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Delaware i : By Charles Hatton — — -— ■ .Delaware Policies Sound and Exemplary Breeder and Nominator Awards Unique Stakes Gross Values Raise Tax Question DELAWARE PARK, Stanton, Del.. June 8.— There are several aspects of Delaware Parks operation which seem to us simultaneously sound, sporting and ex- the retroactive breeders and nominators awards in the singularly valuable "distaff big three." It provides that if the filly or mare earning a part of the award in the Delaware Handicap also has started in either the 55 Oaks or New Castle, the amount is doubled. If previously she has started in both the Oaks and New Castle, -this bonus is trebled. In fnfn if r»nifM mpnn *7 RflO for the breeder or nominator, as we understand it. There is also the clubs realistic ambition to popularize fact against superstition among horsemen. As we recently noted, many trainers are innately hesitant about starting three-year-old fillies against older mares in the summer. But the fact is that three-year-olds of the sex have won five New Castles. Consider also the number of Ladies Handicaps they have predominated. Believe Field Favors Six-Race Program The cornucopia of the Delaware — worlds richest filly-and-mare race — continues on a handicap. And we think that Gil Haus has been eminently fair in his treatment of the younger mares as opposed to their more mature rivals. Left to his own devises, we have a notion that general manager Bryan Field would be inclined to offer cards of seven races only. We can remember when six were considered adequate. The club would post fully as much money for the seven events as the usual eight. This would enable them to be choosier about eligibility, providing even better sport, and enabling the public to return to Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington or v/herever at an earlier hour. The public is, after all, the first consideration in merchandising the sport successfully anywhere, and Delaware Park is not in any immediate metropolitan area, for all its easy accessibility. The Stanton tract also has been wisef we think to correlate its filly-and-mare program. It is a little reminiscent of the United Nations races at Atlantic City, and assures a wholehearted response which might not be forthcoming were they run as just another Saturday feature rather than a series. Individual tracks have a better opportunity of achieving this than courses in disparate areas, reflecting on the recent history of the so-called American Triple Crown. That one held water so long as the three stakes involved were the only 00,000 added prizes in the spring, and there were none of that value preceding them in the winter. Warner L. Jones, Jr., who is a director in Churchill Downs, horse owner and breeder, and a former trainer, yesterday asked our position about the proximity of stakes closings in relation to the running date, and the advisability_of having supplemental entries. In the end we "were agreed that, while stakes may not appear so lush in their advertised .gross values as they do today, it would perhaps be better to have fewer futurities, in which horsemen run for a large share of their own money. For example Pimlico does not close its fall stakes early, but the relatively few nominations received are hot only intended but currently eligible "on the form" and a good many iurn up in the entries, providing interesting racing among the best available performers. So far as concerns supplementary closings? these are understandably unpopular with the horsemen who are among the original nominators, and they represent the vast majority. They feel strongly that it is a little like peeking at the next card in a gin rummy game, nor can one blame them too much. In addition one or two tracks have been questioned, taxationwise, by their states in advertising estimated grosses, their governments failing to understand that a large share of this money comes from the itinerant horsemen. It can be as tedious to explain as "what becomes of the racing dollar." Saratoga Awaits Leonard Richards Test Saratoga seems to be training very well for his engagement in the 5,000 added Leonard Richards here on the week end, and he must be the public preference, whether or not he is accompanied to the post by Westward Ho. Trainer "Downey" Bonsai, incidentally, denies stories it is necessary to get behind him with a bullwhip. His peculiarity is typical of the Blenheim ITs. He is an imaginative colt who is smart enough to know that when he is drawn for a race at 11 oclock he is in for it and he sometimes commences running it right then. This explains his washiness in the paddock, on the post parade and in the starting machine. He is no such extrovert as his rival Nashua but is simply "spooky." Both Nashua and Saratoga ran their "biggest" races in the recent Preakness, in which the former won in new track record time for the mUe • and three -sixteenths, amputating a full second and a fifth off a mark established by no less a flier than was Tom Fool. We do not know how that finish appeared on TV, but the veteran chart caller Palmer Heagerty had Nashua winning "ridden out," and we daresay anybody who saw the final sixteenth realized that, once again, he was up to his old trick of playing with his competitor. Though it is patently clear that Saratogas people want no more of Nashua for the moment, the Blenheim n. colt Is distinctly "the class" of the field for the Leonard Richards. 1 L
