view raw text
WEIGHING I By EVAN SHIPMAN BELMONT PARK Elmont L I N Y June 5 Cerise Reine is certain to go to the post for tomorrows Coaching Club American Oaks a strong favorite and it will be a rude form upset if Mrs Ada L Rices filly is beaten in this mile and three eighths classic by far the most im ¬ portant of our turfs offerings for fil ¬ lies Such an impression did that rangy miss make when she recently towroped a good field in the Delaware Oaks that there has been considerable talk concerning her chances for the Belmont Stakes should her connec ¬ tions risk an encounter with the colts It is a little pre ¬ mature to discuss the Belmont before the Coaching Club Oaks is a fait accompli but if Cerise Reine has as easy a time in tomorrows filly fixture as is genuinely antici ¬ pated and if she comes out of the race in good shape she will at least deserve a chance in the Belmont Perhaps this columnist underestimates the difficulties inherent in the feat If so it is because we ourselves saw the gray Belf onds filly Commanderie win first the French Oaks or Prix de Diane and then the mile and seveneighths Grand Prix de Paris perhaps the most exacting of all threeyearold tests Commanderie did it and we saw her so we know that it is possible possibleA A A AWhen When Commanderie followed up her score in the Oaks at Chantilly with a victory in the great Longchamp fix ¬ ture horsemen did not condemn the threeyearold gen ¬ eration of 1930 on that account The French Derby winner that year had been Chateau Boscaut and this colt who raced in the colors of the Conte de Rivaud enjoyed a very high reputation one that we believe he fully merited We will not attempt to compare Chateau Bos ¬ caut with Native Dancer but we would be curious to learn how a horseman like Dave Englander who knew the v Oaks May Pave the Way to Belmont Stakes Commanderie Beat Colts in Grand Prix How Would Have Started Save for Fever Sea Legs Did Not Need Concession to Win WinFrench French colt well and who has seen just about all our gray colts races would rank this pair Chateau Boscaut was a good second to Commaiderie in the Grand Prix but later that season he was clearly inferior to his elders Motrice and Hptweed in the Arc de Triomphe at weight fdrage As for Commanderie Edouard Henriquets gray filly wasnever as good again as she was in the June of her threeyearold year while later on at stud she also proved a sad disappointment At her best as in the Oaks and Grand Prix she was an indefatigable stayer com ¬ ing on at the end to run over speed horses after trailing her fields in the early stages The exsteeplechase jockey Horve was doing his military service at the timebut he obtained a furlough for Commanderies Grand Prix and we will never forget the icy deliberation with which he cantered along well to the rear of the big field nor the irresistible energy of his drive once he turned the gray fillys head loose in the long homestretch homestretchA A A A AAside Aside from Dave Englander Bob Horwood and our ¬ selves another horseman in this locality on whom Com ¬ manderies Grand Prix left a strong impression is Horatfo Luro Luro was not training thoroughbreds at the time but was if we recall secretary of legation at the Argen ¬ tine Embassy in Paris His diplomatic duties did not interfere with his presence in the paddock at Longchamp or Chantilly and few indeed were the French classics that Luro missed A couple of years ago this South American trainer captured our Coaching Club Oaks with the Prince quillo filly How and she was so good at that time that following Commanderies example he was ready to start her right back the f ollowing week in the Belmont Stakes How in Luros opinion would have had a real chance so sharp was she that spring of 51 Her name was among the overnight entries for the big race but the next morning for some inexplicable reason she was running a slight fever and had to be scratched In all likelihood How would never have beaten C V Whitneys Count Fleet colt Counterpoint but we joined Luro in keenly regretting that the attempt could not be made This temperamental and difficult to train filly had been so sharp until a few hours before the Belmont running that her chances had to be respected A A A AOedipus Oedipus can invoke no excuses for his defeat in yes ¬ terdays renewal of the Meadow Brook Steeplechase Handicap Mrs Ogden Phipps handsome wellbred chaser was conceding seven pounds to Mrs Marion du ¬ Pont Scotts homebred Sea Legs the Battleship gelding with whom she won the Belmont Grand National last fall but the weight concession was not the deciding factor in the favorites downfall Oedipus ran his race fencing fast and clean and ordering the pace to his own fancy but the truth is that yesterday at least Sea Legs was just too good for him When Albert Foot made his move with about half a mile of the two and a half miles trip still to go Mrs Scotts excellent horse passed the frontrunning Oedipus without any struggle going on to score witn authority and in very pleasing style Some of us thought that Dooley Adams aboard Oedipus was giving his mount a breather when Sea Legs got to him and we expected him to come on again and challenge in the interval between the last two obstacles and in the run horn The challenge never materialized Oedipus OedipusContinued Continued on Page FortyFive WEIGHING IN INBy By EVAN SHD7MAN Continued from Page FortyEight FortyEightwas was a beaten horse when he was passed and in our opinion the result would have been much the same had this pair met at even weights weightsA A A A AUngenerous Ungenerous as this remark may be to Merritt Mergler who is training Oedipus for Mrs Phipps while her brother George Bostwick is away in Europe we still are tempted to believe that condition may have played a part in Oedipus defeat Not that he did not strip well in the paddock mind you nor run well in the race but still and all we cannot get over the feeling that something was lacking yesterday some ¬ thing that a trainer might have supplied It is possible that two miles suits Oedipus better than the longer route of the Meadow Brook but we believe he can be keyed to show better than he did over the Meadow Brook distance But enough of that Sea Legs for his part is a top chaser his five consecutive victories being ample testimony to his class Yesterday Sea Legs jumping was impeccable while he had speed and to spare on the flat between the fences The casualties of the Meadow Brook were The Mast and Jam The Mast has always been careless and mistakes on the part of Jam have not been unknown The latter was making his first start of the season and we heard his tumble on the backstretch ascribed to want of condition a theory that we do not share Jam had received plenty bf work to fit him for this engage ¬ ment and he was running strong when he fell the clip being extremely fast at that stage of the race These top horses may all have a chance at one another during the United Hunts meeting that follows the close of Belmont this month and this time Sea Legs may well be highweight After what we saw yesterday he will certainly be favorite to run his string of impressive wins up to a half dozen
