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On the Trot I By MORRIE KURLANSKY 1 1Spirited Spirited Competition Among Drivers Dee Stover Still Retains Slim Lead The Black Goose Promising Pacer PacerMAYWOOD MAYWOOD PARK Maywood HI May 5 One of the most interesting aspects of the current meeting here is the fierce com ¬ petition among sulky pilots for the driving title Including Mon ¬ days races Dee Stover still has the lead with eight victories but Howard Beissinger Jake Mahoney and Dick Williams with seven wins each might overtake the Mt Ver non trainer any night as might Tom Wilburn who occupies fourth position with six wins Three drivers are tied for fifth place Harry Burright Lou Rapone and Gene Riegle each with five wins Fans betting a certain driver to win every time he starts would be ahead if they chose Jake Mahoney Gene Riegle Howard Beissinger Tom Wilburn Lou Rapone and Clarence Curtis all having a very good win percentage and bringing in some goodpriced winners Horses driven by Dee Stover and Harry Burright are more often than not post favorites and since both reinsmenare among the busiest here a flat bet on each and every of their mounts would so far have resulted in a slight loss lossHarness Harness horse fans are a mighty hardy breed for a crowd numbering 2710 was on hand for Mondays racing with the temperature hovering about the freezing point and a biting wind blowing The equine competitors however were not much disturbed by the unseasonally cold weather and turned in some fine per ¬ formances the best of which undoubt ¬ edly was the splendid victory of Grand Wisconsin a fouryearold pacing colt owned by Thomas E Keating of Chicago and driven by clever Stan Stucker The capable trainer this tune did not elect to make the early pace but preferred to stay tucked in making his bid in the home stretch The Shepard Farms As ¬ sured only triple winner at this meet ¬ ing finished fourth in this race an earlyclosing event for 24class pacers named The Riverside Pace tiring from his pacesetting efforts effortsWhile While it is not uncommon here that three or four races on the same program are won by frontgoing horses you cannot call them frontrunners because if they did that they would be disqualified harness horses having to stay on their gait all races Monday were won by horses coming from behind The explanation for this was the heavy wind blowing against the horses in the home stretch stretchMost Most harness horsemen seem to be born in Boston for they cling to their traditions like the citizens of this staid city For the second time in the last ten days racing secretary C J Langley in ¬ cluded a claiming race claiming price 1500 in his condition sheet but not enough entries were received to fill the proposed races If one listens however to certain owners and trainers they al ¬ ways feel that their horses are being classified way over their heads Given the opportunity to do their own classify ¬ ing by way of entering their horses in a claiming race the very same people dont dontx x want any part of it In many cases where owners of harness horses object to claiming races regardless of the price tag it is a mixture of sentimentalism and conservatism while some people are just overly high on their horses dis ¬ daining the thought of starting their imaginary 10000 trotter in a 3500 claiming race raceClay Clay Hasch diminutive Hoosier trainer brought out a very promising threeyear old pacer in The Black Goose one of the first Goose Bays the former world cham ¬ pion sidewheeler Although the black gelding was nipped at the wire by Buddy Brookwood he was probably the best horse in the race racing the whole mile in the middle of the track In the sulky behind Buddy Brookwood was Jake Mahoney who drove The Black Gooses sire to some of his greatest triumphs Elmer Hartman ownertrainer from Rushville HI opened his 1954 campaign on Monday and in his very first start with his pacing gelding Blue Blazier received a threeday suspen ¬ sion for slowing down the field after get ¬ ting the lead leadThe The feature race on Saturday night at Hazel Park Detroit was won by the Saunders Mills Stable Thunderclap with Red Sails and Chief Strong finishing second and third respectively Chuckie Scot pacing ace owned by Mrs Eleanor James of Wheaton and driven by Red Scott could not do better than fifth in his seasonal debut Considering the fact that the racing strip at Hazel Park at the present time is not in a condition con ¬ ducive to harness horse speed the win ¬ ners time of 205 for the mile must be regarded as very good Dick William trainer of the Ralph H Kroenin stable reports that he shipped the freeforall trotter Lord Steward an impressive win ner here last Saturday to Hazel Park for an engagement on Friday when the rangy son of Darnley will meet Elby Hanover one of the best threeyearold trotters last season being third in the Hambletonian and winner of the Western Trot at Hollywood Park ParkJack Jack Jumbo Leonard who had a very successful season last year in Chicago rac ¬ ing a string of the public stable trained by his father Edgar Leonard was a visitor here last Saturday He was accompanied by Pete Wilmont Pearson associated with the Herman Graham stable
