view raw text
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm REFLECTIONS by nelson dunstan LEXINGTON, Ky., May 5.— Three Dot Shorts: Pimlico s "Annual Virginia Day" will be May 20. The feature event being the Virginia Horsemens Association Plate for fillies and mares. . . . The press committee, which will eventually select the American horses for the Washington, D. C, International at Laurel in the fall, will hold its first meeting in Baltimore during Preakness week. . . . Clive Graham writes us from London to r say, "The Epsom Derby is already a sellout for all boxes and stalls have been sold. If any American press representatives you know are coming over, have them contact me quickly for the press box space is now being allotted. Hotel accommodations are very hard to get." . . . Dark Star was the seventy-first colt to win the Kentucky Derby, with seven geldings and one filly completing the honor roll. . . . Since its reorganization in 1940, Keene-land has distributed over a quarter of a million dollars to charitable and educational institutions. The homey little Lexington track is being enlarged and improved. , . . Citation was the horse who broke the Futurity-Derby jinx and he must also be credited with doing the same thing in the Derby Trial and Derby. ... All five of Calumet Farms Derby winners were foaled in the same barn. ... At a stud fee of ,000, Windy City II. has a full book for 1953. He is standing at Dr. Frank Porter Millers Sunnyslope Farm in Riverside, Calif. . . . Both Bub-bley and Cerise Reine are named for the Blackeyed Susan at Pimlico on May 30. . . . Mr. and Mrs. Henry H. Knight of Almahurst will leave for California within a few days for a vacation prior to the sales at Saratoga. Knight has approximately 100 yearlings at his farm and will sell 48 of them at the Spa, with the remainder being offered at Meadow Brook in the fall. Controversy Over Best Horse in Derby? Winfrey Gives Credit to Dark Star Preakness to Settle Many Questions Hancock Looks for Strong Sales Market Here in Lexington, as we imagine in other sections throughout the country, they are asking, "Did the best horse win the Kentucky Derby?" It appears that the bumping of Native Dancer at the first turn has started the controversy and one of the sporting statements that came as an aftermath was that from Bill Winfrey, who trains the Vanderbilt champion. He said: "That boy on Dark Star rated his horse perfectly and rode a fine race. That was a game horse and you cant take it away from him. We have no alibis at all." As we saw the race and as we said yesterday, not one iota of credit can be taken from Dark Star. The Guggenheim horse went to the front, stayed there from end to end, and staved off Native Dancer in the duel down the stretch. Whether or not the best horse won is hardly the question in our opinion. Odds-on favorites have been beaten in previous runnings of the Derby and have gone on to Baltimore and New York to settle the question of supremacy. In all probability Native Dancer and Dark Star will meet in both the Preakness and the Belmont. There is, however, an added twist to the Baltimore race for it is possible that Laffango, Tahitian King and still others, who did not start in the Derby, will be waiting to try conclusions with them. Back in 1934, Cavalcade and Discovery ran one-two in the Derby and then went to Pimlico only to have High Quest defeat Cavalcade, with Discovery third. Hoop, Jr. won the 1945 running of the Derby only to run second to Polynesian in the Preakness and it would be something of an oddity if his son, Native Dancer, were to turn the tables on Dark Star. From all indications the Pimlico meeting will settle other arguments besides that of Native Dancer and Dark Star. As we stated in the first paragraph, Bubbley and Cerise Reine are scheduled to battle it out once again and we have only to think back to the Kentucky Oaks to know that these two will stage a ding-dong battle in the Blackeyed Susan. Then again this week end the time-honored Dixie Handicap could be the medium of another get-together between Royal Vale, Cold Command, Crafty Admiral and Golden Gloves. In the Gallant Fox Handicap, Royal Vale caused a mild upset by winning from Cold Command, with the latter a length and a half in front of One Count, and Crafty Admiral a neck behind the latter. Royal Vale is an English-bred by Kingsway, out of Cora Deans, by Coronach, and gave notice that he was a horse to contend with when he set a new North American record for one and one-half miles on the turf in the Miami Beach Handicap. Moving north he won the Bowie Handicap, and then, last Saturday, injected considerable interest in the handicap ranks by winning the Gallant Fox from two horses who were voted the highest honors for 1952. One Count was not named for the Dixie, but will be at Belmont Park to measure strides with these rivals in the Suburban or some other event. There are quite a few older horses who will fill out the Dixie field and the list could include Golden Gloves. One Hitter, Alerted, Oil Capitol, To Market and First Glance. AAA For the next week the writer will be around the Kentucky breeding farms looking at the yearlings that will be sold at Keeneland and Saratoga in the summer. Tom Can* Piatt, president, and Arthur B. Hancock, Jr.. vice-president, of the Breeders Sales Company, have already Continued on Page Thirty-Eight I REFLECTIONS By NELSON DUNSTAN Continued from Pag* Forty -Eight announced that the quality will be maintained • and that the company will not replace the Mereworth Farm and Claiborne yearlings who have been withdrawn from i the sales this year. In withdrawing the Claiborne Farm youngsters, Hancock has announced that he will send a large consignment from his famous Paris establishment to the Keeneland fall sales. These officers are very optimistic that the prices this year will be comparable with those of recent seasons. Hancock has been quoted by Len Trace as saying, "With the extremely high interest in racing, the big purses, the increasing attendance, I cannot see how the coming sale could be anything but the best the association has conducted." Bill Evans, general manager of the Breeders Sales Company, is just as optimistic as Piatt and Hancock, and the breeders we have talked with here in the Blue Grass are thinking along the same lines. Hancock plans to race some colts and fillies in his own name and he makes considerable sense in stating that it is virtually an impossibility for a market breeder to race some of his yearlings and at the same time expect a buyers acceptance for the remainder to be sold at public auction. The Breeders Sales Company, as usual, will have a competent man inspecting all yearlings for the summer sales, but will continue the same high standards as it has in former years regardless of the number that are finally selected. AAA The victory of Dark Star in the Kentucky Derby naturally centered attention on his Australian sire, Royal Gem II., but by the same token he created interest in the latters half-brother, Beau Gem, who recently joined the Virginia stallion ranks. Tyson Gilpin, of the Fasig Tipton Co., was instrumental in bringing Beau Gem to this country. The success of Royal Gem II. s youngsters could not have been more perfectly timed to help his half-brother. It was recently announced that Baylor Hickman, of Glenview Farms near Louisville, would send one of his younger broodmares east from Kentucky to be bred to Beau Gem. This is the first time in many years that an independently owned broodmare has been sent from Kentucky to Virginia for a service. It is the old story of "nothing succeeds like success" and in this case it is the Kentucky stallion standing at Warner L. Jones Hermitage Farm at Goshen who is pointing out the possibilities of his half-brother in Virginia.
