Suffolk Downs Notebook: Lance DeSpiritos Mouth Infection Weyermans in First Suffolk Visit Star Chief in New York Stakes, Daily Racing Form, 1953-05-12

article


view raw text

■■ SuffolkDowns Notebook I By FRED GALIANI Lance DeSpiritos Mouth Infection Weyermans in First Suffolk Visit Star Chief in New York Stakes SUFFOLK DOWNS, East Boston, Mass.. May 11. — Tony DeSpirito and the holder of his contract, Jim Carr, scaled the Olympian heierhts heights to to the the press nress ■■ heierhts heights to to the the press nress box Saturday and last years champion rider looked like he had two faces. DeSpirito was slated to return Friday, following a suspension, but now has a badly infected mouth, which required lancing. Although his upper lip was swollen, the young rider from Lawrence, Mass., Mass., said saia it it was was noth- Mass., Mass., said saia it it was was noth- notn-ing compared to the way he looked early in the morning; he could hardly open his eyes. A couple of nerves in his jawbone were shattered, probably in his last spill, causing the infection. . . . Gypsy Rose Lee, currently starring at the Latin Quarter in Boston, made the presentation of the Constitution Handicap trophy to Dick McLaughlin after the race. There was hardly any excitement until it was announced over the loud speaker that she was present. Then the wolf whistles went into action and the fans surged to the winners circle. Among the bevy of beauties from the show accompanying Gypsy were Martha and Joanne Johns, daughters of Brooke Johns, placing judge at Charles Town and former Ziegfeld star. The girls all came to the track in Gypsys car — a Rolls Royce no less. Mr. and Mrs. Paul Weyerman, of Omaha, Nebr., and Miami Shores, Fla., were paddock club visitors to see their Villager run in the eighth race Saturday. This is the first New England visit for the Weyermans and they find the rock-ribbed hills stimulating. They plan to stay for the entire session. . . . Eddie Mack, the old Sarge who keeps Lincoln Downs in the spotlight, came over for the afternoon, just in time to sec his boss Break On win. The filly is owned by B. A. Dario, headman at Lincoln. The old Sarges wife is ill and is in Cardinal OConnor home, St.Elizabcths Hospital, Boston. . . . Mrs. Jim Monroe, widow of the former racing secretary, was out renewing acquaintances among her friends. . . . Jockey Wally G ruber is on the grounds and is free lancing through the meeting. . . . Tomorrow is the birthday for Mrs. Arthur Hunt, wife of the placing judge and also nurse in the first aid room. The doctor there is Dr. Martin Spcllman, brother of Cardinal Spcllman of New York. R. W. Collins, owner and trainer of Star Chief, who ran in the Constitution, has named the son of Apache for several New York stakes. Star Chief is one of the biggest three-year-olds around, standing 17 hands. . . . Larry Taylor, the big hotel man from Boston, made his usual weekly jaunt to the track for an afternoon of action . . . Jockey Jimmy Perez and wife expect their second child any edition now. . Boston fans are still their vocal selves. They still scream foul after every race. . Youll never catch Eb Pons unable to operate because of busy phones. He keeps a private line in his desk drawer. One of Suffolks main assets is its convenient location, served directly by the subway from Boston, which is a 10-min-ute ride. This puts the track in a unique position as it has a constant stream of patrons coming in at any time from the first to the last race. People on their lunch hour come out to play the Double or one or two races ; before the ninth race you can see quite a few of them getting off the subway and dashing in to make the windows for the last heat. This is greatly in contrast to most of the tracks in the country where it takes quite a while to get there either by car or train. Here its just a matter of minutes . . . Jake Rutkin is receiving condolences on the death of his father-in-law, who passed away last week in Maiden, Mass. Hunch players who went to a Boston department store Saturday morning found one all right. The store featured an exhibition of Air Force equipment and each customer received a magazine entitled Pegasus. The second race went to a horse so named. . . . Tom Sears, who owns the Hall restaurant in between Bowie and Marlboro, Md., evidently has a nice colt in Nirgal Lad, who won his third race in four starts on the week end. Eddie Smith, the former jockey. Continued on Page Forty SuffolkDowns Notebook By FRED GALIANI Continued from Page Four trains the horse for Sears. Oddly enough, although Sears has had horses for 30 years and Smith has ridden for 18 years, neither had teamed their talents until Smith turned horse trainer. The horse is slated to compete in a couple of stakes in New York, principally the national Stallion, in which he will be thoroughly tested. After nine straight postponements, because of weather, Suffolk Downs will stage its first turf race of the season tomorrow. . Jockey Richard McLaughlin is pulling away from idle Tony DeSpirito, who is still ailing with a gum infection. The former G. I. now has 27 winners with Tony a distant second with 14. . .Veteran jockey Claude Hooper who has been sidelined with a touch of virus, has resumed riding at the Downs. In the race that Conns Hoppou took from Hasti Night in a photo Saturday, there were 12 claims put in the box, nine for Hasti Night and three for Conns Hoppou. J. A. Nerud drew Hasti Night while L. H. Gazoorian haltered Conns Hoppou Jim Raf tery, track photographer at Gulf -stream, Monmouth and Garden State is originally from neighboring Everett and is visiting here for a few days. He renewed his many friendships at the Downs yesterday.


Persistent Link: https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1950s/drf1953051201/drf1953051201_4_6
Local Identifier: drf1953051201_4_6
Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800