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REFLECTIONS Ry NELS0N dunstan NEW YORK, N. Y, June 25.— This years three-year-old crop is not the best, nor is it the worst in the past quarter century. But it is the most interesting, and that is likely to prove true for a greater part of the season. Only three . horses can be winners of "Triple Crown" events and that has been the case this season. There are many other races and many sophomores who are capable of winning at the shorter distances, and the Greentree Stable gave proof of this when Hall of Fame won the Kent Stakes at Delaware and Northern Star took the honors in the Select Handicap at Monmouth. Between them, this pair contributed almost 2,000 to the Greentree coffers, and at the same time registered victories that will count in their score when the season is summarized. This week-end, Aqueduct will offer the Shevlin Stakes, and out at Hollywood Park the Westerner will be run. On July 4, Delaware will feature the Leonard Richard Stakes, which also is exclusively for three-year-olds. The 0,000 Dwyer Stakes at Aqueduct on July 7, is the next big objective of the top three-year-olds, and that race, like the Arlington Classic on July 21, will tally heavily in the championship ratings. But there are many other events of importance for members of this division. Before the "Triple Crown" races, we call them "preps." After those events, they become "consolations" in a sense, but most of them have been good horse races. AAA Steeplechasing is having a good season, and one of its most interesting phases to date is that the veteran Elk-ridge may be a starter in the Georgetown Steeplechase Handicap, the mid-week feature at Delaware Park. Now Three-Year-Olds Offering Best Racing Preps, Then Consolations Good Races Chaser Elkridge May Write History Sheilas Reward Proves Old Turf Adage 13 years old, Elkridge has had two firsts, two seconds and a third in this event since 1942. He won the last two runnings, and the racing world would be happy to see him make it three in a row. But if there is one race that the name of Elkridge will always be associated with, it is the Indian River Steeplechase Handicap, which will be run at Delaware on July 3. Elkridge won this race for the first time as a four-year-old in 1942, repeated the victory as a seven-year-old in 1945 and then scored three successive victories in 1948, 1949 and 1950. Should he win it this year, he will have performed one of the greatest feats in any country, for we doubt that the records will reveal any horse of his age winning four successive runnings of a flat or steeplechase event. Exterminator was a seven-year-old when he entered the winners circle for his fourth consecutive victory in the Saratoga Cup, and Brown Jack was nine years old when he won his sixth consecutive running of the Queen Alexandria Plate. Through the years, geldings such as Exterminator, Brown Jack and Armed have been idols of the fans. With the possible exception of Stymie, there has been no more popular racer lately than Kent Millers Elkridge. AAA The old expression, "You never know how far a horse will go, until you try him" was verified when Sheilas Reward won the Queens County Handicap at Aqueduct the past week-end. As a three-year-old in 1950, this horse, who is owned by Mrs. Louis Lazare and trained by Eugene Jacobs, had never gone beyond seven furlongs. He was in the money in 15 of his 17 starts and on that record was voted the best sprinter of the year. There was always some hesitancy in extending him at a distance beyond a mile, and in the five races which preceded the Queens County at one and one-sixteenth miles, he started in six-furlong dashes. Saturday he reveled in the sloppy going. Taking the lead at the start, he was never headed, and although it was thought that Lights Np would catch him in the stretch drive, the Lazare colt held his own to win by two lengths of daylight. When yearling buyers start scanning the record of a sire, whose youngsters are to be offered in the sales ring, there is nothing more influential than a good winner at this time of the year. Sheilas Reward is a big feather in the cap of Reaping Reward, who was eleventh on the twenty leading sires list of 1950. Last year, this stallion had no less than 89 performers who earned the sum of 21,698. Reaping Reward will be well represented at Keeneland, and breeders selling his get are Cave Spring Farm, Coldstream Stud, Grant A. Dorland, Mereworth Farm and others. AAA A. G. Vanderbilt has had more than his share of hard luck this season. At Santa Anita, Bed o Roses, one of the gamest fillies of the decade, was sent to the sidelines with an injured foot. After his Next Move, the three-year-old filly champion of 1950, ran in the Firenze Handicap, it became necessary to let up on her also. She was coming back in fine condition and was pointing for the 0,000 New Castle Handicap this Saturday, when it was discovered that she had popped an Continued on Page Thirty-Eight REFLECTIONS I By NELSON DUNSTAN Continued from Page Forty-Eight osslet, so she will be out of competition until next winter. Recently, Vanderbilt told this writer that he hoped Bed o Roses could be returned to the races by August. These two fillies played a prominent part in the racing of 1950. Now the absence of Next Move, in the latter part of the season, and Bed o Roses in the early part of it, is going to make quite a difference in the filly-and-mare stakes. Busanda, winner of the Suburban and the Top Flight Handicap, probably will be the favorite for the New Castle. But the issue in the race may be between How, who must be considered the present three-year-old champion of her age and sex, and Kiss Me Kate, winner of the Delaware Oaks and the keenest rival in the East of Herman B. Delmans filly. With each passing week, it becomes more obvious that the handicap ranks are badly in need of top performers. Coming up in July are the 0,000 Stars and Stripes Handicap at Arlington Park, 0,000 American Handicap at Hollywood Park, 00,000 Gold Cup at Hollywood, 0,000 Brooklyn Handicap at Aqueduct, 0,000 Fleetwing Handicap at Empire City, 0,000 Sunset Handicap at Hollywood, 5,000 Questionnaire Handicap at Empire City, 5,000 Monmouth Park Handicap, 00,000 Arlington Handicap and 5,000 Drexel Handicap at Washington Park. Add those up, and the sum is close to half a million dollars in the coin of our country. Our handicap stars are spread out from coast to coast. The 0,000 Brooklyn, which will be run July 14 at one mile and a quarter, drew 26 nominations. They include Next Move; who is now out of the picture, and also the filly Busanda. We used to hear that what America needs is a good five-cent cigar. What racing needs this year is enough handicap horses to make these races worthy of their value.
