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aid-Tribunes aid-Tribunes turf turf WEIGHING IN BY EVAN SHIPMAN BELMONT PARK, Elmont, L. I., N. Y., May 20.— Nothing could have been more appropriate than Tom Fools smashing victory in the race named in honor of the late Joe Palmer yesterday. Belmont Park was always Palmers favorite track, and Green trees Tom Fool was one of his favorite horses. The New York Her-writer writer was was an an epicure, epicure, insisting insisting upon upon aid-Tribunes aid-Tribunes turf turf writer was was an an epicure, epicure, insisting insisting upon upon the importance of the sensuous appeal where the race tracks and the thoroughbreds who performed at race tracks were concerned. When, as was so often the case, he remarked upon the absence of such an appeal, Palmers vivid, colorful castigation of ugliness was a thing of beauty in itself. The charm of his writing was that, as he encouraged and defined the more gracious aspects of living, he also contributed to them. The spectacle of Belmont - in the spring, and of such a horse as Tom Fool in this ideal environment, both were calculated to release the gentler, more tender side of Palmers talent. When the class was on its good behavior, the ex-professor of English could comfortably relax, neglecting tart asperities in an atmosphere of genial approval, and at Belmont the apple was invariably highly polished, the faces of the attentive scholars scrubbed and shining. For once, they were all assured of "A" for deportment, but an even greater reward lay in the sonorous, rounded phrases with which teacher would dismiss his class, turning us all loose again in a naughty world. AAA For all his devotion to the turf, Palmers world was a world of people. Horses are, after all, rather simple animals, and Palmer always remembered what a good many of us tend to forget: That horses do not read columns. Tom Fool, for instance, was all very well, but it was the Appropriate Setting for Memorial Race Tom Fool Handsomest Horse in Training Will Be Well Tested in the Metropolitan Hurdle Horses Provide Exciting Finish human entourage of a handsome colt, owned by Palmers friend, Jock Whitney, and his sister, Mrs. Charles Ship-man Payson, trained by that other educated horseman, John Gaver, and ridden by the highly literate and articulate Ted Atkinson, that really interested and amused this commentator. He interpreted the turf in terms of high, and sometimes low, comedy, the quirks of human nature supplying his material rather than the monotonous ido-syncracies of horseflesh. Racing, Palmer reminded his readers, is rich in personality, and if records are adequate to describe the feats of horses, the busy satellites circulating in their orbit deserve richer, fuller treatment. The comic muse, with whom he must always have been quite naturally on friendly terms, but whose idiom he had later gleaned and adopted from the pages of Meredith and Trollope, leaned lightly over his shoulder. The little ceremony attendant on Tom Fools victory and the presentation of the trophy yesterday was a reminder of how much adding to the gayety of our daily rounds has been missing since Palmer laid down his pen. AAA So now we get around to Tom Fool. It is worthwhile repeating what has been mentioned before in this space — that this four-year-old son of Menow — Gaga, by Bull Dog, is, quite simply and without exception, the handsomest thoroughbred now in training. Literally, his beauty takes your breath away, and to see him on the walking ring at Belmont is to wonder how we can endure the cripples, the misfits, the misshapen, who daily parade postward in so many races. If the breed can produce a Tom Fool, why — we find ourselves asking — is nature so chary of the pattern? He looks like a horse, and he runs to his looks. Twice now this season Tom Fool has been out; scoring on each occasion with impressive ease. Once at Jamaica in a five and a half furlongs dash, conceding chunks of weight to specialists at that distance, the Greentree colt played with his opposition. Now, under the same severe conditions, he wins just as easily at six furlongs, Atkinson tak -ing him back all through the final sixteenth. The time o yesterdays dash is irrelevant. Tom Fool, it is safe to say, beat the others, even though those others included Tea-Maker, the 1952 Sprinter of the Year, not in terms of the watch, but by his mere presence. In spite of the burden imposed by John B. Campbells admiration, who is going to match strides with this one in Saturdays Metropolitan? AAA Answering our own rhetorical question, we are certain that defeating Mrs. E. duPont Weirs Royal Vale and Brookfield Farms Intent will be a lot more than a mere formality for anybodys horse, even Tom Fool. The surprising English importation, Royal Vale, is coming off a series of fine races, his weight increasing on each occasion, but the facility with which he wins remaining the same. The distances at which Royal Vale has ben winning are in excess of the Metropolitan Mile, but we cannot see that as a deterrent to the sharpest kind of effort on Saturday. This big chestnut from abroad has a world of foot, speed being his most impressive attribute. Intent may not be suited to the Metropolitan distance as either Tom Fool or Royal Vale. The War Relic horse is certainly fast, but he stands out in our mind as a real router, one whos* most impressive races are at a mile and a quarter, a mile and a half, or even a mile and three-quarters. And another thing, Intent has never been too sound, and it is always difficult to bring, him up to a Continued on Page Forty WEIGHING IN By EVAN SHIPMAN Continued from Page Forty-Four specific engagement. For example, travelers to the Coast last winter tell us that Intent was still "short" for the Santa Anita Handicap, improving noticeably off that effort. With all due respect to his class, we wil lexpect more from this one in the Suburban than in Saturdays Metropolitan. AAA Even amid the present press of important fixtures, more than passing mention should be given the excellent sport "through the field" these afternoons at Belmont. On Monday, a large group of hurdle horses gave us one of the prettiest finishes of the entire meeting, C. Mahlon Klines four-year-old filly, Breechin, just getting up to snatch a head decision from Rythninhim and Par Amour right on the post. For all their lative inexperience, this was a well-schoold field, and we are in error if we did not detect several contestants with a touch of class. Yesterday marked the reentry of a hurdle horse concerning whose class there can be no doubt, Mrs. George Bostwicks well-bred Hyvania scoring with authority from several specialists of the little fences, who have stake pretensions. Hyvania, a gelded son of Hypnotist n., from the great mare, Vagrancy, was certainly one of the best of this division last season, and he was giving weight without too much trouble to all his rivals yesterday in a highly promising performance. Although finishing well behind Hyvania and the lightly weighted runner-up, Williamsburg, the French horse, Byng, did not show a bad race. He will benefit from that outing and may make it interesting for Hyvania the next time they come together, since he, too, can boast of quality. All in all, the hurdle horses have been more than "paying their way."
