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Between Races By OSCAR OTIS Cinema Prestige Hollypark Stake Winner May Be Westerner Choice Top Handicap Performers Lacking LackingHOIiYWOOD HOIiYWOOD PARK Inglewood Calif June 11 Saturdays running of the 25000 added mile and a sixteenth Cinema Handi ¬ cap has taken on far greater prestige than normal because as we have pointed out before three year olds and juveniles have taken precedence in what might be loosely called public interest over the aged handicap divi ¬ sion The threeyear old crop in the West from which the stake handicap stars of the future will come is acting in our opinion to actually save the Hollywood Park meet ¬ ing from mediocrity That there is a gen ¬ eral lack of handicap horses good ones ¬ throughout the nation is just one of those things it happens every now and then And it is axondition peculiar to American racing because racing is so widespread on this continent that it is only natural that the top horses would be more or less widely dis ¬ persed Such is not the ease in many other countries say Argentina for example where most all the good horses get to ¬ gether at a single meeting during the course of the year to provide really illus ¬ trious sport Even so there are vintage and ordinary years there the same as any place else While California racing is lack ¬ ing top handicap horses in quantity this summer there is some hope that next year this situation will change for the better through the development of the present threeyearold prospects which fact lends the prestige mentioned to the Cinema CinemaFour Four of the past winners of the Cinema have gone on to win the Westerner which this year will have an added value of 100000 It is noteworthy that of the 14 weighted 10 are owned by westerners while the other four are shared between Calumet Farm which is now a permanent fixture on the coast with a division of its stable and King Ranch now in its second year of round the calendar representation in this state Perhaps Californians could claim Calumet as a genuine home stable for while the farm remains as always in Ken ¬ tucky Mr and Mrs Gene Markey are legal residents of the state and their time spent in the East is now confined to infrequent forays foraysWhile While it Is quite proper to say that threeyearolds hi general make or break in the spring of the year because of local conditions this process of elimi ¬ nation does not take place until summer tune in the West Most of the good three yearolds are either taken out of training after Santa Anita and freshened up for Hollywood or are raced but lightly in the San Francisco area in the sprung season The true tests are but starting here whereas in the East the chaff has been pretty well separated from the wheat wheatThe The weights for the 100000 net guar ¬ anteed to winner Gold Cup announced earlier in the week by racing secretary and handicapper John Maluvius bears out what we have been saying Last winter at Santa Anita Trusting was beaten a long but decisive head by MarkYeWell in the Santa Anita Handicap Trusting had 112 pounds against 130 for MarkYeWell RACING FORM columnist Kent Cochran who was a close observer of the racing scene at Tanf oran this spring tells us that Trusting has improved considerably over his win ¬ ter form but even allowing for this he was weighted at 125 pounds for the Cup and concedes weight mostly in quantity to everyone else in the race save Royal Vale topped at 128 but who is still on the At ¬ lantic Seaboard SeaboardBut But even assuming that Trusting has moved up a few pounds on a national handicap rating say to 117 pounds which would mean a fivepound improve ¬ ment over his Santa Anita Handicap ef ¬ fort his posting at 125 in the Cup with more than half the nominees pegged at 111 pounds or under gives you an idea as to why the fans have turned to the threeyearolds for their equine hero worship Moreover some of those in the upper weight brackets are suspect as to their future Lights Up at 119 is a ques ¬ tion mark Phil D at 118 is on another comeback while A Gleam at 119 pounds is to date far from being as brilliant at four as she was at three threeIra Ira Drymon is en route to Kentucky fol ¬ lowing an extended tour of the West Coast and tells us he is suitably impressed with withContinued Continued on Page FortyOne BETWEEN RACES RACESBy By OSCAR OTIS Continued from Page Three Threethe the racing picture on the Pacific slope and looks for this area to develop fabulously in the foreseeable future Before coming to Hollywood Park Drymon judged a horse1 show at the Washington State College Pullman and toured Northwest farms in the company of Ed Heinemann The most striking thing about Coast yearlings is their size says Drymon Many of those I saw in Washington were superior to our own Kentucky in substance It seems to me that Washington has done a lot of pioneer work that will begin to pay off in the immediate years ahead But perhaps what surprised me the most was the re ¬ markable good condition of the starters at Hollywood Park the stock that is racing They carried lots of flesh were sleek their coats looked good and in the main they looked the picture of health and fitness Horses in training seem to do exceptionally well in your climate climateDuring During his stay here Drymon answered innumerable queries about Polynesian as was to be expected and remarked that while Polynesians fee was being upped to 5000 a figure more in keeping with his prestige there still were more than 190 people who had asked for services with worthy mares who oouldnt get them because his book for next season had long since been filled filledHorses Horses and People Appointment of Barry Whitehead as racing secretary and handicapper at Golden Gate Fields was a prelude to the stakes announcement of the East Bay course The turf affairs of the Fields incidentally is now in the hands of an executive committee composed of Bill Gilmore Phil Cross Charlie Moore Lou Marsten and Peter Mole Three of these directors are breeders and stable owners The youthful but none the less able Kent Powell is replacing the late Alex Shultz as turf editor of the Seattle Times Cerebra ¬ tion is an aptly named son of Head Play Henry W Collins a visitor from Port ¬ land advises that the Oregon political front anent racing is entirely cleared and that the opening of Portland Meadows on its new midsummer date schedule it opens in July and will race in opposition to Longacres is being awaited with great interest If the summer dates do not prove a real boon to the track hopes for ever developing the sport there into something really big will be dimmed
