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I Garden State Notebook By FRED GALIANI Frank Costa in U.S. Only Since 50 Rider Hopes to Emulate Culmone Stage Jersey Yearling Show July 8 GARDEN STATE PARK, Camden, N. J., May 4. — Hopeful of emulating Joe Cul-mones success as a rider is another Italian immigrant who aspires to great things as a 1 jockey. He is 18-year-old Frank Costa, who ! arrived in this country . from Calabria, Italy, in 1950, and is under the [ wing of trainer Charlie ! Coco. While he was aware of the presence I of horses in Italy, I working with them on I his fathers farm, he had no intentions of becoming a rider until he came to this country with his mother. Upon the advice of an uncle he came to the tracks and spent two and a half years learning the fundamentals. He got his first crack at race riding in Florida this past winter, riding in 10 races. His record is quite good as he broke his maiden on a horse called , Preacher and was in the money four other times. He can do 98 pounds, is small boned and compact and has the earmarks of a rider. Coco plans to give him plenty of practice in developing his career. His mother, originally from the Argentine, has taken out her first papers, and his father is expected to come to the country in a year or two. A little rhubarb developed Saturday when a heretofore unreserved section of the grandstand seats was set aside as reserved. Although post time is not until 2 : 30, the crowds throng in early here and a number of them established squatters rights in the reserved section. Standing, or rather sitting, on their rights, they refused to leave, and police were unable to remove them, with the result that the people who had purchased reserved seats were out in the cold, and it was a cold day. The matter was finally resolved by allowing the first arrivals to remain where they were and shifting the reserved seat patrons to a special section in the clubhouse. , G. Barker Seeley, Jr., field secretary of the New Jersey Thoroughbred Breeders Association, reports that the largest crop of foals in the state is assured this year. With the breeding season not yet completed, last years record has already been j surpassed. Likewise a record number of juveniles have been registered -with the association. Honors for the first foal of : the year went to Alfred De Cozen, whose ; Short Brook Farm reported an arrival at 5:30 a. m. New Years Day. Seeley announced • that the seventh annual yearling show will be held at Monmouth Park on L July 8 . . . Saturdays running of the Betsy f Ross Stakes here is listed as the second, but a stake of the same name was run at ; Suffolk Downs from 1936 to 1949. Cant * leave anything lying around these days . . . Malcolm Lennox, four-year-old son of associate • steward Ken Lennox, has returned home following a brief hospitalization at ■ the Monmouth Memorial Hospital . . . Chris 5 Rogers, who is being handled by Augie J Myers, is showing good form in his first t appearance here in a couple of years. The working press got a chance to see the Kentucky Derby through the kindness of Buddy Field of the S and S Appliance store in Camden, N. J., who loaned a TV set for the afternoon. An interesting aspect of the pre -race ceremonies was the shot of the odds board, giving the audience a full view of the prices. This is only mentioned in connection with a Jersey Racing Commission ruling which prevents any mention of odds whatsoever on any race, even though it is two hours old, on the air. . . Hop Stoddard, coroner of Burlington County, complaining that he cant even enjoy a day at the races. Twice this year he has come out to the track and both times he has been paged out of the park on an emergency call. . Watching their horses perform in the Betsy Ross were Mrs. Wallace Gilroy, Al Wellman, R. N. Webster and Harry Isaacs, owner of the winning Is Proud. The latter was a press box visitor before the stakes. When informed that his I Appeal won at Bowie, he was as happy as a kid with a new toy. The dam of I Appeal is a half-sister to Qvickly, dam of Count Fleet. Later in the Continued on Page Thirty-Six v i 1 P State Notebook Garden b be By FRED GALIANI Continued from Page Four afternoon Isaacs completed a sweep with Is Proud. Others out for the stake were James J. Colt, owner of the Jumping Brook Country Club in Deal, and Mrs. Colt; Mrs. Helen Kay Alexander, daughter of Robert Kleberg, owner of King Ranch, who has one horse. Two Twenty, in training here; Mayor John Gittone, of Vineland and John W. Kane, treasurer of Sunshine Park in Florida. . Ira Hanford returned to New York after riding a trio of Brookmeade horses as did Preston Burch, who came i down to saddle them. Only one of them, f County Clare came through . . . Trainer Vir- t gil "Buddy" Raines also traveled back to £ Gotham after sending out a couple of 1 horses . . Roger C o n 1 o n , Brookmeades f promising apprentice will ride out the Jer- I sey season. He has turned his engagement i book over to Mike Walsh. . Aqueduct and Arlington Park condition books are being 1 distributed to horsemen. . . J. C. Gianguilio, 1 from Ardmore, Pa., owner of the Castle 1 Rock Farm, was out to see his Nona Belle run, but not in the money. . .Jack Lieber- 1 man, of the Trio Stables, was another noted 1 among the crowd . . . Jack Kiley, who is the 1 messenger to the mutuels from the press 1 box, ran his sons Luxuriant at Bowie Saturday, but alas the mare is still without i a victory in nine starts this year. Keep I trying. Jack, shes only six years old . . . Just received dashing Dick Gilfords latest opus in verse. Gifford, a New York printer, has composed a series of poems which he calls Dashing Dicks Rhymes of the Races. The latest is a paeon to Eric Guerin. Must print one of them next time I have room.
