view raw text
Crevolin and York Laud Winning Ride One look at the chart of the Californian is enough -to persuade anyone that Erb, for all that this was his first experience with the brilliant homebred son of Khaled, not only made no mistake, but rode a carefully planned, admirably executed race. Andy Crevolin, owner of Swaps runner-up, game little Determine, told us on the long distance telephone following the running of the Californian that Ray York, aboard the diminutive gray, had shown one of his best rides, vigilant to take full advantage of any opening, and he also paid generous tribute to Erbs cool, alert performance with the successful Swaps. Our friend, Joe Williams, penning his column from San Francisco and not Los Angeles, opines that "Herman Hickman could have won the race on Swaps." Discounting the hyperbole, does Joe really believe is was as easy as all that? Had he seen Determines Kentucky Derby a year ago last May — which he did not — our friend might not have been so ready to dismiss the little fellow, and as for Dave Erb — the comparatively unknown jockey who flew in at the last moment to grab the catch mount left open by the fashionable Shoemakers suspension — we feel that his highly competent performance merits any journalists praise, rather than a sneer. When Katie Key, generally achnowledged to be. the best trotting mare since the retirement of the great Proximity failed in her early free-for-all engagements this spring, many of us surmised that trainer Clint Hodgins was bringing her to her formidable peak slowly, and that we would only have to wait for rich stake engagements to see one of her electric miles. Unfortunately, the trouble proved to be far more grave than any leisurely return to form; she is suffering from a serious muscular ailment. In addition to being scratched from this Thursdays 5,000 Invitational at Roosevelt Raceway, Katie Keys connections fear that she will be out of action for the entire season and are considering sending the well-bred daughter of Long Key to the farm.
