view raw text
I j i I Connors Corner By "CHUCK" CONNORS Veterans Edging Out Apprentices Shoemaker Sharpshooring at 400 Young Riders Are Needed Badly SARATOGA, Saratogka, Springs, N. Y., Aug. 20. As a rule at this time of the year, apprentice riders are much in the lime j 1 j J t j , light, lea d i n g the league in the matter of winning mounts. This season is liable to prove the exception, for the silent man, Willie Shoemaker, out on the Coast, is far in front, and Willie has not had the bug for some time. The old adage, good horses make good riders, also trainers, still holds true, but the i i ; J , ; ! ! California product is pouring a lot of holer in the argument with his machine-gun snapshooting. The boys in this area are all rooting that he will realize his lifetime ambition, by riding 400 winners in one year. Apprentice riders, especially on the New York tracks, have not so far this season set the. turf world agog, and when the final statistics are wrapped up at the end of the year the veterans will be in command. The development of overnight riding sensations on New York tracks is a rarity. The youngsters cut their eye teeth at other meetings before they move toward the land of big money and golden opportunity. At the present time, a youngster aided by the bug", .showing: above the average ability, will find New York a clover patch. The youngsters coming- up, that is, have a lot to- learn, and owners and trainers in this area regard tutoring of the youngsters too costly in the long run. Their argument is based on a dollar and cents value. You can get the best for the same price, so why deal in the dime store when you can shop at Tiffanys? While that is true, there is a little matter of time, the future. The present-day crop of veterans dominating the situation in New York will not last forever. Age is beginning to creep up on what a couple of years back were boys. The youngsters of today who are being developed in the other sections of the country are, unlike the oldsters, able to pick and choose, and such racing centers as California, Illinois, New Jersey and others offers opportunities that once- were the privilege of New York. Racing today needs to develop riders for the future. True, under the various laws of the different states, New York has its Gerry law, child labor is eliminated. The boys who show up today are older, five or more years, than their early predecessors and have a wider knowledge of the ways of the world. Nevertheless, from this band of older teen-agers, recruits must be sought, and one of the big problems, according to Max Hirsch, is that, they eat themselves out of a job in a hurry. Quick reflexes, contained in a small-sized frame, good firm hands, plus a total absence of butterflies in the intestines are some of the attributes needed, and when you sift through the available material all the boys dont measure up. Nevertheless, race riders, apprentices, are needed, and the biggest competitor for young manhood today is a guy in Washington named Uncle Sam. He fattens em up while the owners and trainers practice the reverse. Say, how much overweight is that jock on the favorite in the third? The paddock gang had one for the books this morning and for a while the report was poohooed. by the clubhouse contingent. The story was. that Jim Ryan was speechless for more than three minutes when he had a glorious opportunity to wrap his Irish brogue around some complementary shamrock oil. It seems that Jim. and some friends attended the Spa theatre the other , night and that the well known personality Hildegarde was tipped off that he was in the audience She started her monologue that a well known Irish visitor, a great trainer of steeplechase horses, was present and that he should be called upon to display his terpsichorean art. His companions, for the present they shall be nameless, pushed Jim towards the stage. A minute or so later he was cutting the rug, in what, the boys described as a cross be- tween a rhumba, jig and two step and an old fashioned waltz. While the steps were hilariously received by the audience, Jim kept his hps sealed and later Hildegarde described him as the closest-mouthed . Continued on Page Thirty-Nine ifl Connors Corner By C. J. CONNORS Continued from Page two Irisher she ever met. Maybe he was holding out stable secrets? Jet Action, the two-year-old son of Jet Pilot and Busher, one of the better i regarded ones in the Maine Chance menage, worked his way olose from his stall the other night and got free. Several hours later he was captured, showed cuts, scratched and minor bruises from his nocturnal tour. The colt will be out for some time . , . Sterling Young, of the Jockeys Guild, showed up this morning on a business trip . . . Dr. J. M. Lee, of the William Helis Stable, checked in from New Jersey with Lady Bouncer, Rippish and Heliscope. They are eligibles for stakes the latter part of this meeting. . . Dr. John J. Kilgallen, chief of the medical staff on the Long Island tracks, was an arrival yesterday for a few days visit Preston Burch, in charge of the Brookmeade Stable, returned from Atlantic City where he saddled a brace of starters on Thursday. Clarkson Beard arrived from Kentucky to join his father Major Louis A. and promised to stay for the remainder of the meeting. . .Royal Governor, owned by Mrs. Esther duPont Weir, was shipped to Atlantic City for a grass race engagement. Jockey Jack Westrope will do the riding chore... E. P. Taylor, the Toronto, Ont., patron, will leave for his home for a few days to attend the yearling sales to be held in that city. . .Track superintendent Lennie Litwak of Aqueduct reported that 40-feet from the inner rail, well out beyond the middle of the track, was screened during the past month and some new top soil added. Litwak also reported that the quartet of ducks that swam about Aqueducts centerfield lake are doing nicely. The birds, believe it or not, are summering right here at Saratoga Springs and their mode of transportation to this track, was via the water wagon. The Saratoga Association borrowed one of the sprinkling wagons for the duration of this meeting. Bert Kennedy, the glove and mitt man , from over at Gloversville, showed up yesterday accompanied by "Spy" Gates and Leroy Mills, from Johnstown, N. Y., and also in the glove business. Their visit was to confer with steward Francis P. Dunne and "tote" department manager Lou Walger on final arrangements to settle the gustatory championship of the year. No holds are barred on the steaks and corn on the cob. Speaking of dinners, George Cassidy, all enthused, over the turf writers breakfast, stated that he will toss his anmial Schuy-lerville dinner on Sunday, August 30. The fact that the meeting comes to a close on Saturday, August 29, makes no difference to George. . .Ben F. Whitaker reported that the final quota of outside mares, 10, had been accepted to breed to My Request, standing in Kentucky. . .Jockey Benny J Green was tendered the mount on Phillip j D. in the Colorado Mile at Centennial Race Track, Denyer, Col. However, the youngster may be unable to accept the contract due to stable commitments at Atlantic City on that day.
