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Reflections By Nelson Dunstan ; LeRoy Proposes Nashua-Swaps Series Would Owners Agree to Three Races? Epinard Performed Against All-Comers NEW YORK, N. Y., June 17. The proposed match between Nashua and Swaps "has the country interested and much of the news is coming out of the Golden State of California. Mer-vyn LeRoy of Hollywood Park has proposed a series of three races at different distances, one to be run at his track before July 25, another in Chicago and the third in the New York-New Jersey area. LeRoy would leave to the. owners the question of distances. There can be no doubt such a series would be all-conclusive. Whether it could be brought about is quite another matter. That, of course, is strictly up to William Woodward, Jr., owner of Nashua, and Rex Ellsworth, owner ot the fine colt who won the Kentucky Derby and then went back to his home state to win the Californian from Determine in world record time. The two three-yearrolds would shoot at 00,000. At this writing, Nashua has earned 53,690 and Swaps is credited with 04,250. Should Nashua be the winner of the proposed series, it would place him very close to Citations record of ,085,760. We hasten to add, however, that Swaps would have considerable to say about Nashua winning the races. French Invader Ran Different Distances In 1924 there was a series of races in which the French invader, Epinard, opposed American horses at six furlongs, one mile and then one and one-quarter miles. The first race was run on Labor Day, at Belmont Park, with eight horses, including Zev and the invader, in the line-up. Zev took the lead, early, but was replaced by Epinard, who stayed in front until Wise Counsellor came from behind and won by three lengths. Epinard was second and Ladkin third. The second of Epinards efforts was on September 27 at Aqueduct. Again, the French visitor was nosed out of first place, but this time by Ladkin, who ran third in the first of these special "Internationals." Wise Counsellor, who won the first race, was third. The last event of this colorful series was at Latonia, two weeks later, with a crowd of 60,000 on hand to see the marvelous French horse who had earned the plaudits of the American racing public. Her was a grand horse, but he ran into a speed ball that day in Sarazen, who was forced to cover the one and one-quarter miles in 2:00 to win. Epinard was one of the finest invaders that ever went abroad to race against horses in a foreign country. If that international series proved anything it, was that Epinard was a horse to respect. A series at different distances would definitely settle the issue between Nashua and Swaps but, we are afraid that a victory for Swaps in the initial encounter would take the edge off the two races to follow. So there is a question whether track executives in other parts of the country would be as enthusiastic as Mervyn LeRoy is in his proposal. The first track would have all the best of it and it is only natural that the president of Hollywood Park would want the first meeting at his course. It appears to us as if it narrows down to a case of every man, or rather every track head, thinking of himself even though the final race, which we dare say would be at one and .one-quarter miles, would be the most important. There would have to be at least three weeks between the races and that would be certain to interfere with the present schedules of the pair. Nashua is eligible for the Dwyer at Aqueduct on July 2 and the Arlington Classic on July 16, while Swaps is named for the Westerner at Hollywood Park oh July 9. Ellsworth Colt Performed Unusual Feat Winning the Californian as a three-year-old, Swaps performed a feat that is unsual in the months of June. We read an interesting article quoting Mischa Tenney and Rex Ellsworth, trainer and owner, respectively, of the son of Khaled. What caused the discussion we do not know, but Tenney was credited with saying, "There isnt a horse that ever lived who knew when he was running against a three-year-old, a five-year-old, a seven-year-old or a burro or a donkey." What he says is true, of course, but it remains that it takes a three-year-old, out of the ordinary to win against older horses in the first six months of the year. Take New Yorks famous triple of the Metropolitan, Brooklyn and Suburban. The Metropolitan has been won by only one three-year-old since 1939 and that was Greek Ship in 1950. The Brooklyn was last won by a three-year-old in 1938, by The Chief, and in the Suburban we have to go back to Crusader in 1926. Naturally, no three-year-old know the ages of the horses, he races against, but it takes a darned good one to win against oldsters in June. While Swaps did not know that Determine was a four-year-old, he did know how to get to the finish line first. Years -Best Time Marks at River Downs RIVER DOWNS, Cincinnati, Ohio, June 17. Newmarket Maid and Trico, a pair of juveniles .campaigning here, registered the fastest time at the meeting for five furlongs, covering that distance in :59 over a fast racing strip. The latter accomplished the feat on June 4th, while the latter equaled this time two days later. Ziggity, a five-year-old Warlock gelding, has the honor of reeling off the six-furlongs in 1:11, the most rapid time to date for that distance, while King Phalanx distinguished himself by traveling the mile and 70 yards in 1:45 flat. James A. Gavin, Jr.s, Botafogo raced the fast mile nad a sixteenth at this session, being clocked in 1:45 on last Thursads feature event.
