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Between Races By OSCAR OTIS Traditional Longacres Mile Sunday Colorful Horses in Sabbath Renewal Decide Debutante at Del Mar Today LONGACRES, Renton, Wash., Aug. 28. One of the more pleasurable chores connected with covering racing in the Far West is the privilege of witnessing the big race of the Northwest, the Longacres Mile, a dash hich is down for decision here Sunday. The Mile is to the Northwest what the Kentucky Derby is to America, or the Santa Anita. Handicap to Southern California. It is the climax and most rugged test of the en I tire season in this area, and at the same time is the most coveted race in America insofar as Northwest owners are concerned. It is the local rivalry and pride which has lifted the Mile from the ranks of run-of-the-mill stakes into one of Americas true classics. It also is the ultimate test for Northwest breeding, for it provides an opportunity for Washington and British Columbia breeders to try their stock against the world on home territory, and, for breeding purpc.s, a victory in the Mile is the acme for credentials, especially in the case of a sire. Last year, for instance, the British Columbia -bred, Eddies Boy, packed top-weight of 119 pounds to win by a neck from Fanfare, and this, coupled with good efforts in California, most notably at Santa Anita, led to his appraisal as probably the best horse "to be bred in British Columbia in the last 20 years. .Among the notable Washington-bred winners were Hank H., who toted 125 pounds in 1947 to 1:36 it around the oval, and Prince Ernest, as consistent a horse as ever raced, who won under 120 pounds in the slop in 1945. Joseph Gottstein, president of Longacres, was nearly two decades ahead of the times when, back in 1935, he decreed that the bid for public appeal and prestige should be centered upon a mile classic. Gottstein reasoned that in the early stages of racings development, a race which would have universal appeal to a top-quality thoroughbred, i. e., one short enough to be a lure to the sprinters, yet long enough to entice distance horses, would be the ideal. So, with this basic thinking, he established the Longacres Mile, endowed it with 0,000 in added money when the overnight purses were literally peanuts, and built from there. That the Mile has a widespread representation may be gleaned from the item that of the 16 winners to date, six were bred in Kentucky, four in California, three in Washington, and one each in Oregon, Oklahoma and British Columbia. In 1950, Eddie Arcaro flew out from Chicago to successfully ride Two and Twenty for Frank Brewster, that amazing fellow who has been able to combine national labor leadership and training to a degree of success that is little short of sensational in both fields. The man is number two gent in the teamsters union, and the last time we looked, was leading here at Longacres. Brewster, former chairman of the Washington Racing Commission, and more lately an owner and breeder, is a real zealot in racing and has been a great moral leader in the upgrading of all facets of racing in the Northwest. This corner is sticking its neck out and predicting that Fanfare, a former Calumet stakes star and winner of the 1951 Derby Trial at Churchill Downs, will be the winner come Sunday. Fanfare is owned by the Elltaes Stable Seattle spelled backwards and while he was a hard luck horse all last year, not winning a race, he has been racing in smarter form this summer. Fanfare is trained by former rider Charles Ralls, who seemed ageless in the saddle, but who finally hung up his tack a few seasons ago in favor of training. This years Mile has two horses who could add to the "story book tradition" of the race in Ocean Mist and Diemaker, both Northwest-owned. Ocean Mist was obtained as a yearling at Keeneland for 00 by Jim Seabeck of Tacoma and Phil Carstens of Spokane, and became a cull of the stable through a habit of trying to roll under a pony when being led on the track. After nearly strangling to death once on .his lead shank, trainer Jack Milhalcik outfitted Continued on Page Fifty-One BETWEEN RACES : By OSCAR OTIS Continued from Page Three the exercise boy with a hunting knife, with instructions to cut the shank if Ocean Mist were in danger by throwing what is known on the track as a "wing ding." The knife saved Ocean Mists life more than once, but persistence finally cured the horse of the obsession. Diemaker is even more bizarre, if possible. He is owned by Jack Diamond, British Columbia packer and a long-time leader in B. C. breeding circles. Diemaker was purchased with two others last year in a package deal, the price, a few hams and a side of bacon, for neither Diemaker nor the others had even been broken. Diemaker was started in ,000 claiming company and couldnt win, but, with age, he seemed to improve, and finally broke his maiden as a five-year-old. He won for ,600, then kept stepping up in class and winning, and he has equalled the six furlongs record at Lansdowne as well as setting a new record there at a mile and 70 yards. The other day in the Spokane Handicap here, he won by two lengths and equalled the track record of 1:09 for the six furlongs. Add in the item that Diemaker will be ridden Sunday by Rudolph Reiman, a jockey who didnt break his maiden until he was 31 years old, and you can see that a win in the Mile would provide colorful story possi bilities. Diemaker, incidentally, is by Omaha. It is unfortunate that we will miss the rich Debutante at Del Mar Saturday, a race which in its first two runnings already has established itself as one of the prestige sweeps of the nation. Calumet Farms Lap Full, a really worth while filly, set the tone for the stake by winning the inaugural running, and last year, Tonga, a daughter of Polynesian, scored impressively for Santa Barbara sportsman John de Blois Wack. The Debutante will gross about 0,000, and we understand that next summer, the Debutante will be lifted substantially in value, along with the Futurity, to bring the Del Mar stakes program more in line with the overnight program, which, as we reported earlier, now sees minimum purses of ,000. The Debutante launches the "Surf and Turf" course into a whirlwind of stakes activity, much of which will center over the Labor Day week-end. In this respect, it is interesting to note that Del Mar has borrowed an idea from Las Vegas and is booking a "sleeper special" from Los Angeles Saturday morning, returns Monday after the races. Inasmuch as hotel and motel accommodations are at such a pre? mium on the entire Southwest coast over Labor Day, we can only remark that it is surprising Del Mar didnt think of the idea before. Of course, to be quite correct about it, the Pullman sleepers have been a part and parcel of the Kentucky Derby for ever so many years, but Vegas dramatized the possibilities of such trains in Southern California, and we believe if the experiment is successful, such special trains will become a fixture in greater Southern California including Southern Nevada.
