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I -h Connors Corner I By "CHUCK" CONNORS April Showers Bring May Rains Off Track for Gallant Fox Moreno to Ride at Belmont Park JAMAICA. L. I., N. Y., May 1.— April showers bring May flowers or so said the i rhymsters of yesterday, but the present day racegoers just twisted it around and remarked that April showers bring May rains. The liquid stuff that helps the growth of flowers, vegetables, hay and oats has visited these parts with monotonous regularity. The racing strip was water-soaked this morning and even with a decided change in the weather will be "off" for tomorrow when the Gallant Fox is the stellar offering. This is the first big one for the oldsters of the ranks and the event attracted a well rounded field. Turf students have for years offered different theories on what makes one horse race better in the mud or on an "off" track than another. The subject has been discussed at great length and more reasons have been advanced than alibis for a beaten favorite. When it comes to mud races the Long Island track showing must be discarded, for in the final diagnosis there is no such handicap to overcome. Jamaica, Belmont and Aqueduct have on different occasions been described as muddy, but this is not a true statement of facts. The soil composition here is * different from other sectors, such as those which prevailed at Empire City when that track was part of the scene or at Saratoga Springs when after a long period of rain the track turns ankle deep in holding mud. The soil on Long Island is mostly sand and thus porous, permitting the water to drain off at a much faster pace than through dirt or heavy loam. The drainage facilities at Jamaica, however, are far from perfect and will not attain that status until the powers who be that control the council repeal certain laws which prohibit owners of private property to drain off the rain into storm sewers. Jamaica built a ditch on the inside of the track a couple of years ago, which at that time, was credited as capable of holding the water. The ditch did not measure up to expectations and as a result a pump is pressed into service to drain the water into the centerfield where it eventually seeps back into the ground. This slow method of evaporation and disposal has to a certain extent a bearing on the soil nearest the centerfield, which takes a longer time to dry out than the outer perimeter of the track. This condition, when the track is spongy on the inside, forces jockeys to seek the firmer footing on the outside. Another matter is the top soil which is drawn off when the water gravitates towards the rail and the ditch seeking its own level. The going will be off tomorrow and in the majority of cases the alleged mud runners will be on the outside. Some day, the reason why one horse is a better mud runner than another may be answered satisfactorily, but in one solution to the problem, George Odom came up with one little word, confidence, on a horses part. Johnny Rogan, the old clubhouse commissioner, received word from another veteran of bygone years, Charles Quinn. The latter as a resident of Miami for the past decade or more, recently celebrated his 83rU natal day and is enjoying extremely Continued on Page Sixty-Two Connors Corner By C. J. CONNORS Continued from Page Three good health. According to Rogan, Quinn has adopted a Mahatma Gandi garb for the summer months and is tanned a light ebony. . Colin "Sandy" MacLeod came up from his ancestral acres in Virginia for a day or two but when the rains came headed back to old Virginia. His Versify was a recent arrival from the farm and turned over to George M. Odom to race during the Belmont Park meeting ... Pat Provenzano, secretary of the New York State Senate, part owner of the Batavia track and who deals in automobiles and races a stable of horses under Charlie Reynolds, was on hand yesterday. . .Allan Lavin came up to do some missionary work for the stake and overnight program at Delaware Park. He will remain over for several days before heading towards Baltimore. Trainer Jim Ryan brought over Royal Vale, owned by the Rokeby Stable, for a feel of the muddy racing strip this morning. He was vanned over from Belmont Park . . . Trainer George Riola, who has the Mrs. Sara Chait horses in his care, shipped Toni Choi and others to Garden State Park for engagements. . Bill Bren-nan, the Brooklynite in charge of the receiving barn, is on the sidelines, a victim of a severe cold . . . Hank Moreno, who is slated to ride Dark Star for the Cain Hoy Stable in the Derby, is doe at Belmont Park on Monday.
