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I:1 " ,,. _ ■i*™8" WEIGHING IN By EVAN SHIPMAN BELMONT PARK, Elmont, L. I„ N. Y., May 25. — Native Dancers victory in the Preakness last Saturday lifts the statement that the gray colt should have won the Kentucky Derby out of the realm of theory, establishing it once and for all as a simple fact. The fashion in which he won the the Prearkness, Prearkness, racing racing the the speed speed ■i*™8" the the Prearkness, Prearkness, racing racing the the speed speed horses such as Tahitian King and Dark Star into the ground and standing off the stretch challenge of the determined Jamie" K., should leave not the slightest doubt of Native Dancers superiority over anything the present generation of three-year-olds has to offer. Barring accidents — and it was an accident that beat him at Louisville — they may "call the turn," and he will dance to their rtune, but before the figure is finished he is all but alone on the floor. Despite our intentions, we were unable at the last minute, to make the trip to Baltimore. We were forced to pass up both Native Dancers Preakness and Tom Fools Metropolitan here at Belmont, but the chart tells the story of the former stake so eloquently that the pleasure of being present for the colts splendid vindication was our only loss, not any knowledge of what actually took place. Native Dancer had to be much the best to accomplish what he did. For a colt of lesser caliber and resources, the move to the leaders, the move that had disposed of first Dark Star and then Tahitian King by the time the quarter pole was reached, would have been foolishly premature. If Native Dancer had been less than outstanding, Arcaros tactics aboard Jamie K. would have succeeded. As it was, Jamie K. collared the gray at the furlong pole and it was a ding-dong fight from there to the wire, but Native Dancer had the second run at his disposal. He was equal to the challenge. At the wire, his margin of safety was assured. Preakness Is Gray Champions Vindication Arcaros Perfect Plan Almost Successful Colts Ankles Are Key to Belmont Stakes No Valid Excuses for Any of the Others From the point of view of the canny Eddie Arcaro, the Baltimore race was a perfect set-up. He knew in advance that, in all likelihood, Dark Star, Tahitian King and, probably, Correspondent, would force a fast and sustained pace. He knew too perfectly well that Eric Guerin, after what happened at Louisville, was commited to going right along with that pace. He knew, we will wager, almost the exact spot on the track from which Guerin on Native Dancer would begin his drive. All this added up to a perfect plan, for the execution of which he had just the right mount. In two races here at Belmont, Arcaro had tested Jamie K.s finishing power. After the first of these races, Arcaro and the colts trainer, J. B. Partridge, had learned how ot get him away from the gate; after the second, they realized that Jamie K.s "run" could be nursed, and that the faster the pace, the more dangerous would be his move when finally turned loose. Arcaro bidded his time until the three-eighth pole, Native Dancer having long since engaged the leaders. From the three-eighth pole to the furlong pole, Jamie K. made up nine or maybe 10 lengths, and he may have traveled those two panels in :24 — although this is a purse guess since the "splits" at the Preakness, because of the mile and three-sixteenths distance, are not conventional. Ordinarily, such a surge would have carried all before it, and Arcaro would have earned credit for one of his most masterful performances. Logically, he should have won, but the beauty of horse racing is that the outstanding thoroughbred enforces his own logic. Guerin may have muddled with the chalk at the blackboard, but he came up with the right answer. AAA Before the start of the Preakness, representatives of Daily Racing Form who were on the scene, emphasized that the strip might, technically, be labelled "fast," but that, actually, it was very tiring, and that there was not a chance in the world for any records to be broken. In the face of this testimony, it would be idle to draw any conclusions from Native Dancers time on Saturday. Under ordinary circumstances, a race run as was this renewal of the Preakness would result in exceptionally fast time. There was no "waiting," and, where the leaders were concerned, not much "rating." Clocked in 1:57%, Native Dancer ran the mile and three-sixteenths in one and four-fifths slower time than Capots record for the stake and distance at Pimlico. On the occasion of Capots victory, the Greentree colt, finishing head and head with Palestinian, came off a blistering early pace set by the late Crispan Ogelbays Noble Impulse. The fractions recorded by Noble Impulse that day lead us to believe that a change in the nature of the strip is sufficient to account for the difference between Capots time and that of Native Dancer. AAA This Preakness was a reaffirmation — not a proof — of Native Dancers class, courage and stamina. Can he now win the mile and a half Belmont Stakes on June 13? Of course he can. Well, will he win it? It all depends on whether he came out of Saturdays race as sound as when trainer Bill Winfrey saddled him, and on whether Winfrey can keep him "racing sound" until the big day. No matter what owner or trainer says for publication, Native Dancers ankles are a sight to make a horseman sudder. Those ankles, fired late last fall, were enlarged and unsightly before the colts three-year-old campaign Continued on Page Thirty-Six WEIGHING IN By EVAN SHIPMAN Continued from Page Forty ever began, and you can believe that hard racing has not improved them. Our last close look at Native Dancers underpinning was just prior to his start in the Withers. To the eye, those ankles were shocking, but the truth is that they could not have bothered him at all in the Belmont race, judging from his action at the end, and as he was pulled up, and as he returned to the winners cilcle, where he was actually playing and romping. Colts are not inclined to do much jumping about after a stiff race on ankles that have been stinging them. Nor are they inclined to offer as generous a finish as did Native Dancer on Saturday if they have pain to combat as well as a determined rival, such as Jamie K. AAA Native Dancer and Jamie K. were so superior to their Preakness rivals that little can be said concerning the others. Dark Star obviously tried to repeat his race in the Derby. He ran well for about a mile. Tahitian King, for his part, duplicated his performance in the Wood Memorial, where he had clung stubbornly to the gray champion for a mile before wilting under the pace. This pair may be said to have run back to their good races, and Royal Bay Gem, who wound up a distant third, also furnished his usual honest finish. The disappointment of the Preakness was the California colt, Correspondent. This one was done after three-quarters of a mile, winding up dead last. One can only conclude that if Arcaro did disobey stable orders at Louisville aboard Correspondent, the jockeys plan may have been wiser than the one he chose to discard. So much for a fair bunch of colts who have spent the early season chasing a good one. Or not always chasing him. The one memorable occasion on which, luck being all on their side, he chased them, just failing to catch one of them in the last jump, remains on the record to justify their continued attempts, futile as these may now appear.
