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__ ■■■————-—• a--™--"" WEIGHING IN 1 By Evan Shipman Flash Storm Recalls 40 Renewal of Gazelle Strange Scene During Running of Auteiul Race Lack of New Blood Imperils American Chasing Owner Lauds Consistent Plater and His Trainer AQUEDUCT, L. I., N. Y., June 20. The flash storm that descended on Aqueduct shortly before the field left the paddock for the featured Amagansett Hurdle Handicap yesterday vividly recalled the conditions under which the the Gazelle Gazelle Stakes Stakes were were contested contested at at the the __ ■■■————-—• the the Gazelle Gazelle Stakes Stakes were were contested contested at at the the same track back in 1940. On that afternoon, as yesterday, it was impossible to see 50 yards in front of you, and all the charts could tell about the race was that Fairy Chant was first past the finish. Beyond that Rme fact, the running of the Gazelle renewal was a mystery. Yesterday, the storm was over by the time the jumpers were led to the track, vanishing as quickly as it had burst. We learned a few minutes later that one of the lightning bolts that had crashed around us had struck Eugene Jacobs barn, and and that that a a groom groom and and five five horses horses had had been been and and that that a a groom groom and and five five horses horses had had been been a--™--"" felled, all shocked, but none seriously injured. The rain was even heavier for Fairy Chants Gazelle, but, on that long ago day, there was no lightning as an accompaniment. Once at Auteiul, the large French jumping track in the Paris Bois de Bulogne, we saw a thunder storm come up during the progress of the race. The crowd rushed for the stands shelter, only one groom staying along the iron railing to the track. He was waiting to pick up his horse at the finish. From the top of the stands, we felt the shock of a bolt striking near by, and saw a ball of orange fire roll, slowly it seemed, along that railing. The groom appeared unconscious of what was approaching him, and then, suddenly his body began turning a series of somersaults across the empty lawn. Firemen on duty at the Auteiul track hastened to the lawn and gave first aid to the unfortunate groom, who, strange as it sounds, was not dead. He was rushed to the horsemens hospital at Maisons-Lafitte, where he hovered between life and death for three days, never fully regaining consciousness. Eventually, he died. We will ifever forget the sensation of electricity filling the air when the bolt struck — a sensation that was shared by everybody in the crowded stands — not the sight of that implacable ball of fire, rolling casually along the rail, and, finally, the groom, turning over and over, doubled up as if he, himself, were a ball. It was a spectacular, blood-chilling incident. Only five hurdlers started in the well-endowned Amagansett, the limited size of the field being due to the disastrous fire in the steeplechase barn at Belmont Park earlier in the week, a fire that took the lives of 22 horses, most of them fencers. It is common knowledge that this division is much reduced of recent years; that many owners who were staunch pillars of this branch of the sport have either died or retired from the game, and that few, if any, new names have come along to take their place. At present, every horse in condition to carry colors is badly needed to fill our steeplechase and hurdle events, and such a catastrophe as that at Belmont Park is, in a real sense, a double tragedy. In the old days, there was an active relation between the hunting fields and steeplechase racing at the major tracks. Men and women who hunted were naturally interested in racing horses over obstacles, and that interest was the origin for many important stables. Why the connection is not as evident now as it used to be escapes us, nor do we understand why the young men who hut the fox no longer seem to care to race as amateurs over the jumps. Referring to a recent mention of his fine plater, Misrule, in this column, Charles R. Fleischmann Writes us: "Altogether, that marvel of consistency won 39 races, of which 27 were victories for me. In addition, while racing in my interest, he was second 17 times, third 14 times and fourth five times, thus winning something in 58 starts out of the 74 races he ran for me. He broke down badly in four successive years, so I sent him annually to a farm, with the idea of pensioning him for life, but he was, and looked so miserable when I used to visit him, that, at the insistence of my excellent trainer, Tommy Bonham, that the horse would stand the rigors of training, I consented to follow his advice. It was really miraculous how that horse changed in appearance within maybe, six weeks. I have good snapshots in my scrapbook to exhibit to any* doubting Thomas. In the first three of his annual comebacks, Bonham has Misrule in such good condition that he won at the very first asking, one comeback having been made after the lapse of over a year. In the fourth comeback, he had to be given a preparatory sprint, in which he finished a fast-closing second. That tightened him for two distance engagements, both of which he won." Fleischmanns agreeable letter is a tribute to Bonham, as well as to his remarkable horse. He continues, "I have gone into these successful combacks purposely, because they touch a subject that has always interested me: What makes a successful trainer? The answer, of course, is: Winning races. Yet, some trainers employed by multi-millionaires, having 50 horses or more in then-charge and a supply to draw on resting on the farm, often win many less races than a handler of selling platers, who has to patch up his charges continually in order to keep them going. The trainer for the millionaire retires his horse as soon as he shows the slightest indication of going wrong, and gets a substitute very quickly from the farm. The trainer of horses running in claimers, on the other hand, has to show great ingenuity to keep his charges going, and, often, to keep their owners going, as many of the latter rely on their horses as meal tickets. If Bonham had had the good luck to be employed by one of the aforesaid millionaires, or were more inclined to blow his own horn, the entire racing world would soon know that he ranks right up with the very best of trainers." [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.]
