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BLmmandmm REFLECTIONS by nelson mnstan NEW YORK, N. Y., May 12.— Three Dot Shorts: Sheepshead Bays old race track property has finally been sold and the land will be cleared for division into building lots. . . . The film patrol service makes its New England debut at Narragansett Park on June 29. . . . Breeding winning hnrsps horses in in California Piilifnrnia is is ornnH good hnsinpcs business. BLmmandmm hnrsps horses in in California Piilifnrnia is is ornnH good hnsinpcs business. After the Santa Anita meeting Louis B. Mayer received ,330 in breeders awards and Rex Ellsworth, breeder of Correspondent, was handed a check for ,727. . . . Calumet Farm has a two-year-old sister to Armed named Bubbles and the three-year-old filly named Bubbley, recent winner of the Kentucky Oaks. . . . Pilate, who was mercifully destroyed at Danny Van Chefs Nydrie Stud in Virginia a few months ago, sired over 250 winners and they were rated among the stoutest horses of the generation. . . . Several breeders plan to increase stud fees for their successful stallions in 1954. . . . Last year, England realized 8,200,000 from betting through the "tote," while New York State alone was credited with 5,528,000. . . . Nasrullah is the only leading English sire ever brought to this country. . . . Improvements in the old Pimlico clubhouse proved a good investment for the Stevens catering clan and also the track in revenue from admissions. . . . C. T. Chenery is reported to have bought six yearlings privately from Claiborne Farm, which will not sell at public auction this season. AAA With the three-year-olds holding the spotlight for the past two months, the juveniles have not had much of an opportunity to show their stuff at the various racing centers. The Youthful, which was run at Jamaica on April 29, was followed by the Fashion a week ago and tomorrow the Juvenile will bring the youngsters together in a five-furlong race down the Widener course. It is Two-Year-Olds in the New York Picture , Who Stays East and Who Goes West? Tahitian King Tests Dancer1 in Withers Marylanders Proud of Gray Champion a question whether any youngsters who have won will be in the picture this fall, and it is our impression they will not. Actually, two-year-old competition is now getting under way and the National Stallion, which will again be run in filly and colt divisions, will be history before the Belmont meeting closes. There is always a question as to which two-year-olds will remain here in the East or go to Chicago where Arlington and Washington Parks have a roster of 10 stakes for them, with a total added value of over 50,000. Needless to say, Calumet Farm will be in the Windy City in full force and it is our understanding some promising Bull Lea youngsters are being primed for the meetings out there. There are others, however, as for instance James McCues Summa Cum, who was the highest priced yearling of the 1952 season at 8,000; Darby Dan Farms Ladybreath, a sister to Miss Brief, who brought 6,000; Allison and Prest-ridges Count Fleet colt named Don Ligero, who cost 0,-000, and the Rokeby Stables Wild Applause, a sister to Spartan Valor, who sold for 7,000. AAA The return duel between Dark Star and Native Dancer will be staged in the Preakness a week from Saturday. But New York has all the makings of a real race when Native Dancer and Tahitian King meet again in the time-honored Withers at Belmont this Saturday. In the Wood Memorial, Tahitian King set all the pace and gave the Vanderbilt champion a real fight until they went into the last furlong. It was the Wood showing that made the Whitaker colt the favorite for the Swift on Monday and that race is going to key him for his best effort in the one-mile event. The gray colt, who went into the Derby unbeaten in 11 starts, lost no friends by his showing at Louisville, but the defeat did bring out again that anything can happen in a horse race, even to a champion. Due to the bumping at the first turn in the Derby there are many who contend that it was not a truly run race. As much as we admire the Vanderbilt colt, we do not agree. Regardless of Guerins statements we do not believe that he rode with his usual skill and headwork in the Derby. Many a top horse has lost one race only to come on again and prove himself a true champion. Native Dancer may do it, but he must start out by beating Tahitian King in the Withers and then reverse the decision over Dark Star in the Preakness. Then, of course, there is the more searching test of the Belmont Stakes at one and one-half miles. AAA Marylanders will get their first glimpse of Native Dancer in the Preakness and you can bet your last dollar they will be rooting for the Vanderbilt three-year-old to the last man. And why not? Sagamore Farm has been a fine institution in the Old Line State and Marylanders are no different from New Yorkers, Kentuckians, Texans or Californians in cheering for a horse they consider their own. Well do we recall the year when Johnstown defeated Challedon in the Kentucky Derby, then the three -year-olds went on to Baltimore for the Preakness. It was run on one of the worst days, in the matter of weather, we can ever recall on a race track. Challedon. who could fly through the mud, reversed the decision and that night the Baltimore boys went singing through the streets for the late Edgar Horn had composed a song. "Challedon My Challedon," to the strains of "Maryland Continued on Page Forty REFLECTIONS By NELSON DUNSTAN Continued from Page Forty -Eight My Maryland." While Native Dancer was foaled in Kentucky, he was taught all that he knows in a racing way at Vanderbilts Sagamore, which is at Glyndon. It would not surprise us if the Preakness throng compares with that of any previous running. AAA While we were in Kentucky, news from Belmont Park seemed most important after a day of touring the breeding farms. Of all the news from the picturesque Long Island course that which pleased us no end was a note in the charts that jockey Basil James, after a long absence, came tearing down the Widener course to pilot the Horseshoe Stables Wolf Gal to second place behind Mrs. George D. Wideners Evening Out in the Fashion Stakes last Friday. Ordinarily turf reporters have little to say about the horse or jockey who finishes second, but in this case it is a bit different. It seems like only yesterday that Basil James, or "Elmer," as his friends dub him, came through the chute in 1938 astride W. E. Boeings crack Porters Mite to nip George D. Wideners Eight Thirty in the famed Belmont Futurity. Basil was a hot rider in those days and a nice kid. He also had the leg up on Market Wise when the Tufano Cinderella horse made the mighty Whulaway strike his colors in The Jockey Club Gold Cup. It was the same Basil James who booted Alsab home in the 1942 Preakness. After serving a hitch in the Army, "Elmer" just couldnt seem to get back in stride again. He rode a bit on the Coast, but not in his old form. Well, it seems the kid has recovered the old know-how and if good wishes will help, this writer extends them.
