view raw text
I REFLECTIONS * By Nelson Dunstan Forever Yours, Reaping Reward Dropped Dead Armageddon Has Speed, But Greater Courage Battlefield Horse to Beat in the Metropolitan Field of Twelve Likely in Preakness Stakes NEW YORK, N. Y., May 13. . Three-Dot Shorts: The veteran Johnny Longden will soon pass the 4,000 mark in victories. Through last Saturday, he was credited * wivuu with niVll 3,995 winners. W X1.±XXX O. It i,U J-O is CA extremely U J. GUlCljr U doubtful whether he * wivuu niVll W X1.±XXX O. i,U J-O CA extremely U J. GUlCljr U will ever catch Gordon Richards, the 48-year-old jockey champion of England for the past 23 years. Richards has scored more than 4,400 victories. He is shooting for 5,000, and says he will not quit even then. . . . Mrs. Jean Bowman, of Virginia, well-known painter of horses, will give an exhibition at the Scott and Fowles Galleries of E. J. Rousuck on Fifth Avenue, starting May 15. . . . Sid Feder, crack sports reporter and co-author of "Murder, Inc.," has been named editor of Baseball Magazine and Whos Who in Basebell. . . . Forever Yours, the 19-year-old daughter of Toro, and the favorite racer of the late Mrs. Ethel B. Mars, dropped dead at Almahurst Farm in Kentucky recently, and the night before, the 19-year-old Reaping Reward dropped dead at Crown Crest farm. A mating of Reaping Reward and Forever Yours resulted in Eternal Reward, winner of the 1946 American Derby. Forever Yours was a gift from Mrs. Mars to Mrs. Henry H. Knight. . . . Recently, some vandal sneaked into the John E. .Madden horse cemetery in Kentucky and. chiselled off the statuette above the grave of Nancy Hanks. Whoever he is, he is a louse. In the same graveyard is Imp, the "Coal Black Lady," Star Shoot, Plaudit, Hamburg Belle and Ogden, the horse who won two races in one day. . . . Grant Dorland, master of Roseland Farm, will sell three colts and two fillies at Saratoga this year. Coming here on the train from Kentucky, we were pleased to read the headline, "Armageddon Wins Withers," We had been watching this colt carefully since his victory in the Champagne at Belmont last fall and thought him one of the best prospects for top three-year-old honors. In the Champagne, however, he was knocked back to tenth place when hit in the eye by a clod. Yet, he came on to win, showing the courage that enabled him to win the Withers, though now blind in that eye. A few days before, we were at the Claiborne Farm of Arthur B. Hancock and when Blenheim H. was led out, we immediately noticed that the great son of Blandford was totally blind in the right eye. Arthurs. Hancock, Jr., noting our look, said, "It is, undoubtedly, a cancerous growth, and it started a little more than a year ago. We have hesitated to do so, but Im afraid an operation will be necessary." While Sir Gallahad HI. is now rated as the best horse brought to our shores since the days of Leamington, the contribution made by Blenheim H. can in no way be minimized. He sired stake winners in England, France and Italy before coming here, and on his list in this country is Mahmoud, Whirlaway exported, Mar-Kell, Thumbs Up, Miss Keeneland, Fervent and Jet Pilot, and he is still going strong at 25 years of age. The blind race horse, of course, has a much sterner task than the stallion whose sight is impaired. The greatest of all blind stallions was Lexington, "The Blind Hero of Wood-burn." Belmont will stage the Metropolitan Handicap on the weekend and although Spartan Valor will not be a starter, John B. Campbells weights for this event are an interesting reflection of his estimate of the Helis horse as compared with the others in his division. The son of Attention, who won his seventh straight race last week-end, was assigned 134 pounds, with Battlefield next on the list at 125. Then come Arise, with 123; Greek Ship, 121; Miche, 119; and the pair of Big Dipper n. and Bryan G., 118, each. Miche is still on the West Coast. This writer, with many others, is awaiting the appearance of Big Dipper II., the four-year-old son of Signal Light, who has been accorded "Horse of the Year" honors by some scribes, despite the fact that he has yet to start in this country. He was a whale of a horse on the other side, and has been working well, but is hardly entitled to the enthusiastic introduction of being the best handicap performer perhaps of 1952. It is fairly certain that Battlefield will be the top weight of the 0,000 one-mile event arid his toughest opposition could come from Crafty Admiral and Woodchuck, who have been assigned 117 pounds each. Battlefield, who was runner-up to Counterpoint and Hall of Fame as the best three-year-old of 1951, made a favorable impression in his one start of the year, when he conceded 17 pounds to First Glance in a six-furlong race run in 1:10. He is the one to beat. Jampol, the gelded son of Thumbs Up, earned himself an opportunity to start in the Preakness by his victory in the Preakness Prep at one and one-eighth miles yesterday. This horse, who won a six-furlong race at Hialeah last February, has not been able to win since, although in the Flamingo and the Chesapeake, he ran second to Blue Man and Handsome Teddy, respectively. Whether the Preakness Prep will pave the way to victory, as the Derby Trial did for Hill Gail, in the bigger race, we doubt, although, in his present condition, Jampol can be a threat. While Sub Fleet will undoubtedly be the favorite, and deserves the honor, in the Preakness on the week-end, we look upon this renewal as one of the most interesting to come up in many years. At one and three-sixteenths miles, the Preakness has always favored the speed horses due to Pimlicos sharp turns and its short stretch of some 950 feet, as opposed to that at Churchill of some 1,234 feet. In the Derby, Sub Fleet was slow to get under way and then finished, as everyone knows, with a bid that had the crowd cheering wildly. If a speed horse, such as Hill Gail, takes it on the lam Saturday afternoon, Sub Fleet will have a job cut out for him, despite his ability to pour it on in the late stages of the race. It is a fair guess that 11 or 12 three-year-olds will answer the Preakness bugle. Pintor, who ran second to Jampol in the Prep, is not eligible, but is nominated for the longer Belmont Stakes. Roaring Bull is a Preakness nominee, but has never met the type of horses who will be in the race that is the second leg of the "Triple Crown," and we do not take him seriously. Armageddon, One Count and Primate, who ran one-two-three Continued on Page Nine r REFLECTIONS By NELSON DUNSTAN Continued from Page Forty-Four in the Withers, are possibilities. Blue Man, who was beaten some 10 lengths to finish third in the Derby, is considered a certain starter, while -Master Fiddle, who finished a half-length behind him at Louisville, is being reserved for the Belmont Stakes on June 7. -Count Flame, fifth in the Derby, will try again in the Preakness. While it is unfortunate that Tom Fool and, Hill Gail will not be starters, their absence will add interest to the Belmont and the many important three-year-old races that follow.
