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fry--" • i-, *and; Garden State Notebook By FRED GALIANI George Wells Visits U. S. Tracks One of Leading English Riders Ben Lewis in Man o War Role GARDEN STATE PARK, Camden, N. J., April 30. — Casting an interested eye over the days proceedings was George Wells, one of the leading English riders in his own land and in Ireland, who is here in the U. S. helping care for 14 foreign - bred horses William Read has at the Jay Cee Farm of Joseph Holsey. Wells, who has only been in the country a little over a week, has visited Jamaica and Garden State thus far. but was extremely interested in what he saw. Asked what features of American racing, which he had seen in few trips to the track impressed him most, he leaned toward the film patrol. He was shown the films of the first race yesterday right after they were developed and was quite taken with them. He did, however, doubt if they would be practical in England where the shapes of the tracks vary so much and it would be hard to arrange cameras in positions of sequence. Wells, who was the leading: apprentice in England in 1937, has ridden contract for the large stable of Miss Dorothy Paget and has won all of the Irish classics but the St. Leger.. Asked about American riders he remarked that they all seemed very good and that he had the good fortune to see Eddie Arcaro and Eric Guerin in action at Jamaica, and he termed both of them excellent riders. A feature of American race riding that is strange to him is the fact that all the boys ride with goggles, but although he met Johnny Longden when the latter rode in Ireland a couple of years ago, he couldnt recall whether Longden wore goggles in his races abroad. Vse of goggles abroad is nonexistent. I find this all very interesting," Wells said, "there is so much different from home. This paddock in front of the stands is quite a good thing, everyone can see the horses plainly. Back home we have the enclosed paddock and walking rings in the rear of the stands. And the infield of this track is very pretty, with all the shrubbery and the pine trees along the backstretah. It makes a nice sight. I dont know whether I will ride in this country; there are some legal complications that would have to be straightened out first, but Ill know more about that later on. I do enjoy it here , and Tommy Tault trainer for the Jay Cee Farms I has been kind and helpful in show- ; ing me all the racing phases since Im here. Im very appreciative of that." Wells owns his own stud farm in Ireland, but just as I in this country, jockeys are not permitted to own horses, so he breeds for the market. * The 14 horses he is handling here are highly regarded racers, a number of them stakes winners. i Wellls saw Native Dancer in action in New York and has high respect for the gray colt. As he put it, "Hes a helluva t horse. You know its a great tribute to his trainer to get him up for all those races. A lot of people think if you have a good horse its an easy task training him. but you know it takes a bit of get- * ting a horse ready for races no matter how good he is. The lad has done a good job in training him." Dr. J. M, Lee reports that Spartan Valor * is coming along nicely and that the New Jersey handicap star will probably be ready i for action in the fall. Lee has a colt at his Solar farm by Attention out of Flying Lil, who is a half-sister to Arisbi, dam of Spar- * tan Valor. . . . Tom Phelan has taken over the training of the horses of D. G. Neuman, h Philadelphia industrialist, who has eight head on the grounds. Neuman made the largest claim of the Florida season when he * haltered Starecase for 5,000 Al Fahey called to let it be known that Delaware t Parks stakes, headed by the 00,000 New Castle Handicap, close tomorrow, as do nominations for the 1954 running of the Leonard Richards and Delaware Oaks. r- Stanley Small, who won the first race of his career yesterday, is an 18-year - fc old lad from Philadelphia, whose real name is Stanley Kosmalski . . . Benny !«. Austin has taken over the engagement * book of jockey Herb Lindberg . . . One of the new meeting places for racetrackers t is the Colonial Lounge of Frank Yaco- Continued on Page Thirty-Five * / J : Garden State Notebook By FRED GALIANI Continued from Page Five velli, who raced a string of horses a couple of years ago and operated the track kitchen at Garden State . . . Mrs. Ben Oppenheim was out to the track today to inspect her two horses, Winging Along and Banjoist, who are trained by J. P. "Buddy" Mayberry . . . Art Warner, who raced on the Jersey circuit all last season, has passed up the local scene and is in action in Canada. Warner has the horses of Jules Mendelsohn, owner of Thorn -cliffe Park. A. J. McMasters. of Chester Springs, Pa.. has received another check from the earnings of Ben Lewis, but this was not for any purse but for the stallions Hollywood performances. Ben Lewis is the horse who is portraying Man o War in the film being made of Big Reds life. The shooting started over two years ago. but McMasters reports that the film is going to be reshot, this time in color and three dimension. Sid Luft, husband of Judy Garland, is producing the picture. Ben Lewis was chosen for the role of Man o War by the late Samuel Riddle as having the closest resemblance to the famed racer. The picture is expected to be finished in September and then be released on Derby Day of 1954. Ben Lewis was a speedy horse in -his racing days and placed in a couple of stakes . . . Four of the five Moran brothers will be in action here. Dick checked in with six horses and Bill will be along later . . . Duke McCue arrived from Lexington with six horses, including a two-year-old by Double Jay, whose first crop is coming to the races this season. Duke trained Double Jay, who was voted the best juvenile of 1946 . . . Pete Tomi is handling jockey Jimmy Breckons at the meeting . . . Mrs. Walter M. Jeffords took in the races yesterday afternoon, as did Mr. and Mrs. Cortright Wetherall.
