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, mm - • j Weighing In By Evan Shipman King Ranch Has Long Felt Lure of Europe High Gun Has Choice of Two Stakes at AscoK Heliopolis Colt May Owe Stamina to Fair Play BELMONT PARK, Elmont, L. I., N. Y„ June 2.— As long ago as 1947 — the season in which King Ranchs champion, Assault, won the Butler Handicap under a , staggering staggering 135 135 pounds, pounds, conceding conceding staggering staggering 135 135 pounds, pounds, conceding conceding nine pounds to Stymie and 18 to the great mare, Gallorette — owner Robert Kleberg, "Jr., and trainer Max Hirsch have toyed with the idea of sending a top horse to Europe for a go at one ahother of the important weight-for-age fixutres. That may have been the Triple Crowh-winning Assaults best year; the Butler Handicap was certainly one of the the greatest greatest races races of of the the modern modern mm - • j the the greatest greatest races races of of the the modern modern American turf. The tried and true chestnut, however, had never been anything than "racing sound," and when it came time to think seriously of sending him for the Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp that September, he was an the ailing list. As a substitute for Assault, the stable from the Lone Star State briefly considered shipping Flying Missell over there, but Flying Missell was just an ordinary "good horse," and it is just as well that French horsemen were not led to believe that he represented the American turf in a feature of international significance. Now, eight years later, King Ranch, with the superb Heloiopolis four-yera-old High Gun, possess another star who embodies all the qualities for which our breeders traditionally aim; -High Gun. winner of the mile Sysonby, the nine-furlong Peter Pan Handicap, the mile and five-eighths Lawrence Realization, the two-mile Jockey Club Gold Cup, and, just last Monday, runner-up to Helioscope in an altogether unsual renewal of the mile and a quarter Suburban, has the speed, stamina and weight-carrying ability that characterize our ideal of the thoroughbred horse. Ascot Meeting Appears Preferable Ascot, rather than Longchamp, is likely to be High Guns objective this summer; the gala English meeting occurs in mid-July, while the Arc de Triomphe, always run the first Sunday of October, is too close for comfort to our own Jockey Club Gold Cup, a prize for which owner Kleberg is very anxious to compete a second time. During Ascots brief week, High Gun will have the choice of starting for either the two-mile and a quarter Ascot Gold Cup, the worlds supreme test of • thoroughbred stamina, or the comparatively recent creation, the King George VI. and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at a mile and a half. Both, of course, are weight-for-age fixtures. At any time previous to World War II., the prestige of the Ascot Gold Cup would have settled the question of High Guns objective beyond the slightest doubt. Today, however, the unmistakable trend in both England and France is away from such "marathons" as the ancient Gold Cup; the modern European turf considers a mile and a half as perfectly adequate to prove staying ability, while a winner at either Ascot or Longchamp over that distance must also be a colt or horse of real speed. Naturally, the Gold Cup is still highly coveted the world over, but of the two stakes, the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth now enjoys the greater reputation. Personally, we think High Gun would prove equally formidable in either engagement. Until seeing his Metropolitan and Suburban efforts at this Belmont meeting, we had considered his Jockey Club Gold Cup as the race where High Gun had shown to greatest advantage. His style at the greulling two-mile distance could not possibly be faulted, and while we well understand that the Asccot Gold Cup is even more severe, more demanding than our own fixture, we cannot conceive of High Gun being found wanting in "bottom." As you of course know, Heliopolis, High Guns sire, is a son of the great English stallion, Hyperion. It was one of the most crushing setbacks ever suffered by the late Lord Derby in his many years on the turf when Hyperion, winner of the Derby and St. Leger in England and unbeaten as a three-year-old, was defeated the following season by Felicitation and Thor n. in his attempt for the Ascot Gold Cup. The truth was that the distance proved too far for Hyperion, according to European standards a great "middle distance" runner rather than a genuine stayer. If we believe that High Gun could succeed where Hyperion signally failed, it is because we are confident that High Guns inheritance of Fair Play stamina from his dams side of the house is strong enough to tilt the scales in his favor. Hirsch Concerned Over Type of Running No matter which test is eventually decided on for High Gun, his connections are already busy with inquiries concerning the conditions he will encounter overseas. The fact that Ascot races are run with the inside rail on a horses off side seems to worry trainer Hirsch, but he can surely remember when Belmont Park was "clockwise," and we have never heard that it proved difficult for American horses to accustom themselves to a way of going that did not pre-cail elsewhere in this country. We are not acquainted with Ascot on any other English track, but we well recall in France St. Could was "counter-clockwise," just as all our tracks are now, and the other Parisian associations — Longchamp, Tremblay and Maison-Lafitte — were "clockwise." The shift from the other tracks to St. Cloud, the latter a very important track, never bothered horses as faf as we could tejl, nor do we ever -recall hearing the change advanced as an excuse for a bad showing. *
