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REFLECTIONS by nelson dunstan BELMONT PARK, Elmont, L. I., N. Y., May 31. Racing passed a milestone over the double holiday and it is doubtful if any two days will top the total attendance of Saturday and Monday. Here in New York, the Coaching Club American Oaks and the Suburban Handicap were renewed. These lines are being written before me latter event, duc ine c-oacning uiuo aaaea anotner name to the most historic race for three-year-old fillies in this country. In 1919, Cleopatra, who finished second to Man o War in the Hopeful Stakes, was the winner of the Coaching Club, and since then the roster has included many famous names, those of Top Flight, Black Helen, Level Best, Vagrancy, Twilight Tear, How, Real Delight and Grecian Queen. On the week end, Cherokee Rose joined the list and she was of special interest as she is by Princequillo-The Squaw U., by Sickle, thus a full sister to Herman B. Delmans How, the winner in 1951. Capt.. Harry F. Guggenheim may not know it, but the greatest booster for Cherokee Rose at Belmont was Herman B. Delman. How has gone on to stud duty and has been bred to Roman, but Delman was as delighted with the Guggenheim victory as if he were the owner of the filly. The Cain Hoy contingent has had its share of hard luck and we believe the majority at Belmont were hoping that Cherokee Rose would score. AAA Correlations defeat in the Jersey Stakes shocked racing fans here in the East. In the Kentucky Derby, the Lytle racer ran a race that was unexplainable, although many excuses were offered for him. It was expected he would come back to win the Preakness, but he was beaten c Full Sisters Make CCA Oaks History Hows Owner Roots for Cherokee Rose Correlation Puzzles Eastern Turf Fans Vanderbilt Says Dancer Will Come Back a head by Hasty Road. He was a solid odds-on choice in the Jersey,, but finished sixth in a 12-horse field, seven lengths back of War of Roses. This adds more confusion to the three-year-old situation, but, as we stated a few days ago, the Peter Pan and then the Belmont may bring some clarification in a division where the members have been beating one another with regularity. Correlation, War of Roses,. Fisherman and other top three-year-olds are eligible for the Peter Pan, and this is the race in which they will meet Porterhouse, the two-year-old champion of 1953, and one of the most carefully advanced horses that we can recall in many a year. The Porterhouse stable has avoided many races which it had a royal chance to win, but the" Belmont is the big objective, and the Peter Pan, at a mile and a furlong, is to be the tune-up, for the Llangollen colt. AAA Queen Hopeful is just as problematical a filly as Correlation is a colt. On the week end, the Hasty House colorbearer came to New York to meet a group of fillies that were not deemed particularly formidable. She had never been out of the money in her 22 previous starts, which is a remarkable record. But in the Coaching Club she could do no better than finish fourth, and in the circumstances it was surprising that if she had won, she would have paid better than even money. So while our three-year-old colts lack an undisputed champion, so, too, do our three-year-old fillies. The Coaching Club has always played a paramount part in pointing out the miss who is the best of her sex and her division. Evening Out could not start in the Coaching Club, so there is a question, at the moment, as to the one who will finally emerge the queen of the three-year-old ranks. When we come right down to it, the older fillies and mares are also a doubtful lot. but eomine races, and there are manv of them, will decide the issue. It all makes for good horse racing, for a champion is rarely determined early in the season. There is no telling what will take place in the summer and the fall. AAA At Belmont on Saturday, Alfred G. Vanderbilt, along with Bill Winfrey, accepted the original painting of Native Dancer that appeared in a recent issue of Time Magazine. Receiving the painting, Vanderbilt stressed that the injury to Native Dancer was not nearly as serious as the "gloom dispensers" would have you believe. He turned the "mike" over to Winfrey and the latter, telling of The Dancers injury, was quite optimistic about the future of the great colt. During his talk, Vanderbilt stated that there was only a slim chance of his going to England for the King George VI. and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot. If ever a country needed a top handicap performer, it is our own, and Americans will be well pleased if The Dancer comes back and remains right here. Winfrey should know better than anyone else the true condition of the horse. We do not know of any horse since the days of "Big Red" who will be more welcomed in the stud than the gray son of Polynesian, out of Geisha. This horse was sadly missed in the Suburban Handicap, and it will be good news for everybody when his name appears in the entries again.
