view raw text
m—m*— REFLECTIONS--* NfLS0N °unstan. NEW YORK, N. Y., June 22.— During the past week, a few of the divisions have straightened out, so far as temporary champions are concerned. Winning the Peter Pan Handicap and Belmont Stakes, Counterpoint became the ranking three-year-old colt. On Wednesday, Busanda Busanda asserted asserted her her claim claim to to the the m—m*— Busanda Busanda asserted asserted her her claim claim to to the the championship of older fillies and mares when, after defeating horses in the Suburban Handicap, she won the Top Flight Handicap impressively. In the latter race, she scored over Herman B. Delmans How, the three-year-old who took the honors in the Kentucky Oaks and the Coaching Club American Oaks, in which she defeated the best of her age and sex in training in the East. The 0,000 New Castle Handicap, which will be run at Delaware Park on June 30, now shapes up as one of the most important events in the immediate offing. At one and one-quarter miles, this Wilmington race will bring forth the older fillies and mares, Busanda, Heading Home, Jazz Baby and others, while the three-year-olds are likely to be How, iiss Me Kate, Signal, Vulcania and Jacodema. A meeting between How and Kiss Me Kate, who won the Delaware Oaks, will settle the issue among three-year-old fillies here in the East, even though they will later have to defeat Sickles Image who won the Cleopatra Stakes at Arlington Park on Wednesday. AAA There is no such thing as a "breather" for three-year-olds in these late days of June. After the running of tomorrows Kent Stakes at Delaware Park, and the Select Handicap at Monmouth Park, there are rich events for the sophomores at Arlington Park, Hollywood Park and Division Championships Slowly Shaping Busanda Has Claim to Filly, Mare Crown Dwyer Shapes Up as Top Sophomore Race Belmont Racing Strip Pleases Trainers Aqueduct, where the 0,000 Shevlin Stakes will be run a week hence. The Shevlin is a prep race for the 0,000 Dwyer Stakes, which will be run at Aqueduct two weeks from tomorrow. George D. Widener stated yesterday, "We were quite satisfied with Battlefields second to Counterpoint in the Belmont, especially as so many people doubted he would go one and one-half miles. We are now pointing him for the Shevlin and then the Dwyer. We will wait until those two races are run before we decide on his future campaign." Counterpoint is not eligible for the Shevlin, but among those named are Count Turf, the Kentucky Derby winner; Bold, the Preak-ness winner, and Timely Reward, Sonic, Alerted, Nullify, Big Stretch and many others. The Dwyer promises to be a whale of a race for three-year-olds, for on the list are Count Turf, Bold, Uncle Miltie, Battlefield and Counterpoint. That will be a horse race. AAA During the Belmont meeting just closed, there was some complaint that the racing strip was too hard for the horses. There is probably no group in the world harder to please than trainers. We heard the same charge about Santa Anita last winter, and there is hardly a track in the United States, which at some time, has not been condemned for the hardness of its surface. Belmont Park has always been considered one of the safest racing strips in the world. It is strange that after the 1950 racing season there was no dissatisfaction. At the end of the 1950 spring meeting, 26 horses by actual count, pulled up lame. This year, there were only nine, and it was a meeting of 34 days. On Wednesday, the day of the Top Flight Handicap, we queried several trainers at Belmont and not one thought the Belmont strip was any different than it was a year ago. Bill Knapp, trainer of Three Rings, said, "Any such statement is ridiculous." Max Hirsch, who is one of the severest critics of tracks and he admits it stated, "The Belmont strip has never been better — it is the best track I have ever known." George Cassidy, who has been starting races in New York for many races, said, "If anything, it is better this year than it was a year ago. Step on it, as I do during every race, and you will find it is like a cushion. In my opinion, it is the safest race track I know." AAA While Arthur Godfrey was clowning in a Roman toga on his television show the other night, he injected a serious note into the proceedings by introducing Arthur McCashin, manager of the United States equestrian team. As many readers know, the United States Government sold all the horses that were stationed at West Point two years ago. That was the end of the Army polo team and also the horse team. A year ago at Madison Square Garden, the opening of the National Horse Show saw the American flag in front, but it was escorted by Canadians. At the Olympic Games in Helsinki in 1952, there will be teams from Mexico, Chile, Eire, Canada, France, England and other lands, but there will be no American team unless the funds are raised by horse-loving people of this Continued on Page Thirty-Seven j REFLECTIONS By NELSON DUNSTAN Continued from Page Forty-Eight country. The sum of 76,000 is needed to send the team, with about 20 horses, grooms, etc., to the 1952 Olympic Games. To date, only 2,000 has been collected. If you can contribute to this fund, we urge that you send your check or money order, regardless of the amount, to the United States Equestrian Team, 2234 Decatur Place, Washington, D. C. This team is worthy of the support of every one who takes pride in our country. AAA Vancouver. British Columbia, is a far, far cry from the major centers of racing in the United States, but the turf sport is universal, and it operates under virtually the same fundamental conditions everywhere. That being the case, authorities in this country might well take heed of a distressing development in the hinterlands of Canada. The British Columbia Turf and Country Club, which operates Lansdowne Park, was unable to open its meeting as scheduled because it could not meet the purse demands of the horsemen and pay an excessive tax. The horsemen insisted upon a 50 purse minimum. The club offered 50. Finally the horsemen capitulated after the track had been shut down for three days. Chief Justice Wendell B. Farris of the Supreme Court was appointed by the attorney-general of British Columbia to arbitrate the dispute. Justice Farris placed the entire" blame on the government. After meeting with the horsemen and management, the Chief Justice issued a statement, flatly declaring the government was "away out of line in milking racing dry and not leaving enough for tracks to operate at a decent profit and at the same time offer adequate purses." Racing in British Columbia may be small scale compared with standards in this country, but what happened there could happen here, where various state legislatures are prone to be increasingly greedy and impose heavier taxes — levies beyond capacity to pay — and horsemen press unreasonable demands. The British Columbia situation presents an object lesson, for racing there was caught in a two-way squeeze. The pressure of the government on the one hand and the pressure of the horsemen on the other resulted in a loss to everybody concerned — the province, the owners, the track and the racegoing public.
