view raw text
Connors Corner CornerBy By CHUCK CONNOBS Boyle Has Vast Maintenance Crew Some 500 Men Busy at Belmont Canadiana Arrives From Toronto TorontoBELMONT BELMONT PARK Elmont L X N Y June 9 Neil Boyle the affable Celt who presides over the maintenance of Belmont some 500 men busy as the proverbial beaver these days The duties of this vast army range from cutting the grass in the centerfield to dabbing a bit of paint on a stanchion in the paddock In between theme n they are specialists in the trades such as electri ters plumbers metal workers draftsmen gardeners steel erectors bricklayers ma ¬ sons automobile mechanics and a few grooms plus a host of unskilled labor who do the raking and general cleaning up manning the mechanical gadgets that are used to sweep out the floors of the stand and clubhouse Then there is the watch ¬ men whose duties are to man the gates on a 24hour schedule as a safety precau ¬ tion and who some times double as fire ¬ men when the siren blows The job is by no means a sinecure Take the work of the track crew whose duties are to keep the racing strips as smooth as velvet and at all times safe for horses to work and race That job is speeded by a battalion of tractordrawn harrows and other equip ¬ ment mentThen Then there is the work of the garden ¬ ers This department is presided over by Bill Grant who succeeded his father Young Bill has a couple of hothouses hidden away up on the hill and from the depths of these steamheated glass en ¬ closed buildihgs come afl the flowers that are tastefully arranged through the pad ¬ dock hanging in front of the clubhouse and grandstand and along the inside of the rail on the front stretch These flow ¬ ers are nurtured in the hot houses during the early spring and when ready to be transplanted to the outdoors are just about set to break into full blooirii The flowers are kept in the pots in which they were nourished and then laid out in the patterns which were arranged earlier by Grant and his staff staffIn In addition to the flowers there is a vast amount of shrubbery including hedges The latter are maintained at average height of three to four feet and just as wide across the top The men this morn ¬ ing were trimming these ornaments and electrical driven clippers or shears served as razors The motor power is supplied from a generator mounted on a truck The men wield these decapitators with fast sure strokes and the result is pleasing The centerfield is rather green for this time of year due to the heavy rains of the spring The extra deep growth is first cropped by mowing machines followed by rakers and then come the gas driven lawn mowers These machines cut a wide swath through the help of eight blades mounted on rollers and work at high speed All this plus a thousand arid one other items keep the men busy busyBoyle Boyle intends to have a show place ready for the visitors on Belmont Day and hopes a dozen or so may stop and look at the flowers the shrubbery and the neatly clipped hedges plus the repli ¬ cas of the Versailles Gardens and Pools that face the clubhouse entrance He has great competition from a couple of sources such as restaurants ice cream soda fountains bars and the tote ma ¬ chines Anyway he has hopes that some ¬ one may admire the giant geraniums that are spaced every six or eight feet in the flower beds that line the walks from the paddock to the track trackJockey Jockey Ted Atkinson will go to Boston where on Wednesday he will ride Arcave for trainer Tom Waller in the Massachu ¬ setts Handicap J Collins who has a formidable menage quartered at Monmouth Park was among the recent visitors Ben F Whitaker has outlined a schedule for Grecian Queen the Coaching Club Ameri ¬ can Oaks winner that includes the Gazelle at Aqueduct and the New Castle at Dela ¬ ware Park Trainer E E Russell returned Clean Broom from Akron O where he was shipped to start in the Ascot Gold Cup for the Grandview Stable of Harry Massey A change in track conditions brought about the withdrawal of the overnight nominee Continued M Page FortyOne Connors Corner CornerBy By C J CONNORS I Continued from Page Five FiveThe The front stretch of the Jamaica track was returned to training activities this morning following considerable work on regrading tud resurfacing Trainer Charlie Shaw reported the arrival of the Queens Plate winner Canadiana from Toronto The E P tfaylorowned miss is an Aqueduct stake nominee nomineeJoe Joe Stevens who has a draft of horses jit Monmouth Park showed up this after noon on a busmans holiday Kent Mil er vanned in a couple of Steeplechasers for the United Hunts meeting Jockey H Woodhouse canceled his mounts for the afternoon He complained of sore back muscles Lt Gen Withers A Bu ress commander of the First Army and Rear Admiral Louis B Olson commander Of the Third Coast Guard District will be among those present representing the theArmed Armed Forces for Belmont Day Trainer TrainerMax Max Hirsch will go to Suffolk Downs to ¬ morrow to saddle To Market and High Scud for the 50 000 handicap at Suffolk Downs The horses will be returned to Belmont following the running of the event eventTrainer Trainer Jimmie Conway of the B F tVhitaker menage is averse to starting Ta iitian King in the Belmont preferring to iwait the Dwyer at Aqueduct Jockey ave Gorman checked out for Delaware Park to fulfill engagements but will be back omorrow Trainer Bert Mulholland re ¬ torted that Mrs G D Wideners Evening Dut will be on the shelf for some time and nay not be seen under colors until the Sara oga at home season The miss sustained in uries in her last out Trainer Bob Odom eported that Crafty Admiral the star of he Charfran Stable is training nicely and ill be ready for Arlington Park engage nents The menage will be shipped next veek to Chicago ChicagoW W R Coe who a few years ago raced one of the bigger menages on the turf will be out for the running of the Belmont Stakes The visit will be his first in sev gral years During his racing days he had several starters in the race but never had the thrill of winning A glance through the list of reservations for Saturday re ¬ veals that the Democrats and the Repub ¬ licans could hold several forums if a call was sent out Among those who are to be present are Senators Magnusen of Washington Clements of Kentucky Homer Thornberry of Texas Melvin Price of Indiana and a dozen or so Congressmen Bill Lantaff of Florida Harold Hagen and J P OHara of Minne ¬ sota Mike Kirwin of Ohio Noble Gregory of Illinois Ben Jensen of Iowa Carl Durnham of North Carolina and several others othersHarry Harry Stevens of the Catering Clan re urned from Miami moved liis family on o Provincetown for the summer and then ihecked in here to help feed the hungry on Saturday The reservation list is the largest n the history of the organization Trainer lolly Hughes reported that the veteran Qex Gordan may head this way from his Kentucky farm for the Belmont That old xcuse business wont go this time said the eteran Sanford Stud trainer Eddie Ar aro passed up a mount in the Massachu etts to ride the nominee of C V Whitney n the National Stallion Eugene Constaa ln Jr was on hand to witness the train ng move of his Royal Bay Gem for the Bel nont The colt was given a stiff sixfurlong reezeR J Kleberg master of King lanch was among the early morning visi brs and helped Max Hirsch train Kame lameha for his week end effort Jockey Jennie Green will pilot this one
