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Connors Corner I By "CHUCK" CONNORS Preakness Moves Into Spotlight Juveniles Awaiting Belmont Meet Night Racing in Louisiana Legal JAMAICA, L. I., N. Y., May 2.— The results of the Derby and the Gallant Fox are in the book. The three-year-olds move on to Pimlico for the Preakness, the second bauble in the "Triple Crown," while the older horses for the most part will be on the sidelines, until the running of the Suburban. The Dixie, one of Marylands outstanding offerings for the older brigade, has to a certain extent lost some of the intersectional ap peal that the tub thumpers had worked hard and long to supply. Following the running of the Preakness, the interest in the three-year-olds will be academic for a couple of weeks and obtained by remote control from the work tab or from an overnight race which might lure one or two of the stars of that division. The Belmont, which will be decided on June 6, is the final of the big three-year-old races, that is, as far as the tourists and visiting firemen are concerned. The interest will then again lag until the Dwyer at Aqueduct, and until the Chicago season is unfolded at Arlington and Washington Parks. There a resurgence of the early interest will be rekindled in that classification, but usually by then the situation is, as far as the title is concerned, well clarified or in a muddled mess. In the meantime, the two-year-olds wUl have moved into the picture and during the Belmont Park meeting some of the well-regarded ones whose debut has been postponed, wiU be seen at that meeting. The racing of two-year-olds has changed abruptly in recent years. Back in what some of the paddock boys refer to as the good old days, the better considered two-year-olds were held in reserve until well on into the summer. This practice, they advocated, gave the youngsters ample time to grow, develop and strengthen bone structure and none but the culls were sent to the races, in an effort to dispose of them. All that has changed in recent years due to the influence of big-time winter racing and overnight purse values. A swift running two-year-old can, under present conditions, amass earnings far above those in the range of a seasoned campaigner of handicap stature. The pressure exerted on owners and trainers to start the two-year-olds out earlier than usual is a simple matter of dollars and cents. Racing stable maintenance costs today are high and it costs just as much to feed and train a bad horse as a good one and an idle one has no earning power. Hence the temptation to race two-year-olds in an effort to bring about an equitable balance in the monthly costs of a racing stable. Anyway, the two-year-olds will be active at Belmont Park, sharing the presentations with the older ones and that sums up the situation at present. Jockey Ken Church arrived from Louisville to ride the Charfran Stables Crafty Admiral in the Gallant Fox and then picked up his boots and saddles and headed westward. He will be back later for more engagements at Belmont Park . . Softball, around the race track, launches its annual season on May 12. The league comprises six teams and the opener is between the backstretchers and the jockeys on the Hempstead Turnpike across the street from Belmont Park. . . The response of New York horsemen to the Delaware stakes was good according to emissaries from that racing ground . . . Stephen "Laddie" Sanford will be on hand for the Belmont Park season according to trainer Holly Hughes. Sanford is busy in Florida playing polo and enjoying the Palm Beach weather. Danny Arnstein came out to lend support to his two-year-old Murphs Deb in the two-year-old race. He later reported that he had wished "he stod in bed"... Harry LaMontagne braved the weather to be on hand early and keep his record for the Jamaica meeting on the right side of the ledger. Harry Stevens, of the catering clan, showed up from Miami and will remain hereabouts for the balance of the summer . Sketchy reports from Miami are to the effect that Curtis Haggard, chairman of the Florida Racing Commission, Continued on Page Forty-Four Connors Corner By C. J. CONNORS Continued from Page Three has offered to the legislators a request that all lobbyists employed by Florida tracks be named plus their salaries and other expenses . . Jack Campbell pointed out in reference to night racing in Louisiana the members of the racing commission have the power to designate the hours. The state law setting the time had been repealed several years ago. The grapevine has it that Tom Smith will be back to take over the Maine Chance Farm horses. Smith trained the string on several occasions, but no confirmation of the latest report could be obtained The Widener course ;,t Belmont Park was thrown open yesterday and will be available several times per week for training moves following exercise on the main track . . Max Hirsch of the King Ranch menage following an exhaustive inspection of the recent arrivals, two-year-olds, from the Texas empire, reported that they look promising. Trainer Preston Burch moved over to Garden State for the afternoon to saddle a couple of starters for the Brookmeade Stable. He is due back on Sunday. Harry Heiman, master of Apheim Stable, was on hand for the week-end program . Lambert Goldsmith passed up the Derby to witness the Gallant Fox. He reported that Laudy Lawrence, the internationalist, who lives , in Paris, may be on hand for a couple of i weeks of the Saratoga Springs session . . . I F. Skiddy von Stade, of Saratoga Springs. , reported that the preliminary work of preparing that track for the summer meeting is started. No major improvements are on ! the agenda . . . Jockey Warren Lane, a ver- satile performer, who rides on the flat and I through the field, accepted his first mount i of the meeting . . . Jimmy DeWitt, another I veteran, also made his seasonal debut fol-lowing his arrival from Florida . Joe Kyle, I who is acting as clerk of the scales during the absence of Cal Rainey, reported that I 50 jockeys was the top number registered for this meeting.
