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On the Trot By MORRIE KURLANSKY 1 Dee Stover Keeps 24-Hour Schedule Drove ExpressColby in Hambletonian Says Helicopter Deserving of Victory SPORTSMANS PARK, Cicero, HI., Aug.. 15. How do you like this for a weeks schedule? Saturday night race several trotters and pacers at Sportsmans Park; Sunday race four heats at the Monroe, Wis., county fair; Monday work out about half a dozen horses in the morning and drive in several races at night at the Cicero oval; early Tuesday morning hop a plane to New York, spend the evening at Roosevelt Raceway; early Wednesday morning drive to Goshen to start a three-year-old trotter in the worlds richest harness race, the 17,000 Hambletonian Stake, leave after the race and drive back to New York, board a plane and arrive in Chicago early Thursday morning, Thursday night again start three or four horses in the Sportsmans Park j races; Friday morning make up for a lost time in the administratioa of a large public stable, write checks and statements for an hour, work some horses and drive again in several races at night; Saturday morning drive 150 miles to Springfield to work out some horses, start in the afternoon at the State Pair Grand Circuit meeting, as soon as your last race is over, jump in your car and drive back to Chicago to be on time for the Sportsmans Park races. Then on Sunday, count the members of your family, if nobody got lost in the course of the week, make a television appearance in the 1 evening, and Monday morning start out for Springfield again to race there in the afternoon, drive back to Chicago, and so on for three more days, when a less hectic time table enables you to get some sleep, at least once in a while. We happened to get hold of Dee Stover in the middle of his frantic chase, and while he signed a stack of checks, letters, forms, and what not prepared for him by his private secretary, he gave us a brief account of his Hambletonian adventure with Express Colby, whose owner Roy Griebel, Marengo, III., was sportsman enough to give the colt this wonderful chance to meet the worlds best sophomores in the famous trotting classic. Express Colby was seriously handicapped before the first heat was even started, because he drew the 22nd post position in the 23 -horse field. Since there is no race track and no mobile starting gate wide enough to hold 23 horses with their sulkies lined up abreast, there were three tiers and Express Colby was in the third one. Express Colby, who after a series of victories in Chicago, had been shipped to . Goshen two weeks ahead of the race, was in prime condition, however, and left the gate like a bullet to be in second position when the first hairpin turn was reached. He held valiantly on to that spot until the sixteenth pole but lacked racing room in the final drive to finish ninth. While the winner of the first heat, Morse Hanover, was timed in 2:01, Dee clocked Express Colby in 2:02 for a very good performance. In the second heat although Express Colby started from the outside in the first tier, racing luck was decidedly against the colt. He held a forward position for three-quarters of the mile trip but he was always parked out and finally made a break in the homestretch. Because Express Colby hit himself when making the break, Dee withdrew the colt from the third heat. In Stovers opinion the Pennsylvania-bred and Canadian-owned filly Helicopter was the best horse in the field and highly deserved her victory. He invokes no excuses for Express Colby and does not believe that his trotter could have beaten Helicopter last Wednesday even if circumstances had been more favorable for him. Dee said, however, that Express Colby is the best trotter he has ever had in his care, better than Moses in his heyday or Earls Moody Guy, and he predicts a bright future for the Colby Hanovers son, whom he confidently expects to become a member of the charmed 2:00 circle as early as next season. Stover, incidentally, is the leading driver at Sportsmans Park with 19 wins including Thursday nights racing and while he has the largest public stable here, he drives many winners at the fairs in addition to his victories at the night tracks. His is also the best organized stable hereabouts, and his capable helpers are carefully primed t and instructed to guarantee smooth running of the outfit when the master is on the road. He keeps minute records of every horse regarding workouts, race engagements, and since he trains for more than 10 owners at a time there is always a lot of correspondence and phone calls to keep him busy every minute of his waking hours, which are long. In addition to his race track activities Dee operates a breeding farm at Mt. Vernon, 111., where he stands the good sires, Dominion Grattan, Dalzell and Victory, and has a large band of broodmares.
