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W E I G H I N G IN By EVAN SH,pMAN AQUEDUCT, L. I., N. Y., June 17. — Winning ones first stake is a real occasion, and our friend Billy Perry of Upperville, Va., was treading on air yesterday after his filly, Tryings pleasing score in the Astoria, one of the oldest and most-coveted fixtures an Aqueducts spring" program. Perry has been a noted thoroughbred horse man for many years, but until just recently his name has been associated with fox hunting and showing, rather than the turf. Trained by Jack Skirvin, a number of horses carrying his colors have won worthwhile events on the Metropolitan circuit and in Florida during the past several seasons, but until Trying, an usually hand*-some daughter of the imported South American sire, m Endeavour n., came along, no early closing race had come the young stables way. Purchased last August at Saratoga from R. L. Guests yearling consignment, Trying had good looks and fine breeding in her favor from the start, and she brought the very respectable price of 7,-000. He debut down the Widener chute at Belmont recently was highly auspicious, and the word must have gotten around pretty generally that she was a good one, because, despite the fact that Perry has little or no interest in wagering, the green filly went to the post in that large field a. warm choice. Yesterday, it was another matter. This time, Trying was meeting the best of her sex and age in training. For all that, the manner of her victory was quite convincing. AAA Aside from Charlton Clays sensational Nasrullah filly, Lea Lane, now at Lincoln Fields, the Astoria field contained what we now consider the pick of the crop. Even iwith her stablemate, Delta, scratched, Claibornes Cour- L Virginia Owner Wins His First Stake Race Trying Takes Astoria From Choice Fieldf Endeavour II. Filly Praised by Connoisseurs Choices Fail to Take Any Part in Fixture tesy was a slight choice over "Mr. Fitz," stable entry of Natasha and Long Stretch, while there was also strong support for Maine Chance Farms recent winner of the Polly Drummond at Delaware, Fantine Busher, and for the Barclay Stables roan, Reddy Ro. Trying was neglected at odds of 9-to-l, while the two remaining starters, Mrs. W. Gilroys Fashion Page and the Star-land Stables Noors Dream, were both out-and-out long shots. We made a bee line to the paddock to inspect this choice group at close quarters, and we were not at all surprised to find that just about every "professional" at the course for the midweek card has exactly the same idea. AAA Before the Astoria field was saddled, we remarked that Belairs Natasha, a rangy filly with plenty of scope, by Nasrullah, from the late William Woodwards brilliant mare, Vagrancy, looked more like her dam than any of the tribe so far. In parentheses, we will say that we have never seen Vagrancys classic winning son, Black Tar-quin, his racing having been confined to England. Mr. Fitz, however, knows them all, and he said yesterday that Natashas conformation was a throw-back to her distinguished dam, adding that, "If she only will run like Vagrancy, Well all be satisfied." Courtesy, the favorite for the five and a half furlongs staks, may not take after her sire, the imported Nasrullah, but she does resemble many of his get. AH of them, as we know, have the keenest sort of speed, but, in most cases, they are definitely plain, their quality impossible to detect on the walking ring. In the case of Courtesy, the head, with its sharply curved frontal bone, is worse than plain. Evening Out, you will recall, has a Roman nose, but the shape of Courtesys head is something else again. A* A A Frankly, we did not need to wait for the races evidence to proclaim Perrys Trying the most appealing of the lot. She is a well turned bay of medium size, showing much quality and moving with the easy grace that is characteristic of Endeavour n.s son and daughters. On the track, Trying lost no time in showing us that she richly merited all the compliments paid her shortly before in the paddock. As the field got away to a good start, she raced the oddly colored Reddy Ro into submission, drew off vto a clear lead at the top of the stretch, and then had enough in reserve to resist the belated bid of Fashion Plate, who did not find her racing legs until this dash was all but over. Reddy Ro hung on well enough to save the show award from Noors Dream, while none of the more highly fancied fillies played any part at all in the proceedings. The winners time of 1:05% over a rather "dead" strip was normal enough, the initial five furlongs covered in :59%. AAA Jim Nichols, the noted rider of two-year-olds who had the mount on the winner, said after the race that Trying attempted to loaf, once- she got to the front, but that as soon as she was conscious of another fillys approach, she would commence to dig in again. He praised her competitive instinct highly, and we had noticed previously at Belmont that she seems to enjoy the heat of battle, doing her best running when an evident task is in front of her. In the Astoria, Trying was equipped with blinkers, chiefly Continued on Page Seventeen WEIGHING IN I By EVAN SHIPMAN Continued from Page Fifty-Two because she has shown herself so playful and full of life in the morning, but trainer Skirvin doubts that she needs them. As for excuses, we can find none for Natasha or any of the others. They just did not do much running. It is possible that Courtesy and Fantine Busher may be a trifle stale from recent efforts. Natasha, for her part, ought to do better when the distance is stretched out, sprints never being the familys strong point. Skirvin will, of course, take Trying to Saratoga, and we expect her to have a lot to say concerning the results of the filly fixtures at the Spa in August, an opinion with which her trainer fully concurs, he declaring without reservation that this is the best prospect of her sex that he has ever sent to the post.
