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Weighing In By EVAN SHIPMAN HOLLYWOOD PARK, Inglewood, Calif., May 23. Racing in a style that carried a strong suggestion of his fine sire, Joseph Palmisanos chestnut ; Requested colt, Little Request, smashed a track record yesterday at Hollywood, and his five furlongs in :5715 equaled the world mark at the distance for two-year -olds. At the finish of this overnight dash for juvenile maidens, jockey J ohnny Longden was looking :back. and he had been casting swift glances over his shoulder from the sixteenth, pole in. It was that easy. Longden and his impressive youngster were in front every step of the way, and while Decorated and Reighmus Fizz tried valiently to catch the pacemaker, neither could ever really threaten. Little Request, who had been purchased last summer in Kentucky from the C. H. Nuckols" consignment for 0,500, was making the second start of what may well prove an interesting career, his first outing having been in the slop at San Francisco, when he wound up a respectable third. Fractions for this effort reveal the amazing brand of speed Little Request had on tap. He sped to the quarter in :21 and on to the half in :45 flat, and this strip, while very fast, of course, has a distinct cushion. It seems ridiculous to say that Little Request could have traveled farther than he did, but the fact is that Longden made no apparent demand in the stretch, and. frankly, we do not know what this colt could have shown, had he been urged, or even ridden out. Following a- performance such, as Little Request showed us, there is always immediate interest in. the pedigree. We all know plenty concerning Requested, this colts sire, but his dam, Little Wichita, by Royal Ford, is not nearly as conspicuous. For the moment, we can tell you nothing: about her, but Royal Ford was a good horse on the Maryland circuit a few years ago, and may be best known as the sire of Heelfly, a stallion who has proved a success here in California and who sent the brilliant but unfortunate Yankee Valor to the races. To get back to firm ground, we have always believed that Requested bred after himself, and that the best of his sons and daughters were on his own model. Requested and My Request, for instance, were very much alike, the only difference being that the sire was always a sounder individual than his son, who was always plagued with bad feet and who taxed the considerable skill of trainer Jimmy Conway to keep him in training. Californians will remember that My Request, who appeared to be a formidable contender for the big race before the start, had to be eased in the 1950 renewal of the Santa Anita Handicap, the "skinned" surface of the track that day ruining any chance he might have had. Initiative, a filly whose last start was with a claiming tag attached, trimmed a number of nominees for the Hollywood Oaks in the six-furlong Sepulveda, and the Flushing n. miss did not have to run faster than 1:12 to do it, either a fact that does not speak very well for her more highly considered rivals. The Coaching Club American Oaks, feature of the Belmont card tomorrow, has a natural favorite, and probably a really top filly, in Calumets Real Delight, already a victor in the Kentucky Oaks and Pimlicos Black-Eyed Susan. Out here, Princess Lygia, Tonga, A Gleam a stablemate of Real Delight and Your Hostess look like the most prominent candidates for a stake that has always gone to a worthy filly. The Belmont Acorn winner, Parading Lady, could not warm Real Delight up when the pair met at Baltimore recently, and there seems scant chance that the order of finish will be reversed when they meet again on Long Island. If Real Delight is to have any kind of tussle for honors in her division, it looks as if the fight may come from Princess Lygia, whose treturn to form is certain and whose recent close defeat here by the surprising Tonga is not taken too seriously. The presence of both, which will not occur, in either the Belmont or Hollywood stake would "make" the race, but in these days of widespread racing, owners and trainers pick their spots. What a pleasure it is to see a truly game horse! Ruth Lily, a white faced chestnut filly who was bred a few miles from here at Ontario, a sandy wine-growing area lying between Riverside and Pomona, turned back every challenge in the featured Westchester Handicap, and at the end she had that white nose of hers in front of Last Round. The Old English Ranchos Ruth Lily got into this handicap with only 107 pounds, but she was meeting a high class field, including Lights Up, one of the best if not the best on the West Coast at present. In this sprint, she had the foot to leave the gate on the backstretch with a slight advan- Continued on Page Thirty-Five I WEIGHING IN By EVAN SHBPMAN Continued from Page Four tage, but they caught her and passed her in the run to the far turn. On the long bend,, the brave little filly kept to her task, dogging the footsteps of Reighs Bull and entering the home lane on even terms with the Bull Reigh colt. In the drive, Last" Round and Mohammedan came up to join this pair, and it was a four-cornered scrap from above the furlong pole to the wire, the filly earning a decision that does credit to her heart. Miche had been an entry for the Westchester, but the Santa Anita Handicap winner was scratched, his connections preferring a longer event tomorrow. In Miches absence, Lights Up was the "name" horse of the field. The ex-George D. Widener campaigner is probably not being trained for six-furlong races, and he was outrun most of the way although he closed with determination in the stretch. After being"pulled up, it looked as if Lights Up returned sore, and trainer Hack Ross was noticeably anxious concerning his charge. Lights Up, who was never better than during his recent San Francisco campaign, has a lot of valuable engagements in front of him in coming ! weeks, and it would, indeed, be a shame if j this overnight handicap deprived him of a chance to compete for them. When this son of Eight Thirty carried the Widener colors on the Metropolitaah circuit, we always thought he was at his tops when strictly fresh, and that he showed a tendency to tail off after a couple of hard races. Ross has done well with him out here, and he has been holding his form in a rather surprising manner to those familiar with his contradictory races back East.
