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B E T W EEN RACES By Oscar Otis, HOLLYWOOD PARK, Inglewood, Calif., May 26. Little Request, on the basis of his shattering of the five-furlong track record last week, :57V, to be specific, is now regarded as the solid favorite for. the important Haggin Stakes to be decided here a week from Saturday. After the excitement of the speedy trip had died down, and a sober appraisal made by the backstretch, consensus of opinion was that perhaps Little Request was the best two-year-old to be developed in California in some time, and brought the additional observation that . perhaps Joe Palmisano, the Arizona lettuce grower, at long last had come into the possession of a really good race horse. Palmisano has been dabbling with horses for the past 10 years, but last summer decided to really give the sport a whirl, and went to Keeneland for the first time determined to buy about 50,000 worth of yearlings as the m first step in his "five year plan." This plan envisioned the spending up to 00,000 per year for a minimum of five years, develop, if possible, a first class racing stable from the yearlings so acquired. Palmisano chose his yearlings at Keeneland in an unusual fashion, taking them solely on pedigree out of the catalogue. His trainer, Ross Brinson, checked the horses designated . as worthy of bidding, for soundness. AAA "I have some different ideas about thoroughbreds than some people," says Palmisano. "I try to get yearlings from only the number one, two, four and eight families. I do not want full brothers or sisters to any really good ones on my theory that full brothers or sisters never turn out as good as their more illustrious, kin. Nor will I pay more than 0,000 for a yearling, but at the same time want something that goes for 0,000 to 0,000 if possible, although I will take one as low as 0,000 if the other requirements are met. These yearlings I purchased at Keeneland last July were broken and given their early training at the farm of John Ward, and did not leave Kentucky until New Years Day. I felt that their growth in their natural environment would.be better than shipping them west at once, but still get them out here on the coast before the winter set in. Little Request Choice for Haggin Palmisano Owner of Record Breaker Brinson Graduate of Quarter Horses Had Part in Bizarre Texas Match These yearlings never were at Santa Anita, as I do not believe in three-furlong scrambles as being good for the horse or proving anything. Little Request and the other promising two-year-olds I obtained at Keeneland will be given an opportunity in stakes here and at Del Mar, then we plan to go to New York and Maryland, where the two-year-olds are well staked, including the Futurity at Belmont and the one at Pimlico." AAA Trainer Ross Brinson was sent soaring into the national headlines by the exploit of Little Request, and in so doing gives strength to our observation of last year that former quarter horse men are becoming more and more an important factor in thoroughbred racing. Brinson, of Mesa, Arizona, started his horse career as a bronc rider in a rodeo, but a few broken bones convinced him that maybe there was an. I easier way to make a living than getting tossed by wild mustangs and steers. Brinson figured in one of the great impromptu races of the Southwest, a classic in j quarter horse annals. Before he entered the Army at the outbreak of the last war, he trained a great quarter horse called Clabber, a horse who later was to found a blood dynasty in the Southwest, Brinson, a private at Fort Bliss, Texas, was contacted by a wealthy Arizonan and asked if he would train Clabber, to be brought out of retirement to race in a match against the champion of the time, a mare called Miss Banks. Clabber was eight. Brinson agreed, and his commander gave him a 10-day relief from Army duties to take over the training of Clabber. Came the great day, and more than 3,000 assembled at a farm near El Paso where a track of 330 yards had been specially constructed. The enlisted men raised a great fund of cash, in nickels and dimes, to back their fellow soldier, Brinson, but the officers, wise horsemen, almost exclusively backed Miss Banks. AAA The setting out in the blazing sun and mesquite trees made a background for a drama that should be recorded for posterity. Thinking to be smug, the trainer and owner of Miss Banks came over to the spot where Clabber was being walked preparatory to saddling, made the snide observation that "Soldier boy, we feel sorry for you. Do you know whom you are running against?" Recalls Brinson, "Of course, they thought I didnt know Miss Banks, as she had been entered as an unknown, but I also knew they didnt know Clabber, who, as everyone thought except those few on . hand who happened to know him as an individual, thought was at stud on a farm a 1,000 miles away. I repressed an impulse to answer, well, fellows, do you know whom you are running against? But I,didnt. The officers liked Miss Banks on conformation, because she was trim and classy, whereas Clabber was big headed and big footed, but he had the heart of a lion. Clabber beat Miss Banks by a neck in the race, and the next month, the enlisted men at Fort Bliss lived high off the winnings. The race, as it turned out, was to be Clabbers last. I have no way of telling exactly, but I understand that more than 0,000 changed hands that afternoon. I had exactly 35 cents the morning of the race, an Army privates pay being nothing extra, but Clabbers "owner staked me to two years of Army salary for my 10 days of work." AAA The Far West is a land of bizarre silks, and Palmisano had added to the tradition by having new silks made last winter to introduce his new horses to. the patrons, namely, a brilliant fucshia adorned by a large head of green lettuce on the back. This has led rise to the standard instructions to the jockeys in the paddock "Just bring home the lettuce," Palmisano is not as green a pea with a horse as some might imagine, for he is strictly an Arizonan, and Arizona is one of the few states left in the nation where the average youngster grows up with some knowledge and understanding of horses as well as automobiles. Palmisano is a good judge of conformation, but does not arrogate to himself the task of passing for potential racing soundness. Unlike many comparatively newcomers from the Southwest, Palmisano has no oil interests, but he has more than 5,000 acres in the Salt River valley in lettuce, ships the stuff by the trainload to markets all over the continent, and chances are most everyone in America who has ever eaten a salad has had a bit of Palmisano lettuce in the dish. He will be back at Keeneland this July with a fresh bankroll. Little Request, is incidentally, the first really worth-while horse he has ever owned.
