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WEIGHING By EVAN SHIPMAN BELMONT PARK Elmont L I N Y May 4 Unfortunately sched ¬ uled in relation to the Kentucky Der ¬ by the Kentucky Oaks disputed last Friday and brilliantly won by Maine Chance Farms hardhitting daughter of War Jeep Fascinator received far less attention than it merited This historic filly classic is held in high re ¬ gard by breeders and by our more important stables the winner invariably establishing herself as one of the lead ¬ ers of the generation Fascinator flown to Long Island immediately following her victory at Churchill Downs is a starter and the probable choice for Wednesdays re ¬ newal of the mile Acorn another stake that has a far greater significance for breeders than it does for the gen ¬ eral public In Belmonts pattern of spring racing the Acorn was designed as our equivalent for he English One Thousand Guineas at Newmarket and the French Poule des Produits des Pouliches at Longchamp but one is forced to admit that the prestige of the American fix ¬ ture unlike its European counterparts has long been local rather than national The value of the Acorn only 20000 added is frankly not sufficient to attract entries from other parts of the country and with the modern racing scene as dispersed as it now is the Acorn field often lacks just those outstanding members of this divi ¬ sion from the hinterland whose presence would enable this stake to conform to its originators purpose This year the absentee from a distance is Fascinators runner up Queen Hopeful while our own champion Evening Out must remain on the sidelines because of a recent but fortunately trivial accident in her stall stallA A A A AEvening Evening Out of course is so far superior to any other illy of her age at scale weights such as govern the Kentucky Oaks Winner Looms Choice in Acorn Fascinator Ships East Sharp for Mile Test Jockeys Status Owes Much to Cassidys Firmness International Will Contrast Styles of Jumping JumpingAcorn Acorn that were George D Wideners brown amazon to be a starter the race would be generally dismissed as a mere formality In Evening Outs absence Fascinator will take over the role of favorite although the edge she may possess over her 10 rivals is far less certain Last spring when they were both juveniles Fascinator once ran Evening Out to a head in a dash down the Widener chute but succeeding months were to show that margin to have been altogether deceptive and no index of their respective class Evening Out went on to triumph after triumph invincible against those of her own sex while Fascinators form was notably iriandout Last winter at Hialeah Maine Chance Farms rugged War Jeep filly was good enough to defeat an aged field in the sevenfur ¬ long Columbiana Handicap conceding most of the mares weight on the scale That was her last good performance until the Kentucky Oaks a race that she won with authority despite the game effort of Queen Hopeful a stablemate of Hasty Road and another Roman from a Fair Play dam damA A A A AQuite Quite correctly jockey Howard Craig who rode Time ¬ ly Tip in the Kentucky Derby last Saturday and who all but racked up the field in one of the roughest starts we have ever seen was punished for his flagrant offense but to our mind the 20 days on the ground meted out to Craig by the Churchill Downs stewards is like a slap on the wrist Craig was not the only guilty one but we can ¬ not be sure of who the others were something that a study of the film patrol pictures would soon make clear Bill Corum says that all the boys were warned about rough riding before the start of the big race and their subsequent actions show how seriously they take Ken ¬ tucky warnings Here in New York we have and have long had the cleanest riding in the nation This is di ¬ rectly due hi our opinion to the authority wielded by Marshall Cassidy and we have noticed that the jockeys themselves are grateful for his firm control To boys ac ¬ customed to the lax methods in effect at too many of our tracks Cassidy at first may seem stern and forbidding but an intelligent newcomer soon recognizes that this officials insistence on discipline is actually kindness to our riders as a group At no time in the history of the American turf have leading jockeys enjoyed the general respect that they do today and we think that Cassidys dayinanddayout laying down the law on the subject of clean riding has been directly responsible for the change in the publics attitude attitudeA A A A ARacing Racing is a sport that is supposed to pride itself on good manners and the maintenance of traditions We suppose that turf writers include themselves somewhere within the boundaries of the sport they follow and we admit to being shocked and annoyed when one of our tribe grossly flouts the elementary standards of behavior Last week at Louisville Mrs Harry James was not we understand on hand to see her colt James Session run in the Derby and the reason for her absence from a spec ¬ tacle that she must certainly have been looking eagerly forward to was that she had been repeatedly and gratu ¬ itously insulted by the local press It was stated outright that James Session not only had no possible chance in the race but that his being shipped east from California was Continued on Page FortyFive WEIGHING IN INBy By EVAN SHIPMAN Continued from Page FortyBight FortyBighta a moving picture publicity stunt Coupled with these remarks were sneers at Mrs James husband Harry James Mrs James or Betty Grable as she is known to the general public has long been intensely interested in breeding and racing thorough ¬ breds All of us who coyer racing on the West Coast know her as a simple sincere nthusiast most of whose free time is spent either at the farm or the stables Her homebred colt James Session is one of the best of his age in California and he has a victory over the Kentucky Derby in ner Determine to his credit In the race that the boorish rudeness of the Louisville press prevented her from seeing last Sat ¬ urday James Session wound up beating more colts than beat him That however is absolutely immaterial the point is that Mrs James deserves an apology apologyA A A A AUsing Using an overnight steeplechase as a final tuneup for Saturdays important In ¬ ternational Mrs Vernon G Cardys im ¬ ported fencer Cammell Laird started off as if the Belmont obstacles held no terrors for him and the Englishbred but French raced horse had actually gone to the front when he slipped on the soggy grass in a landing at the tenth jump and lost his jockey Albert Foot Sundowner one of the acknowledged leaders of our woefully small chasing division went on to score in a canter after Cammell Thirds mishap on the backstretch but the American horse was conceding the foreigner 21 pounds in actual weight and that might have made all the difference had his rival only kept his feet As we know now from sad experi ¬ ence foreign horses no matter what their class on the other side cannot afford to trifle with Belmont fences while because of the fast pace in the majority of our steeplechases even one small blunder at Belmont is irretrievable The Irish and English entries for the International have not been seen in public as yet but our guess is that they will prove bigger lep pers than the French horses although even less suited by the swift clip at which our races are run The feature this week end will give us all a welcome opportunity to contrast differing styles the advantage naturally resting with the home team
