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ing Association, Association, th the — ■— — —a— — Bathe the lands lands back back of of ■ ♦ Connors Corner By "CHUCK" CONNORS Hope for Fast Track for Withers Leon Lachal Interested Visitor Use Three Dimensional Cameras BELMONT PARK, Elmont, L. I., N. Y. May 14. — Officials of the Westchester Racing ing Association, Association, th the e latter latter by by the the way way is is e latter latter by by the the way way is is the official title for Belmont Park, are salaaming towards the East and offering mumbo jumbo to the god of rain to be on his good behavior over the week end. In this plea, the officials are joined by the horsemen, patrons, and the tax collector up at Albany, for the rains to go to Spain or preferably to the the iron iron curtain. curtain. The The the lands lands back back of of the the iron iron curtain. curtain. The The horsemen want a fast track, the officials are hoping for a big crowd, and the men from the pocket wringing agency, well, they prefer to count that unearned capital under sunny skies. The Withers on a fast track shapes up as an interesting spectacle, for horsemen are under the impression that a change in tactics of handling Native Dancer, A. G. Vanderbilts colt, will be attempted. Native Dancer looms as a pronounced choice in the mile sprint and with the absence of Dark Star and Jamie K., the latter by the way was not named although eligible for the Belmont, his position is further enhanced. Jamie K. is destined for the Preakness and the veteran John Partridge has made no secret of the colts ability and his recent good races were no surprise to the conditioner of Jim Norris charge. Anyway, the Withers is one mile and on a fast track the event will attract the attention of close observers and students, with Native Dancer as the focal point. While the three-year-olds are still monopolizing the limelight, the Derby finish and subsequent comments have taken care of that, the two-year-olds are steadily edging into the picture. Discussing the youngsters the other afternoon, the majority of horsemen are of the opinion that the crop shown under colors and observed in training trials is a better one than last year. They point out that it is more balanced and at least several have shown to advantage in races and can still improve. Along about this time of the year, the paddock set have selected one or two youngsters who, in their opinion, will be battling it out the latter part of the year for the mythical title. This year they are at a loss and refuse to go out on the limb by naming this or that as the tops. In the handicap situation, the boys are generating an opinion that Royal Vale, from the menage of Mrs. Esther duPont Weir, may wind up as the best. They refuse, however, until after the Suburban, to be contested on Decoration Day, to make an absolute prediction. The latter event has for past years pointed the way to the leader of the division but its place as supreme arbiter has been threatened of late by the inauguration of other events over distances of ground with lucrative prize monies. One Count and Royal Vale will meet in that holiday event here, which is worthwhile waiting for. Leon V. Lachal, of Sydney, Australia, who is known to his friends in the land down under where he is secretary of the Sydney Jockey Club as "Snow," was a visitor yesterday. He was intensely interested in the mechanics of racing of the secretarys office and toured the grounds and finally witnessed a start of one race. He reported that an automatic starting gate is in use at Sydney and is Riving perfect satisfaction. He plans to remain here for several more days and then leave to inspect other courses in this area . . . William J. Ziegler was out for the afternoon, his first appearance at the meeting, and conferred with trainer Jimmy Smith relative to the campaigning of his horses . Squared Away, owned by Mrs. Jan Burke, was shipped to Pimlico to start in the Baltimore Spring Handicap on Saturday. Trainer Casey Hayes shipped Byran G., owned by C. T. Chenery to Garden State to race on Saturday. The six-year-old will be ridden by Ovie Scurlock . . Eddie Burke, who races under the nom de course of the High Ground Stable, checked in from Miami yesterday for a visit . George A. Garrett, of Maryland and former ambassador to Eire, was among yesterdays clubhouse visitors and was pressed into service to 1 Continued on Page Thirty-Nine , P tl VI a p p s C ii s h A ii d t: P f s c 1 s c 1 A l i t 1 i ] | ] 1 I i . i • 1 Connors Corner By C. J. CONNORS Continued from Page Four present the trophy to C. V. Whitney when a the latters Catspaw was winner of the Ju- venile Allie Sylvestre, who was on the ailing list for some time, made his first ap- pearance of the season yesterday and " promises to be a regular for the Belmont T season. . .E. L. Vail came down from his si Canadian home for a look-see at some rac- sj ing as a refresher course for the Woodbine season. . .Mrs. Corky Weatherril was on a hand to root for her hurdler Knocks Twice, tl Alas and alack, no luck . . In case you are t to interested, the silverware in the clubhouse n dining room is buffed by machine every three days, so reported Frank Stevens, the ? president of the Stevens Crabbing and ™ Fishing Association. . Charles Munn, of the American Totali- a sator, came on for a look-see at the ma- chines and some other extra curricular 1 business. . Ty Shea at Garden State has B been for the past few days deluged with calls from California from horsemen j. to there seeking stable room at the Camden I track. The vacant stalls at the track are s allotted to horses shipping over from f of Pimlico . . . The New York Athletic Club membership has set May 26 as their annual Belmont Park Day. The racegoers a a will be transported by bus and partake of a buffet lunch before the first race. Fred Parks will replace Cal Rainey as is steward at Garden State. Rainey moves e over to Delaware Park for that meeting. The two men will return to the New York j scene following the completion of their j chores. Parks will also fill in as assistant -handicapper to Jack Campbell when j Jimmy Kilroe leaves for the Arlington and j Washington Park meetings . . The three dimensional . cameras were put to use at Bel- 1 mont Park yesterday when those machines took some pictures of the first race, the j "Charge of the Light Brigade" down the Widener Course. Moveiegoers will no doubt get a kick out of this one . Dr. J. G. Cat- lett will leave for Detroit where he will serve as steward at that meeting Which , opens on May 28. He will return to the fold during the Saratoga Springs season . . . F. Skiddy Von Stade, of the upstate Saratoga Racing Association, was on hand yesterday and reported that applications for stable room for that meeting are beginning to arrive ... Trainer John Partridge will ship the Spring Hill Farms Jamie K. to Pimlico on Sunday for his engagement in the Preakness.
