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WEIGHING I N y EVAN shipman SARATOGA, Saratoga Springs, N. Y., Aug. 17. If there was ever any doubt about Native Dancers, vast popularity with the racegoing public, it was once and for all dispelled here last Saturday afternoon, when the record crowd greeted Alfred Vanderbilts gray champion with a warmth unequaled since the brave days of old Exterminator, 30 long years ago. The tree under which Native Dancer was saddled for his engagement in the Travers had been roped off, and there was a roped lane leading to the horses exit to the strip. Such preparations were indication enough as to where Native Dancer could be seen close up, and the ropes were lined 10 deep long before trainer Bill Winfrey brought his charge out to be m stripped and saddled for the midsummer derby. The attendance was the largest ever to watch a Saratoga program, the largest by over 2,000 although the wagering on Saturday did not constitute any record. This fact, together with the genuine enthusiasm shown for the champion, - leads us to believe that it was strictly Native Dancer who "drew" the crowd, and also that he is actually the most popular thoroughbred of bur time. Leaving any comparison as a race horse completely out of it, we are sure that Citation, Count Fleet and the others never had this peculiar appeal for people who come to a race track maybe once a year. We have only one explanation to offer, and that, of course, is television. Thanks to television, more people have watched Native Dancer this season than have ever before seen a single horse, and now a good proportion are anxious to renew that acquaintance at first hand. AAA While owner Vanderbilt, trainer Winfrey and jockey Eric Guerin have been flattered by all this attention, Na- tive Dancer took it as a matter of course, his demeanor as stolid and unflustered as always before a race. Neither Gray Champion Is Darling of the Crowd Native Dancer in Fine Trim for Travers Special Was Marred by the Disqualification Porterhouse Expected to Make Amends Soon cameras nor crowds are going to disconcert him. We had not laid eyes on the champion since the Belmont Stakes early in June. During the two-month interval, Native Dancer has lightened considerably in flesh, a remark that we also made recently concerning Tom Fool, but it is quite understandable that this pair should show some signs of hard campaigning arid hot weather. They both are carrying less flesh than in the spring, but neither one could possibly be called "tucked up," the earlier foundation serving its purpose well. When the cottons and bandages were taken from Native Dancers front legs, we were pleased and surprised to notice that his ankles no longer have the extremely swollen, puffy look that was so noticeable on Long Island. Those ankles are much nearer normal now than they have been at any time this season, at least as far as our eye could tell. Altogether, the gray had the hard, trim look of an athlete, and his appearance on the strip was greeted by a flutter of spontaneous hand-clapping that followed his progress past the clubhouse and grandstand down to the head of the stretch. AAA Only at Chicago where we did not see his race in the Arlington Classic has Native Dancer done more than he was strictly required in order to win. All the grays other races this season and last have been won by narrow margins, his superiority being implicit rather than explicit, if you get what we mean. In this 10-furlong Travers, Native Dancer allowed first Guardian H". and then Dictar to set a respectable pace, keeping well within striking distance, but husbanding his move until quite late so late that Dictars scattering partisans may have been congratulating themselves that the black Maedic colt might even turn the trick. At the three-sixteenths pole, however, Guerin gave Native Dancer his head, and in a twinkling the gray had swept past Dictar to take complete control of the situation, winning from there in as his rider pleased. Dictar, mind you, neither faltered nor shortened stride, but Native Dancer simply showed himself an entirely different kind of colt. In connection with this performance, the time of 2:05 for the mile and a quarter is almost irrelevant; it was certainly no measure of Native Dancers capacity, but over this deep strip, it was perfectly acceptable, and merely a tick slower than Tom Fools Whitney Stakes. AAA So much for the agreeable part of a memorable Saturday afternoon; now for certain aspects of that same program concerning which there was far less unanimity of impression. As a co-feature with the Travers, we had the six-furlong Saratoga Special, a winner-take-all stake that has long been one of the most important two-year-old fixtures on our racing calendar. Five colts started in the Special and, with the exception of the Saxon Stables Sir Boss, all of them had a strong following, but the race, as it developed, was definitely between Mrs. Elizabeth Persons Porterhouse, favorite on the strength of stake victories on Long Island, and Cain Hoys Turn-to, one who recently made an impressive debut here at the Spa. At the finish of the Special, Porterhouse had a half-length advantage over Turn-to, this pair more than four lengths to the good of C. T. Chenerys Bossuet colt, Permian, but this result was not to stand, and, after a quick look at the Continued on Page Forty-Three WEIGHING IN I By EVAN SHIPMAN Continued from Page Fifty-Two moving pictures of the race, the stewards ordered Porterhouses number to come down , the official victory thus going to Turn-to, a handsome English-bred colt by Royal Charger Source Sucree, by Admiral Drake, imported to this country as a yearling by Claiborne. AAA Here is how it all happened: Turn-to was the. first to show in front as the small field left the gate on the backstretch, he continuing to show the way by open daylight around the far turn and between the bends. At the quarter pole, reached in a smart :46, Turn-to had a couple of lengths advantage over Porterhouse, but the leader came a little wide entering the homestretch, while Guerin, now starting his drive, took Porterhouse in close to the rail. At the furlong pole, Turn-to and Porterhouse were locked, both colts to a stiff drive, and there was contact. Porterhouse, under the whip, came out, while it is possible that Turn-to, also under severe punishment, came in a little. Guerin, on Porterhouse, was whipping with his right hand, maybe to keep his mount from drifting to the right, but, in any case, the whip probably hit Turn-to on the chest once or twice. The latter did not check nor change his lead, but he may well have been bothered sufficiently to warrant the disqualification of Porterhouse. While we have no quarrel with that decision, we do heartily regret the incident, since we are convinced that Porterhouse was the best, and would have won in any event. To that impression, we will add one more; both Porterhouse and Turn-to, thoroughly good colts, were a little "short" for their Saratoga Special engagements, both of them having missed a work earlier in the week when the strip was muddy. They will be a lot sharper this coming Saturday than they were last, and the running of the Grand Union Hotel Stakes may partially compensate Mrs. Person for her bad fortune.
