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111 ■ i" 4 Connors Corner I By "CHUCK" CONNORS Pre-Seasonal Weight Discussion Pros and Cons About Assignments Prepare for Tappens Birthday BELMONT PARK, Elmont, L. I., N. Y., May 21. — The members of the paddock gang, in serious conclave this morning, discussed cussed at at srreat great lenerth length 111 ■ i" cussed at at srreat great lenerth length the pros and cons of pre -seasonal weight assignments for some of the outstanding stakes. By pre - seasonal the members meant that the weights be published several weeks ahead of the running instead of the usual span of five days now in effect. For example the weichts weights for for the the Su- ! j weichts weights for for the the Su- Suburban and Metropolitan in days gone by were released well in advance, in February, while the offerings were to be contested in May. This, the supporters of the return to yesterday advocated was good for racing and enabled a man who owned or trained a handicap performer to ready his charge for that race and know where he stood. The opponents on the other hand were just as vehement in the retention of the present day methods for as they argued there would be a wide spread between a handicap star of last year and one who developed in the interim following the publication of the weights. The Suburban in the old days was one event that carried sustained interest from the date of release of the weights to the running. One of the outstanding points of interest on the part of the general public was a little gadget known as the future book. The boys of those days could shop around and play to their hearts content and if lucky would, when the race was contested, gloat with glee over some of the lesser fortunates who were forced to take track odds. Future books have been on the decline for many years, as a matter of fact they never regained the prestige and attention that was theirs before the passage of legislation that banned racing in New York for a couple of years. The ballyhoo and hubbub that was used to build up the future books on the Kentucky Derby fcr example fell far short of the mark. Before the adoption of the totalisator in New York, several of the leviathans of the old betting ring days dabbled in the futures. A story that has often been told and retold concerns the late John Walters and the Kentucky Derby of 1919 when Sir Barton and Billy Kelly racing coupled as the J. K. L. Ross entry finished first and second in the race. Ross, according to the story, wagered one hundred grand straight and place with Walters on the result. Anyway, its a good story and probably true, for even in those days, the men who dabbled in fantastic figures were loathe to discuss their transactions in public. The fabulous figures of the old betting ring days are gone and never will return. Today, even if a man were so inclined, he could not wager those amounts for a little thing known as income tax is the big deterrent. How many men when income taxes are deducted find themselves in a position to toss it around like the giants of the days of "Pittsburgh Phil" Smith, Davy Johnston, Gates, Drake and a few others? That, however, does not answer the question that the paddock gang tossed back and forth relative to the publication of weights for a stake weeks or months in advance. Jack Campbell does not want to return to the old days. "Impossible and impracticable, too many handicaps all over the country and not enough handicap horses." Trainer Jimmy Smith will visit the Middleburg, Va., farm of W. J. Ziegler over the week end. He will inspect Leading Home, the daughter of Bull Lea, who is due to foal to Polynesian this month. Mr. Ziegler has been offered some fancy bids for the offspring should it be a colt. . . . Lone Eagle, owned by Gustave Ring, the Washingtonian, will be schooled over the hurdles and jumps and started through the field later. He was declared from the Suburban for this reason. . , . A sale of horses, under the auspices of the Fasig-Tipton Company, will be held at Belmont Park on June 10 and 11. . . . Preparations are being made at the , James Fitzsimmons stable over at Aqueduct to hold a birthday party. The guest of honor will be the old veteran of many years campaigning, George "Fish" Tap-pen, of Sheepshead Bay. "Fish" will be wined, dined and toasted to a farethee- Contmued on Page Forty Connors Corner By C. J. CONNORS _ _ _ ________ ___ ___ .___ —— — Continued from Page Four well on his eightieth natal day, of which more than 60 were celebrated on race tracks throughout the country. Trainer Frank Catrone will ship the Circle M Farm horses to Delaware Park next week for racing at that point. Mrs. E. S. Moore, mistress of the fashionable menage, will be a New York visitor following the Preakness for several days. . . . Chris Schenkle, the radio man, was a visitor yesterday. He did the public address job at Narragansett Park for several years. . . . Charles Wacker HI., of Chicago, who has a couple of horses here with Horatio Luro, was among yesterdays visitors and plans a few days stay. . . . Neil Boyle showed up yesterday. He was recently discharged from the hospital following a physical check up, and took over the super in-tendency of the track. . . . Trainer Jim Ryan reported that he had named Royal Vale, owned by Mrs. Esther duPont Weir, to the Massachusetts Handicap. . . . Trainer Jim Conway returned from Pimlico, where he supervised the final trial of Tahitian King, owned by Ben F. Whit-aker, for the Preakness. . . H. P. Headley, master of Beaumont Farm out Kentucky way, was on hand yesterday and plans a lengthy visit in this area. His menage is doing right well here in charge of trainer Frank Barnett. . . . Dr. Charles H. Strub, of Santa Anita, arrived today and plans to remain a week or so. He will confer with Jimmy Kilroe relative to the racing program to be offered at that track for next winter. Fred Corcoran, of Miami, sporting a mahogany tan, checked in and made us Northerners look like a lot of pale faces . . .George Sterling, of Brooklyn, the lone survivor of the crew under John G. Cava-naugh when the latter managed the betting rings on New York tracks, was a surprise visitor yesterday. The visit was his first in many years . . . Mrs. Walter Anna Mason, of Ballston Spa, N. Y„ is seeking the whereabouts of her sister, May, wife of trainer Willie Robinson. Her address is Geyser Road in that city . . . Jockey Nick Wall "blew the mount" in the first race yesterday. He was called to Garden State to witness the running of the film patrol of the stake race there on Saturday. Attention Walter Winchell and all the horse players ashore and at sea. Did Pat Provenzano, the Albany patron, change the name of the two-year-old Kings Ace to W. Winchell to please you, or is it some other Winchell? Furthermore, did you also know that George Seabo succeeded Charley Reynolds as trainer of the horses the other morning at Jamaica The boys at that track report the blaze-faced colt is not as good as some others in the barn . . James Cox Brady was on hand yesterday for the National Stallion . . . Trainer Gene Jacobs did a little shipping about yesterday. He vanned Saflo, Blue Riches and Hasty Boy to Garden State and then sent Mission and Oclirock to Suffolk Downs for engagements. The moves will keep him busy for a few days doing some commuting . . Mr. and Mrs. Ben Whitaker leave for Pimlico to witness the Preakness on Saturday morning, returning that night.
