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Weighing In By EVAN SHIPMAN SHIPMANBELMONT BELMONT PARK Elmont L I N Y May 3 While Mrs Evelyn Hopkins vet ¬ eran Three Rings may lack the form of his best days he is still a lot better than an empty stall His clever score in an overnight handicap yesterday following a Maryland victory in a similar event is proof enough that the Blue Larkspur gelding can still run despite his seven sum ¬ mers Picking up top weight of 120 pounds Three Rings was right witn cne pace for threequarters of a mile in yesterdays race and then outgamed the others without a real drive His last quar ¬ ter was in 25 flat he appearing to have something left at the end for jockey Sisto and the Belmont strip has been on the dead side of late Donor another fine oldtimer was also a starter in this race but his effort was not nearly as encourag ¬ ing as that of Three Rings Running with his head high this narrowchested gelding hardly settled to business until the field had traveled a half mile When he did begin to extend himself it was much too late to trouble the leaders Three Rings has been steadily campaigned but Donor has been away from the wars for some time turned out to pasture while a fractured bone could mend He appeared sound enough yesterday and it may well be that trainer George Odom will get him back to something resembling his top form but the heart will have to be willing Speaking of recent spills we had wit ¬ nessed we mentioned a particularly nasty accident at Yonkers Raceway on Thurs ¬ day night when the mare Neola Han ¬ over was removed from the track on a float with what appeared to be a broken back That accident from which it seemed impossible that the mare could recover had a curious sequel After three vain attempts to get her to her feet attempts that were highly unpleasant to watch and with her legs having abso ¬ lutely no coordination she was given 300 cc of a powerful sedative and was completely unconscious for six hours Gradually coming out of the sedative Neola Hanover then astonished the vet ¬ erinary by getting to her feet Her spinal column had not been injured and yes ¬ terday afternoon she was even eating hay in her stall The diagnosis was concussion and it is now believed that she will completely recover Those who saw Neola Hanovers mishap on the track were convinced at the time that she should have been mercifully destroyed on the spot but it is now certain that she will at least be saved for breeding breedingCalumet Calumet showed the early arrivals for the Derby a fine filly in Real Delight a handy winner of yesterdays Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs This daughter of Bull Lea Blue Delight by Blue Larkspur had been to the post only four times be ¬ fore the Oaks but such was her prestige and that of the farm that she was backed at oddson returning her friends 1 to 2 When we saw her on the West Coast last winter Real Delight simply played with her fields winning each of her races by a half dozen lengths and in the second of these outings she showed that she likes a distance After winning the Ashland at Keeneland in the same style she had shown at Santa Anita this promising miss just failed to get up by a head in a six and a i half furlong event at the same track As is clear from the odds for the Oaks the hard boots did not take that defeat seriously Last season it looked as if A Gleam was the pick of Calumets band of juvenile fillies filliesWhile While the Kentucky Oaks is necessarily overshadowed by the Derby it is well to remember that the filly classic has al ¬ ways been an important event During the last 30 years such names as Princess j Doreen Black Maria Rose of Sharon Alcibiades Duntica Barn Swallow Two Bob Insco Lassie Miss Dogwood and Wistful were added to the roster of win ¬ ners and these have proved their quality either in later stakes or at the farm or both Until quite recently the value of the Oaks has not been commensurate with its prestige Only in 1917 did the association raise the value to as much as 20000 while during the span of time we have mentioned it has been worth as little as 2230 to the winner Fortunate ¬ ly the modern trend is all toward giving bigger purses and stakes for the filly and mare division most associations now realizing that selection for the brood ¬ mare ranks lias to be based on racing records and that there is no substitute for worthwhile stakes in sifting the wheat from the chaff chaffStrictly Strictly as a race mare Black Maria may have been the best individual to capture a Kentucky Oaks She was good enough to run second to Crusader in the Suburban SuburbanContinued Continued from Page Thirty Seven WEIGHING IN INBy By EVAN SHIPMAN Continued from Page Four Fourof of 27 with 120 pounds up and the same season she captured a Metropolitan de ¬ feating Osmand and Valorous There were giants in those days as the saying is but honestly those are still names to conjure with Crusader who won the Suburban two years in succession has often been called the best son of Man o War a title he disputed in the minds of many with War Admiral As for Osmand he was far and away the best sprinter of his period and perhaps the best miler the distance of course of the Metropolitan and at which Black Maria whipped him It is futile to attempt to compare horses of different periods but it seems safe to say that only Busher and Gallorette have recently gone after such big game as did Black Maria
