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On the Wire By Hugh J. McGuife . 1 Study of Stars and Stripes Top Weights Judy Rullah Beat Some Promising Fillies Nances Lad Story Completely Unfounded ARLINGTON PARK, Arlington Heights, 111., June 28. Release by handicapper Pat Farrell of weights for the Stars and Stripes Handicap, to be run July 4, pre sents a study in the art of weight assignment. Most of the expected starters competed in last Saturdays thrilling Laurance Armour Memorial in which the first seven 4 to finish were in close contention. Like the-Armour, the Stars and Stripes is at a mile and a furlong but is on the grass course, and Farrell assigned Hasty House Farms Mister Black a top impost of 124 pounds, his identical burden in the Armour in which he finished fourth, beaten only a nose, a half length and a head. Allie Reuben, who owns Hasty House and Mister Black, was of the opinion that his charge hung under his weight in the final few yards of the Armour. Farrells contention apparently is that Mister Black, by being forced to go around his field on the final turn, lost more ground than the distance by which he was beaten. " Mark-Ye-Well Must Accept Three Pounds If the weight on Mister Black remains the same, the impost on two of those who beat him does not. Calumets Mark-Ye-Well, the winner, picks up three pounds to 114, Wise Margin, beaten a nose, shoulders one pound more at 119, while Hasseyampa, who was third, again is asked to carry 115. As Mark-Ye-Well was a half pound overweight in the Armour, the weight shift between him and Wise Margin is a pound and a half, and this amount and more is also in favor of Mister Black and Hasseyampa. Reuben, acknowledging that Mister Black, for all his usefulness, is just a trifle short of being a classic horse, would prefer that the poundage be reduced on his charge with compensating allotments to the others. On the other hand, any handicapper would be entitled to boast a little of a finish with seven horses as close as Farrell. brought tliem in the Armour. There is no guarantee, of course, that the race on Independence Day will be run similar to the Armour, particularly as it is over the turf and there are a few others such as Iceberg II. and Marshall Ney II., who were not in the Armour but may appear in the Stars and Stripes. The holiday race is brimful of competition. Bwamazon Farms tall chestnut filly, Judy Rullah, gave evidence in winning Mondays Pollyanna that her twor previous victories were not merely exhibitions of speed. Almost every year there are instances of two-year-olds flashing into prominence by easy victories in their first starts, only to fail when they .are asked to meet class in their divisions. It is too early to designate Judy Rullah as the best of her age and sex, but there were .some game and fast fillies in her wake at the end of the Pollyanna and her trainer, Strother Griffin, appears justified in his opinion that additional distance will be in her favor. There was a moment during the early stretch run of the Pollyanna when it appeared that Judy might mind herself with nowhere to go as the field merged for the final drive, but Dave Erb extricated ner beautifully without having to take up. The race showed up some nice fillies and Judy Rullah had to earn her pay, which she did by a half length. This is far from making a runaway affair of the ace and several of the fillies back of her turned in creditable efforts. Mrs. Joe .Tom-linsons Guard Rail also had some run in her at the end after racing forwardly throughout the sprint, while Pollard and Harkins Requestette did a bang up job of setting all the pace and then drawing away to a three-length advantage in the stretch. Emil Denemarks Waikiki was closest to the pace well into the home lane, and Hal Price Headleys Supple was full of run at the end. Ada L. Rices two-time stakes winner, Pretty Plunger, was next, but was only three lengths back of the winner while finishing sixth. The next four horses could have been covered by a blanket. The Pollyanna speaks rather well for the calibre of juvenile fillies in competition here. False Rumor Had Colt Tampered With Rumors are not confined to race tracks, of course, but as long as we can remember stories unfounded have seeped through fthe horsemens colonies or have spread like the proverbial wildfire. Most of these tales are concocted in ignorance, but snowball into prominence and sometimes become downright vicious. The current one which is false in its entirety concerns Hilton Dab-sons Nances Lad, who was shipped here from the East expressly for his engagement in Balmorals Chicagoan but was withdrawn on the eve of the race when it was discovered that he was running a fever. Nances Lad was the probable favorite for the race and the ugly story that now reaches here from the East is to the effect that the horse was tampered with before the race to get him out of the way. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Hilton Dabson himself said that the horse was just plain sick. Track veterinarians examined the colt and found him to be running a temperature. The competent stewards here had full knowledge of the case. The reaction here in some quarters was to the effect that the canard may have been instigated to discourage eastern horses from shipping here for stakes engagements. This may be as far-fetched as the original rumor, but it is an indication of the cumulative nature of such unfounded stories.
