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the he curve curve for for home. home. * weighing in By Evan Shipman Flat Turns Provide Us With Run-Out Horses Reduction of Aqueduct Did Not Help Track Kite-Shaped Jamaica Is Close to Ideal Yildiz Full Brother Graduates at Delaware AQUEDUCT, L. I., N. Y., June 18. Why conceal it? We have a prejudice against tracks with flat turns, tracks where horses are likely to run to the outside fence when when they they are are put put under under extreme extreme pressure pressure on on t the he curve curve for for home. home. when when they they are are put put under under extreme extreme pressure pressure on on t Aqueducts flat turns date from the time when the management, seeking more parking room, reduced the dimensions from a mile and an eighth to a mile. In the old days, we found the Long Island track perfectly satisfactory, and we remember particularly when the Brooklyn Handicap, contested then at nine furlongs, had its start out of a chute on the backstretch, the race being too long, severe runs, and a veritable test of the thoroughbred. The most remarkable Brooklyn in our own experience was the renewal won by The Chief, back in 1938, that fantastic gelding ing smothering smothering his his opposition opposition with with pure pure ing smothering smothering his his opposition opposition with with pure pure * speed. In 1940, Aqueduct reduced the track, and horsemen have been complaining about it from that time on. The footing must be much the same as it has always been, and yet we have heard complaints in the last few years about that strip, even though track superintendents, such as Frank Keogh, worked early and late in an effort to provide a satisfactory surface for horsemen. Somehow, something always seemed to be wrong, and the plain fact is that a lot of stables do not want to race at Aqueduct. The trainers may complain about the turns, or they may object to the surface, but many of them will not enter their horses in Aqueducts stakes and prefer to race at another locality. Our own ideal race track is Belmont Park. We believe that the mile and a half course, with its long, sweeping turns, offers a horse the best opportunity to display his real merit. The reason for insisting on this preference is that many Metropolitan fans have developed a curious antipathy to Belmont. Difficult to explain but real enough. Perhaps the average race fan feels a little cowed by the sophisticated atmosphere of Americas premier course, an atmosphere that suggest Europe rather than the plebian, shirtsleeve meetings to which we have become accustomed. Aqueduct and Jamaica, .goodness knows, are plebian enough to suit the most democratic taste, and they are both undeniably popular. But there is a difference. Jamaica, with its egg-shaped oval and well-banked turns is about as fine a mile track as could be designed. The first turn there is sharp, but that disadvantage has been understood by the management and, today, important races are either sprints, where the start is on the backstretch. or in front of the stands at longer distances than a mile or a mile and a sixteenth. Jamaica resembles what harness horsemen use to call a "kite" track, and we will add that its footing of late has been more dependable than that at Aqueduct. St horsemen, with the exception of "Sunny Jim" Fitzsimmons, who has trained over it for more years than we can remember, are not particularly fond of Aqueduct, and the fans enthusiasm for Belmont is tepid. A sort of compromise between these divergent points of view has developed, and a lot of us will put up with Aqueduct once we are assured that no radical changes are going to be made at Belmont Park. Nevertheless, the transition is a little rough, and there is bound to be grumbling when you see a colt or filly sail to the final bend on top, and then make a beeline for the outside fence. We hear that horses accustomed to the half-milers hog that rail like grim death, never wandering from a rail-skimming course, but the trouble is that the horses racing at Aqueduct have just come from competition at Belmont Park, and being poor dumb animals, these things have to be explained to them more than once before they realize that they are back in the sticks. Yesterday at Aqueduct a group of two-year-olds, many of whom are candidates for the Tremont Stakes at this track, came out for a last conditioner before that important engagement, and the victory went to the Belair Studs strongly favored Game Chance, a well-bred son of Some Chance, who has received considerable previous notice in this space. The Sanford Stud Farms Marsh Tiger, a Tiger colt who had shown sensational speed recently at Belmont, looked all over the winner just as the field was about to lean into the final turn, but on that treacherous bend Marsh Tiger kept right on moving in the direction of Queens Boulevard, and he did not right himself until he had carried jockey Widman clear to the outside fence. Our memory, reinforced by a glance at the charts, tells us nothing about previous offenses on the part of Holly Hughes nice juvenile, but those races were at Hialeah and Belmont. It was a case in point. As for Game Chance, a colt who early caught our eye because he is out of the fine Belair mare, Bonnie Beryl, we must admit that his score was not too impressive. After Marsh Tigers misadventure. Game Chance was all out to win, and he, too, did not run straight. While he made no bound for the outside, Game Chance bore in several times in the drive, and twice we watched him bouncing off other colts as Guerin hustled .him along. Still very green, this may yet prove to be a good one. Mrs. Walter M. Jeffords told us last week that the grand mare, Ace Card, who is already dam of Post Card, Yildiz and this years Belmont Stakes winner, One Count, had another good one in the Mahmoud colt, Maabrook. This one made his debut at Delaware Park yesterday and scored easily, confirming all the good reports we had heard down there concerning his talents. Ace Card is a truly remarkable matron. She not only throws winners, but stakes winners, and all of top quality. Mrs. Jeffords told us that she may be barren this year, but added that, in her opinion, Ace Card had already done enough for the farm to deserve a rest. This latest member of the family is a full brother to Yildiz, winner of the Flamingo, and second to Battlefield in a fine renewal of the Travers. Yildiz class is well known, but he has not always been too fortunate. This brothers graduation was auspicious and when the time comes, he may well avenge some of Yildiz disappointments. [Editors Note — Nelson Dunstan is visiting breeding farms in Kentucky, inspecting yearlings to be offered at the Keeneland and Saratoga sales. His columns, "Reflections" and "Sires and Dams," will be resumed next Tuesday.]
