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KummmmM--,,,-! anda£g _ , fPSajl hih Maryland By Joe Hirsch Nances Lad Prepping for Withers Preakness Also on Colts Itinerary May Seek 0,000 Balmoral Stake PIMLICO, Baltimore, Md., May 13.— Like Boston Doge, whose great winning streak he shattered in the recent renewal of the Swift Stakes, theres quite a story story that that goes goes with with Nances Nances Lad Lad KummmmM--,,,-! story story that that goes goes with with Nances Nances Lad Lad and his remarkable owner-trainer-breeder Hilton Dabson. We talked with Dabson at the barn yesterday morning and found him a thoroughly engaging person, forthright and frank, with a broad knowledge of horses and racing. At the moment he is concentrating on .preparing Nances Lad for the 5,000 Withers Mile at Belmont on May 21. He plans to to follow follow the the same same routine routine he he em- em- to to follow follow the the same same routine routine he he em- em- , hih ployed in the Swift, shipping to New York on Wednesday and then returning to Pimlico the next Monday. If Nances Lad comes out of the Withers in good condition, hell go in the Preakness here May 28. Many people consider Nances Lad a sprinter, and thats about all. Dabson disagrees. He points out that while the colt does have a terrific turn of early foot, and his dam, Nances Ace, holds the worlds record for five and a half furlongs l:03ys, the sire, Slide Rule, could travel a distance. He adds that Nances Lad has done everything hes been asked to do. As a matter of fact the colt is not put together like a sprinter, his rangy lines suggesting that he might like a route. Hes a good-looking thing with the same placid disposition of Boston Doge, a quiet, nodding air that seems to suggest a lack of interest in anything except the race itself. * Dabson tells us he is a good doer and an excellent shipper, which will stand him in good stead as Dabson has hopes of sending him to Chicago next month for Balmorals 0,000 mile race. Dabson Closely Supervises Colts Training Dabson keeps a close watch on Nances Lad, supervises his training in detail. He is strongly convinced that his colts win over Boston Doge was a true bill and that Nances Lad can handle the pride of New England any time they meet. Dabson regrets his inability to accept an invitation to the "Suffolk 21" and a third meeting with the black son of The Doge, but since he is stretching Nances Lad out for the Withers and Preakness he does not care to interrupt this training pattern. The story of Nances Lad begins back in 1942 when Dabson, a former rider who at one time also conducted a flourishing saddlery and tack business, purchased five fillies from F. W. Armstrong, Sr. In this deal he got Nances Ace for 00 and she went on to become a crack race mare. Dabson always liked Slide Rule when that stallion was active and as he was friendly with Armstrong, Jr., sent her to Slide Rule in New Jersey several seasons ago. Four days before she slipped Nances Lad, Dabson sold a half interest in the colt to an old friend, Chester Caithness, a Maryland automobile dealer. Nances Lad started only once last year as a two-year-old, breaking his maiden on December 27 at Tropical Park. For one thing, Dabson likes to give his young horses every chance, takes plenty of time with them and employs excellent help. For another, Nances Lad was set back in training two or three months in a freak accident at Monmouth Park. Dabson had been galloping the colt all spring without breezing him once, intending to start him in the New Jersey Futurity in July. Word went out that he had a "runner" and Dabson refused a bona fide offer of 0,000 for Nances Lad last spring. He was training the colt from the gate at Monmouth when someone forgot to remove a locking bar one morning and the colt smashed right into the crosspiece, picking up three splints, ring bone and a case of bucked shins. Earned a Juvenile Purse in Florida After Nances Lad returned to training, Dabson took him to Florida, got in a winning start as a two-year-old and after bowing to Boston Doge in Hialeahs Bahamas, annexed such features as Gulfstreams Fountain of Youth and Hutcheson Handicaps. He set a new track record in the latter, for seven furlongs. He ran a bad race in Laurels Chesapeake but Dabson attributes this to the use of blinkers for the first time, and his triumph in the Swift tends to confirm the trainers contention. Dabson plans to stand the colt at Armstrongs Meadowview Farm when his racing days are over. Quite understandably, he is partial to Slide Rule, and is high on a young colt he has by that sire from his mare, Little Bunny, named Little Rabbit. He will follow the same procedure with this colt that he did with Nances Lad and doesnt intend to start Little Rabbit until the Tropical Park meeting, in the hope that his patience will be rewarded. Around the Track: Alan Clarke vanned in a quartet of two-year -olds he had stabled at Laurel in the care of the former rider, Bobby Mitchell. . . . Eddie Arcaro, Ted Atkinson, Eric Guerin, Doug Dodson and Charley OBrien are expected in the morning to ride in the Black-Eyed Susan. . . . Norman Haymaker is shipping a draft of horses to ThistleDown on Monday and Tony Cataldi is another wholl race in Ohio this summer. . . . Laurels Morris Schapiro and Joe Cas-carella took in the sport yesterday. . . . Tommy Kellys younger brother, John, supervises the Mrs. Ada L. rice string here when Tommy is active at Garden State. . . . Bowes Bond notes that Brazen Brat goes to Tus-canys court at Mrs. Samuel Pistorios Ellicott City, Md., farm next season. . . . Pat Kelly phoned from Crown Crest to report that Howard and Mrs. Reine-man will be in Baltimore for the Preakness.
