view raw text
i New England Englandi i By Fred Gallant iRockcastle Rockcastle Recovering From Injury Colt Under Death Sentence in 1955 May Come Back to Races in Summer SummerLINCOLN LINCOLN DOWNS Lincoln R I May 2 Just last year Rockcastle Joe Leones good threeyearold was under a death sentence rne gooi Again colt winner of the Yankee Handicap had broken a bone in his left front foot so seriously that no less than four veterinarians recommended destruc ¬ tion But then an in ¬ surance dispute arose which led to much haggling over the ex ¬ tent of the colts ail ¬ ment the most fortun ¬ ate hassle that ever developed for the horse In the course of discussion Rock ¬ castle showed so much and so rapid an improvement that Leone decided against destroying his racer Now less than a half year later Rockcastle has recovered so well he is being prepped for a return to racing The colt is now at Norman Halls farm and showing strident gains Recent Xrays have shown that the bone injury in his foot has completely healed and ownertrainer Leone figures that he will have him under saddle this summer and ready for a return to the races about fall Rockcastle is roaming in a paddock at the Hall farm and is as frisky as a two yearold His paddock frontson a road explained the soft spoken gentlemanly Leone and a bunch of school kids pass along that way The other day a gang of them passed by yelling and howling and Rockcastle got excited He started run ¬ ning around the paddock and was going full speed when he came right up to the fence He put the brakes on and stopped cold not showing the slightest trace of favoring his left leg The way he has recovered is nothing short of miraculous So one of the best threeyearolds in re ¬ cent New England history may soon be back to entertain the fans Everyone hopes the colt will return in some sem ¬ blance jof his former worth Its not true they never come back but its so seldom that they do its a rarity But if Rock ¬ castle makes the grade hell be a chapter all by himself He wasnt just retired from racing He was slated for death Leone by the way is another of the many going from here for the Kentucky Derby His son is stationed at Fort Knox where he is in the intelligence service serviceThe The New England Jockey Agents Bene ¬ volent Fund has received a check for 250 from B A Dario managing director of Lincoln Downs This is the first contribu ¬ tion received from any track head for the agents organization The board is holding another meeting this evening at Freds Tavern in Lincoln The HBPAs blood bank drive held in conjunction with the Rhode Island American Legion netted 50 pints donated by the men in the back stretch This is the first time that such an experiment has been tried in New England although the Florida division of the HBPA has successfully staged blood bank drives over the years It is planned to make the drive an annual affair Jimmy Ferrara Maitre Df in the Turf Club reports capacity reservations for this Sat ¬ urday and next the final two week ends of Lincoln Downs for this year yearSam Sam Edmundson who checked into Suffolk Downs from Florida with six head traveled down for the races Tues ¬ day The Tufano string is headed by the handicap star Wise Margin Others in the shipment were Wise Ripple Master Ed Great Pals and the two juveniles Clean Fox and Louis T Wise Margin was beaten only inches in the closing day handicap at Gulfstream Park a few weeks ago R T Curley has shipped Supper Money to Garden State Park for engagements there Dave Zand moved his string to Canada and will be followed in the next couple of weeks by a few other stables J O Proulx is slated to leave next week weekAccording According to reports from Maryland the Andolino Brothers Boston Doge is return ¬ ing home to Suffolk Downs and is slated to start in the Paul Revere Handicap Vernon Bush who first rode the colt on his way to fame and 10 undefeated races will be back in the pilot house again if The Doge offspring starts W D Car ¬ roll arrived at Suffolk Downs from Miami with six horses Jimmy Plett added to his string here with the arrival of Hat Box and Thane of Fife Plett will have 14 horses for the New England season when whenContinued Continued on Page forty NEW ENGLAND By FRED GALIANI Continued from Page Seven Sevenhe he gets them all assembled Rollie Shepp has 10 horses for the River Divide Farm oil the grounds at Suffolk Downs Shepp will head for the Boston track over the week end with the pride of the outfit Decathlon the best threeyearold sprinter in the land Decathlon is slated to run Saturday at Garden State and will then be shipped to Suffolk Other news from the Down East oval has it that William Bunny Almy presiding steward has opened his office there and is accepting owner trainer and jockey applications Ray DeStefano a New England regular for many years is returning to his old stomping grounds He checked in at Suf ¬ folk with eight horses including Doe Run who showed a remarkable fondness for the Suffolk turf course where she won four straight grass races last fall
