view raw text
. £_L_- ! 1* Connors Corner By "CHUCK" CONNORS C hipr of Chart Correspondents AQUEDUCT, L. I.. N. Y.. June 25.— Jack Campbell, racing secretary and handi-capper. and Tom Shaw, one of the levith-ians ians of of the the old old betting betting ians of of the the old old betting betting ring before the adoption of mutuels. grew up together in New Orleans. The other afternoon they were cutting y up some old touches relative to their growing up days, which was r around the turn of the ° century. The two men V had a lot in common: f they were ardent ama- teur sailors and par ticipated in numerous bicycle races around their native heath. Later they entered rac- t ing. with Shaw gravitating towards the t betting ring and Campbell towards the r official side. Their talk eventually converged a on some of the high play which story book writers relate at great length f of the fabulous southern plantation owners* on their trips to New Orleans. In compar- 5 ing the long ago with the present, such c betting activities are impossible and the " same applies to making "a scratch" on a J race track. The expression scratch is for J racing only and means that some one ran a paltry sum into a fair-sized fortune. * That could have happened in the days of * the bookmaker, but under present condi- ] tions is impossible. In the first place any- 1 one betting a large sum of money in the machines is more or less betting against himself and thus must take the worst of it. i Bark in the old days Aqueduct was the locale of some largre-sized coups and among the best remembered were those put over by the canny Max Hirsch with Sidereal as the medium. Hirsch was stabled at Belmont Park and after vanning-the youngster to the track made up his mind to do some serious betting. With the aid of several commissioners he hacked the horse from a reported opening of 100 to 1 down to favoritism. The coup is reported to have netted 50,000 with Arnold Rothstein as the heaviest plunger. Another coup that is recalled is that engineered by C. Shockley representing some South Americans. His mediums were the non-starters to American racing. ! Sahari II. and Caballero. The first was entered in the opening race and was , backed from a big price while Caballero was in the second race. The latter was | again accorded heavy support, but had to ! settle for a dead heat. W. T. "Fatty" Anderson is reported to have garnered , bunche:- of what it takes when his Carlaris . bounded home one afternoon. There are [ other instances in the book but. alas, they are only memories, for those "old fashioned I [ killings" can never happen again. The "iron men." aided and abetted by the different ; states, take out too much bite and the present day racing patrons are too Continued on Page Tliirtu-Nine Connors Corner Continued from Page Five prone to follow a well supported starter. A snowball rolling down hill gets bigger at each revolution and the same applies to the amounts that move into the machines in these days. Royce Martin was an early arrival and witnessed the running of the days program . . . Jerry Brady came back from a trip to Miami and reported that Tropical Park was in its original locale. He also reported that the Miami sports writer Jimmy Burns was hospitalized with a kidney ailment . . . Name plates for the turf correspondents are in place in the stand at Aqueduct. The mastheads of their respective papers are carried out to the final detail . . . Opening day brought out an international situation for the breeding pundits. Sunnyland, the first winner, is by the Italian horse, Sirte, Afton Prince is by the English horse, Rhodes Scholar, Pinto is by the French horse, Goya II. Another French-bred, Raphael II., sent Button Shoes to the races, while Ipe, sire of Leguisamo, stands in Argentina although a French -bred. Fenelon, Discovery and Head Play belong to our side. Trainer Johnny Coburn reported that Royal Castle, owned by J. M. Seider, was breezed for the first time the other a. m. and is ready for a long training campaign before going postward . . . Gary Schumacher, the advance man for the Giants, deserted the typewriter and publicity dodges for the afternoon . . . Trainer Sol Rutchick reported that Pigeon Pride had arrived at Jamaica from the farm where he had been turned out . . . Commissioner and Mrs. Joseph F. Mafera, he is with the Queens County works department, braved the elements for the afternoon . . . Brook-lynites will have no excuse from now on for missing the Daily Double. The 8 a. m. train from that borough will stop at Wood-haven Junction for transfer purposes. Mickey Miles and Max Engleberg, who glory in living in Brooklyn, where instigators for the movement . . . Frank Moore shipped Sweet Pryme and Black Bead to Suffolk Downs for engagements . . . Spencer Drayton came out for a look-see and appeared satisfied with every, detail . . . Glen Feltner shipped Reproduction, Risking and Cachet back to Jamaica from the New England sector . . . Judge Bernard Frank, of Miami Beach, Fla., was among the afternoons visitors . . . Frank Parker forgot all about the tennis courts for an afternoon chasing winners . . . Trainer George M. Odom reported that Joe Eitingers Jet Master came out of his Tremont engagement in good physical condition. His next engagement is in the Great American. For this race he will wear blinkers and then be put away until the Saratoga session . . . Bill Gallagher made his first appearance of the meeting during the course of the afternoon. The days selections are: BRER FOX in the sixth, BUTTON SHOES in the seventh and LEGUISAMO in the eighth.
