Weighing In: Stage International Chase Today; English, Irish Meet Local Talent; Palm Tree Likely Withers Choice, Daily Racing Form, 1954-05-08

article


view raw text

WEIGHING By von Shipman BELMONT PARK Elmont L I N Y May 7 Steeplechasers tolerated rather than fostered of recent seasons should steal the show Satur ¬ day afternoon at Bel mont Park even though the rich and interesting Inter ¬ national that brings champions of this branch of the sport be ¬ fore the public will be sharing the place of honor on the after ¬ noons program with the Withers Stakes an American classic in the sense of that much abused term and traditionally an outstanding feature of the Westchester Racing Associations elab ¬ orate spring meeting The twomile Inter ¬ national will bring our best fencers to grips with Irish and English champions of comparable stature at scale weights and quite apart from anything the race will prove concerning the respective merits of these good representatives from two na ¬ tions it should provide a memorable col ¬ orful spectacle through the initiative of the National Steeplechase and Hunt As ¬ sociation and the generosity of Belmonts president George D Widener WidenerA A A A AThis This International should go far toward restoring the local prestige of the most col ¬ orful and picturesque branch of the thoroughbred sport this prestige sadly dwindled of late uniquely because of a death of owners This race together with other expedients recently explored by the remaining enthusiasts are nicely calculated to catch the imagination of public and horsemen alike the seed so hopefully planted ought to bear fruit and many of us are now looking forward to a rennais sance of through the field sport sportA A A A AFrankly Frankly we can tell you very little con ¬ cerning the class or the form of the seven foreign horses due to compete in the In ¬ ternational They arrived here with inter ¬ esting credentials and they have schooled shall we say satisfactorily since debark ¬ ing from their plane voyage across the Atlantic American horsemen who are thoroughly familiar with European style tell us that the foreigners in their morn ¬ ing works on Long Island handle our fences in exactly the same manner that they would their native obstacles which are of a somewhat different nature and demand a rather more cautious approach Our general impression for what it is worth is that the foreign entries are not likely to come a cropper Saturday but we Stage International Chase Today English Irish Meet Local Talent Palm Tree Likely Withers Choice Choicedoubt doubt that they will show the speed over fences that is sure to be demonstrated by such American representatives as The Mast Sundowner and His Boots BootsA A A A AWe We are told that the English horses possess a very bloodlike appearance and that these entries may well show a high turn on speed on the flat between obstacles but as we well know none of the American trio mentioned in lacking in class The Irish horses from all accounts are quite typical rather coarse from a French or American point of view but sturdy indi ¬ viduals with wonderful bone Saturday The Mast will meet rivals at even weight to whom he is accustomed to make con ¬ siderable concessions while where the for ¬ eign horses are concerned Mrs Thourons brilliant black will have the advantage of meeting them on his own territory and at his own terms barring unforseen bad luck The Mast should win the International InternationalA A A A AGreentrees Greentrees strong entry of Palm Tree and Diving Board looks like the choice in the mile Withers the scale weight stake that is this countrys equivalent of the Newmarket Two Thousand Guineas and Longchamps Poule des Produits des Pou lains both the English and the French carrying very similar conditions Palm Tree is the favored half of the entry and this son of Shut Out finally revealed in public the form that he had previously shown his connections when he captured a swiftly run ninefurlong race through the slop here last week passing the mile station in an excellent 136 flat flatA A A A ALast Last season Palm Tree was highly fan ¬ cied both for the Futurity and the Cham ¬ pagne but bad luck or else a sudden defection in form prevented his being any kind of factor in either engagement Per ¬ haps Palm Tree has come to himself as his recent start would suggest As we see it Palm Tree and all the other candidates for the Withers will have to be very sharp indeed if they are to match strides with James Cox Bradys Artismo a son of the imported Goya n who is not only that French stallions best representative in this country but who was one of the leaders of last years thoroughly unusual juvenile Artismo had never been intended for the Derby his owner and trainer Bobby Dotter prefering to concentrate on later engagements This strikingly handsome bay by Goya H out of the fine broodmare Kentucky Flash she already the dam of the remarkably fast Casemate made his seasonal debut here last week at a con ¬ siderable weight disadvantage Under any circumstances this is a difficult task for a threeyearold in the spring of the year and this as has been pointed out was Artismos return to action after many months on the sidelines He was beaten and well beaten Yet we refuse to hold this setback against Artismo particularly since he has worked the Belmont strip with positive brio in the interval since that defeat defeatA A A A AMaine Maine Chance Farms Black Metal an ¬ other who will come in for support in the Withers and who will run coupled with the smart Jet Action was a starter at Churchill Downs last Saturday running well for the first mile of the Derby but tailing off badly by the time the field had reached the head of the stretch In resume Artismo is the class of this Withers on last seasons form while Palm Tree is the most likely to redeem himself after what had once looked like irretrievable setbacks setbacksA A A A ANot Not even the imminence of such stakes as the International and the Withers can persuade us to overlook Sunshine Nells brave performance in yesterdays Bed o Roses Handicap overnight feature of a nice card The game and hardhitting chestnut daughter of Sun Again was forced to bow to Nothirdchance and Gainsboro Girl at the end of this mile and a sixteenth trip back about a length off the ground saving winner at the wire but cold figures show that Sunshine Nell was conceding Nothirdchance 14 pounds arid that ones runnerup 12 pounds almost an impossible task if winter form is taken seriously seriouslyA A A A AAt At Santa Anita a few months ago No ¬ thirdchance under exactly similar weight conditions was holding her own against such male competitors as Mark Ye Well Thirteen of Diamonds Find and Lucrative j Now it is common knowledge that Sun ¬ shine Nell is a brilliant mare probably the best of her sex in training at the sprint and middle distances Fine as she is how ¬ ever Sunshine Nell could hardly expect to meet the entire horses we have men ¬ tioned or Alfred Vanderbilts gelding either at even terms in actual weight Under all conditions favorable or unfavor able this mare is trying but here is a case where in Jack Campbells absence on the sick list the handicapper mani ¬ festly slipped up I


Persistent Link: https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1950s/drf1954050801/drf1954050801_4_1
Local Identifier: drf1954050801_4_1
Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800