hialeah Park last winter is his main claim to fame this year. Last fall he scored a surprising upset in the Empire City Handicap at Jamaica.
