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Weighing In 1 By EVAN SHIPMAN J BELMONT PARK, Elmont, L. I., N. Y., June 9. — One Count, surprise winner of the Belmont Stakes last Saturday, certainly did not boast the most impressive racing record of the small field that went to the post for the mile and a half classic, but the brown son of Count Fleet — Ace Card, by Case Ace was the best bred of the lot, and his victory emphasizes once again that this is, above all, a breeders race. One Count performed cred- itably in the Withers and Preakness, earning a place and a third in those important stakes. The Belmont, of course, was by far his most interesting exhibition, and trainer Oscar White .is to be congratulated on bringing his charge up to this engagement in superb condition, but, nevertheless, in this case the trainer had a firm foundation on which to work. One Counts sire, Count Fleet, was a brilliant Belmont winner himself, and the young stallion has already sired a Belmont winner in Counterpoint, Horse of the Year in 1951. Ace Card, dam of One Count, was a good stakes winner in the colors of this colts breeder, Walter M. Jeffords. So it can be said that here is a product of lines established by two of Americas finest breeders, Walter M. Jeffords and John Hertz, and a product of lines that have already proved their merit in our most exacting test for each three -year-old generation, the Belmont Stakes. Race records at shorter distances, and even individuality, as it could-be gauged on the walking .ring, were secondary on Saturday to the irrefutable testimony of strong blood. Our first glimpse of One Count had been in a mile and a sixteenth overnight race this spring here at Belmont. The Jeffords colt took that outing with ridiculous ease, and in fast time. As with just about every Count Fleet we have seen, we were particularly impressed by this ones purity of gait, something that can certainly be labeled a family characteristic. Following that victory against rather modest opposition, One Count came out for the Withers, and, this time, was well beaten by the trim Alsab colt, Armageddon, although he was definitely next best. The Preakness, in which One Count wound up third to Blue Man and Jampol, we did not see, but, on the evidence of the chart, it was a good, steady race. This Belmont was another matter, although we will say right now that the 52 renewal will hardly be considered outstanding in the long history of the great stake. Here, One Count forced the fairly fast pace virtually from the start, found • that Blue Man was the only one who could live with the clip, and then disposed of the Preakness winner rather handily in the drive. Unlike Counterpoints Belmont, the speed Saturday was in the early Stages, and the final quarter was relatively slow. But you cant blame One Count for thai. He did all that he had to do, and in a very agreeable style. Blue Man was sent to the post an odds-on choice, his many admirers calculating that the distance of the Belmont would suit the son of Blue Swords perfectly. They expected that jockey Con McCreary would lie far back in the early stages with the favorite, and then come on with a decisive bid between the turns or at the quarter pole. It was not that kind of a race at all. Armageddon was first away, but the group that went up to challenge this pacemaker as they bent into the initial turn was composed of Sub Fleet, Blue Man and One Count, and McCreary kept his mount a forward factor at all times. We are not joining in any criticism of the jockey for that ride. He had a colt under him that he knew could stay, and he had no reason to suppose that Blue Man could not survive the pace at least as well as any of the others. The event proved that he could not survive it as well as One Count, but we naturally know a lot more about a race after it is run. Blue Man, in our view, had no excuse. He was just not good enough. As for Armageddon, who had been our choice for the Belmont, the one-eyed colt finished third, but it was a poor effort. When he was outfooted early, York took him away from the rail, but he hardly ran any better out in the middle of the track, nor was he making up any ground on the first two in the drive. Getting back to One Count, he is a sturdy individual with good clean legs and plenty of bone. Trainer White has succeeded in getting him razor sharp and yet keeping his charge in good flesh. He has a coarse, heavy head,, and what we can only describe as a rather sleepy eye. Those who saw this colt race in Florida last winter spoke of his occasionally obstreperous disposition, but we have seen no evidence of that this spring. We would say, on the other hand, that One Count looked to be an easy, kindly colt to handle, both in the paddock and on the Continued on Page Thirty-Four I WEIGHING IN By EVAN SHIPMAN Continued from Page Four racing strip. The picture we have of him resembles his dams family rather than that of Count Fleet, but in action, One Counts heritage from his sire is plain enough. He runs much more like Count Fleet than does Sub Fleet, another son who started in the Belmont and who made a very disappointing effort. Many horsemen remarked on Saturday that Pavot, with whom Jeffords had also scored in the Belmont, ran much the same kind of race as did One Count. Perhaps, but Pavot, as we recall him, was a much more flashy, more brilliant individual than this rather plain colt, whose greatest. recommendation — and it is an important one — is his way of moving, the ef fori less fashion with which he covers ground. Jeffords and Mrs. Jeffords were present to cheer their good colt home on Saturday, but Hertz and Mrs. Hertz, who would have taken almost as much satisfaction in the son of Count Fleets victory as did the colts owner and breeder, were still in Europe. One Counts Belmont coming immediately after Counterpoints victory reminds horsemen that this is a powerful staying line, and yet the juvenile members of the tribe show much precocity, such early speed — we have not forgotten Count Trims dazzling performance last week — that nobody can say speed has been sacrificed to gain stamina, as has been the case with so many European families. The "bottom" transmitted by Count Fleet came to him, of course, from his. "own sire, Reigh Count, while the speed in that pedigree is undoubtedly the gift of the Haste mare, Quickly. Earl Sande, who rode Haste for the late Joseph E. Widener, tells us that Haste, who was third to Crusader in the Belmont Stakes of his year, was one of the fastest horses of the time, and in his opinion, Haste could have beaten Osmand at six furlongs. Sande describes him as "terribly straight in front" and never too sound, nor was he really at home at any distance beyond a mile, but a.t a mile and under, he could fly. "We beat Crusader that spring in the mile Withers," the great ex-jockey recalls, "but the Man o War colt was treading on our heels at the finish, and I was mighty glad the wire was there. Just the same, you had to have speed and more speed to whip Crusader at any distance."
