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BETWEEN RACES By Oscar Otis HOLLYWOOD PARK, Inglewood, Calif./ May 31. — Admiral Drake proved a surprise winner of the 0,000, mile and a sixteenth Argonaut Handicap here Friday afternoon, winning, we believe, by reason of the old maxim, "When a horse is sharp, run him." He had just gotten through on Wednesday in running a mile and winning it in allowance company, came right hack at the mile and a sixteenth and won by three clear lengths over the odds-on and high weight Miche. Whether or not Miche, proclaimed before the race as a one run horse, made his move too soon, at the half mile, to be exact, is a moot question, but is true that when he made his bid to get to the flying pacemaker, Admiral Drake, a sixteenth out, he simply could not improve his position. Admiral Drake raced in the colors of Abe "Murphy" Hirschberg of San Francisco, who purchased the colt last year in the East. When Admiral Drake arrived, and raced a bit, he became suspect as unsound, and the wise guys remarked that Hirschberg had gotten a lemon. Maybe so, but since the first of the year and until Friday, he managed to pick up 7,750 a dime and a quarter at a time, and earned 3,550 more in annexing the Argonaut. If he was a broken down horse, Hirschberg is in the market for more of the same kind. AAA Admiral Drake was ridden by apprentice rider Willie Marsh, a boy who has perhaps never received the recognition he has deserved. Marsh was a sensation last summer at Longacres, and rode his first "big time" in the Longacres mile. He hooked up against Steve Brooks in a duel, and while both he and Brooks were beaten, he looked so good against the mighty "Steve" that Frank Brewster purchased his contract for ,000, a record for a rider in the Northwest. Marsh had natural ability from the start, had a good schooling in Canada, where his father and grandfather were both riders. The boy proved his gameness at Golden Gate Fields this spring when he suffered a concussion and other injuries in a fall, was taken to a hospital and ordered to bed for a week. He was up in a day, and fled the hospital against the advice of the doctors, who, while they may have estimated his injuries correctly, vastly underestimated the young mans nerve. Marsh Admiral Drake Upsets in Argonaut* Apprentice Marsh Hits Jackpot Stranglehold Westerner Threat Reginald Heather Rides Winner hasnt got too much longer to go with the "bug" but he probably will endure bug or no bug. Ironically, Admiral Drake, now that he has proved his ability over a mile in stakes, was not named for the Gold Cup. AAA Wed hate to tab as a fairly solid Westerner Hollywood Derby prospect a horse who a won at six furlongs, and b carried only 105 pounds in scoring, but despite these items, we believe that fans saw an improved sophomore in Stranglehold, who won rather convincingly in the Memorial Purse from Haltafire and £he ever present Horsetrader-Ed. For one thing, trainer R. H. McDaniel decreed different tactics for Stranglehold, ordering him taken completely off the early pace, even in the sprint, and then making one run for it from the three-eighths pole, In most previous races, Stranglehold had been sent out on the pace and the results were none too good., While he didnt run bad races, he didnt win, either, excepting once at Golden Gate when he caught a field he simply outclassed. In the Memorial, however; he looked an entirely different horse, and all for the better. Insofar as performance of his sire and dam are concerned, he is speed, doubled up, and while some may quibble at this, pointing out that the sire, Stronghold, did travel a distance on occasions, by far and away his best race was at seven furlongs. It has been axiomatic that speed, properly trained, often can go a distance, and it so may prove here. In fact, converting stopping pacemakers to stayers has been one of the reasons for McDaniels success as a trainer, and he first gained true national attention by doing just that feat with a ,000 claim-er, Blue Reading, and making him one of the most formidable handicap horses in the Far West by making that burst of speed available at the end, rather than early, in his races. AAA Reginald Heather, the Australian jockey, scored his first winner in -America on the longshot Fighting Beau in the fourth, and as far as we could determine, Heather not only rode well but in a manner which may carry him a ways in American racing. Since lie came oyer to this country, ►Heather, on the advice of his friend, motion picture star Joe E. Brown, has been practicing mornings riding with shorter stirrups than those to which he was accustomed in Australia, and his performance with Fighting Beau gave evidence that he has had some success in a remarkably short space of time. Actually, he didnt ride in true American style, as his stirrups were still longer than most American jockeys prefer, but he did not appear to be the clown which so many foreign jockeys seem when they ride in this country. He did not crouch as low as American riders, but neither did he sit up like a coachman. Heather was given a chance in this seven-furlong sprint by the English-born, Irish-raised, adopted American trainer, Fred Houghton. In all, Heather had accepted 13 mounts at the meeting, but in most instances, the stock was such as to lack all chance of the proverbial race track "Fighting Chance." The item that struck this writer the most forcibly was that Heather got a lot of run out of his horse, and, in the crowded field, had sense enough to take him to the outside and thus avoid possible trouble. When he called on his mount to run, the horse had an opportunity to do so. I AAA The crowd of 59,445 was about up to expectations, but it was by no means record breaking. There was no- trouble in running out of parking space, as some track officials had anticipated, for the drive in theatre across Century Boulevard, engaged as an auxiliary lot, did not have a single car in it all during the day. The crowd was up a few hundred over last Memorial Day, which the track feels was a "moral increase" inasmuch as last Memorial Day came in mid-week, and there was less opportunity for people to take long week-end trips, such as prevailed this year, plus the fact that last summer Citation, Coaltbwn, and Bewitch, magical names at the entrance wickets on the West Coast, were on the card. So, while %the gain in people was few, it was at least encouraging, and only about 12,000 people under the all-time record of 72,186 on Memorial Day in 1948, which occured on a Monday. If any commentary on the calibre of sports crowds in the nation were needed, a check of the Hollywood Park throng would lispel any ideas that the turf attracts anything but first class citizens. The whole day progressed without an "incident" of any nature, attribute both to the whole-someness of the sport and the wholesome-ness of the people who enjoy it. j
