view raw text
* ** - vPLKt "~ , i » I Weighing In By EVAN SHIPMAX New York Fans to Invade Baltimore Lay Claim to Dancer by Adoption Marylanders Await Return of Star BELMONT PARK, Elmont, L. I., N. Y., May 16. — The expected descent of Metropolitan racegoers on -Baltimore come Sat x j 1 5 . i ] " , | , , urday, will figure in the minds of these travellers as an invasion, or at least a quick raid. They will make the trip to Maryland — and we intend to go right along with them — in the hope and expectation that "their colt" is going to snatch the wreathe of black-eyed susans, quite for-eret.t.iner getting that that Native Native I a [ , , . . , ] i : ■ I [ i • r getting that that Native Native "~ Dancer does not "belong" to them, and that the gray champion they have come to consider their own is as much at home in Maryland as terrapin in a chafing dish. If there is confusion concerning Native Dancers allegiance, it seems, of course, from long residence. Like so many of our neighbors, Alfred Vanderbilts colt is a New Yorker by adoption, but his permanent address continues to be Sagamore Farm, nor can anyone blame the Old Line staters if they do not let us, and the rest of the racing world, forget it. Our claim, on the, other hand, is based firmly on Native Dancers racing career, every one of his starts — save always the recent unpleasantness at Louisville — having been at one or another of New Yorks tracks. "Who insists," our loyal fans may well say, "that the late Mayor LaGuardias birthplace was some unpronouncable Army post in the wilds of Arizona, or that Governor Dewey first saw the light of day in Owosso, Michigan?" Not since Challedon came out for the Preakness renewal of 1939 have the fires of local patriotism burned as brightly in Baltimore. Sagamore Farm is a Maryland institution, and if Polynesian, Native Dancers sire, is now standing in Kentucky, still that horses most brilliant victory was achieved at the Hilltop course in this same Preakness, while on the maternal side, the association of Native Dancers family with Pimlico and the other Maryland tracks hardly needs to be reviewed. This rather belated return of an anything but "prodigal son" will merit a fatted calf, you may be sure, but actually, the veal was on the spit as long ago as last fall. Native Dancers wonderful juvenile campaign was to have had the Pimlico Futurity as its culmination, but when those ankles showed a suspicion of heat following his victory in the East View Stakes at Jamaica, trainer Bill Winfrey regretfully made the decision that it was best to leave well enough alone. As far as sentiment is concerned, and this is a stable that takes sentiment into consideration, no two-year-old stake on the racing calendar possessed as much appeal as the Pimlico Futurity. Had sentiment overruled caution, Native Dancer might not be a Preakness starter next Saturday. That mile and a sixteenth Futurity has always been a hard race, and the gray had done enough by late fall to earn the rest that his puffy ankles gave warning of his needing. Confident that Maine Chance Farms lovely roan filly, Incidentally, and George D. Wideners strapping young amazon, Evening Out, would meet in the filly division of the National Stallion Stakes at Belmont on Wednesday, we nevertheless thumbed through the list of eligibles to make certain that both promising misses were properly engaged. Evening Outs name was there right enough, while Maine Chance Farm has three candidates for this fixture, but Incidentally, to our astonishment, was not one of the three. Making nominations and seeing that eligibility is maintained for a large stable, such as Maine Chance, is a considerable chore, and one demanding the utmost in cooperation between the training department and whoever handles the secretarial work. If Incidentally was left out of the National Stallion by error, it is not the first mistake in "paper work" committed by Maine Chance Farm, the disqualification of the colt, Win Or Lose, from the East View Stakes because of an erroneous claim for a weight discharge being recent enough to come at once to mind. Incidentally, as may have been gathered from comments in this space yesterday, is an outstanding filly, and it is hard to think that she has not been outstanding right along, the kind on whom any trainer Continued on Page Thirty-Five WEIGHING IN I; By EVAN SHIPMAN Continued from Page Two builds great hopes. If the stable ever felt the need to economize on eligibility payments, her name should never have been included among those slated for elimination. While it is tempting to compare Incidentally and Evening Out by a line through j Greentrees Mainsail, fourth in the Fashion Stakes to the Widener filly and then, a j little later, a very close second to Incidentally when the latter scored so impressively down the chute on Thursday, still we will not accept the easy inference. The Fashion j was Mainsails first race, and she was beaten five and a half lengths for it all. On Thursdays, Incidentally s margin over the bay daughter of Devil Diver was only a head, and the Greentree filly was actually coming again in the final strides. Mainsail, as we saw it, was much improved for her second start, and Evening . Out may have been lucky that her rival in the stake did not have the advantage of a preliminary race under her belt. With Incidentally absent, Mainsail can be counted on to give Evening Out a real tussle on Wednesday, and it will be only after watching the National Stallion that we will use Mainsail as a handy measuring stick. The ideal, of course, would be for all three to resolve any argument by competition, but that will have to wait until later on. Belmonts "big" race of the week will be the sixtieth running of the mile Metropolitan Handicap on Saturday. It is really too bad that this event conflicts with the Preakness, since it is inevitable that the classic robs the aged fixture of the attention it deserves. The American turf can boast a quantity of important handicaps today, but in the not so distant past, the Metropolitan, the Suburban and the Brooklyn were preeminent, determining leadership in the handicap division beyond cavil. If that situation has changed with the times, these three great races still possess a prestige quite apart from their value in dollars. The Metropolitan, for instance, is worth 0,000 in added money, a figure that is more than matched by many newer stakes throughout the country. It may not represent so much where a stables bank account is concerned, but to own a Metropolitan winner is still to have the horse in your barn with best claim to the title of our leading "miler." That is an honor we confidently predict this season for Greentrees Tom Fool, and it requires a thoroughbred of Native Dancers stature to deprive us of the pleasure of watching the Greentree four-year-old establish his right to the crown.
