view raw text
New Jersey By William Phillips Speed Field in SixFurlong Delaware Valley Decathlon Meets 14 Rivals in 31500 Test Eastgate Makes His Bid to Regain Prestige PrestigeGARDEN GARDEN STATE PARK Camden N J May 4 The Long and the Short of Things The long in this instance refers to the 10 furlongs of the Kentucky i tne nine mriongs or the Grey Lag Handicap while the short specifies the six furlongs of the Delaware Valley Handicap The local fixture will be over ¬ shadowed on the national scene by the traditionsteeped longer races but within its restrictions of distance and value it need take a back seat to none in the matter of keen interest River Di ¬ vide Farms speed dynamo De ¬ cathlon heads a field of 15 sopho ¬ more sprinters in the 31500 Delaware Valley Who ¬ ever the winner will be the competition is such that he will be hailed as a prospective champion of his age in the sprint division Decathlon has already been ac ¬ corded that reputation by many and if he is able to successfully shoulder 124 pounds and give away from three to 15 pounds it will enhance his standing im ¬ measurably measurablyItobe Itobe Accepts Impost for Camden Dash DashCalumet Calumet Farms Eastgate who is second in the Dela ¬ ware Valley weights with 121 pounds will be making a bid to regain the respect he was given last fall Brook field Farms Itobe who with three others gets in with 118 pounds under the allowance conditions of the stakes is also throwing his hat into the ring for recog ¬ nition as will several others who have thus far shown only brief flashes of real class and quality Decathlon with Gene Martin his familiar pilot will be the fa vprite The son of Olympia and Dog Blessed by Bull Dog has carried high weights in six previous essays this year and won all but two including a triumph in the Hibiscus He was giving away 12 pounds when Besomer caught him at the wire in the six furlongs Governors Gold Cup his last start in Maryland which is a sizable concession to say the least His other de ¬ feat was in the Bahamas last winter which was at seven furlongs and apparently a little farther than he prefers to go He is indisputably the reigning cham ¬ pion over this group and one must feel that he will be hard to beat beatEastgate Eastgate will bear a lot of watching tomorrow and we will not at all be surprised if he devlops as one of the stars of his generation as the year progresses We will be a little surprised however if he wins the Dela ¬ ware Valley He sprinted to a five and onehalf lengths victory in 110 in his start here on Monday but still appeared green in his racing manners to us and the bulk of the field here Saturday suggests that he could become lost in the shuffle On the other hand it ap ¬ pears that Itobe hasvan excellent chance to prove that his wonderful performance here a week ago was no fluke The son of either Brookfield or Better Self ran six furlongs in a sensational 109 in the easiest kind of manner He also raced well in a brief campaign of seven races as a juvenile He won three of these races and in the Worlds Playground Stakes at Atlantic City he set the pace to the furlong pole before being beaten three and onehalf lengths by Busher Fantasy Espea and Needles Itobe impressed us with his potential quality last season but he also appeared overgrown and gangly The colt filled out during his winter at Columbia S C and last Saturday for the first time handled himself like a seasoned warrior Several others in the field probably warrant mention but none have impressed us personally as being better than good al ¬ lowance performers performersNashua Nashua Did Not Have It at Gulfstrearn GulfstrearnConcerning Concerning the long of it ie the Kentucky Derby and the Grey Lag we hope to be pardoned if we offer some personal views from this distant vantage It has been oftrepeated that Nashua sulked in the Gulf stream Park Handicap because Eddie Arcaro attempted to take him back off the early pace We were a close observer of his poor performance that afternoon and cannot credit that explanation When Arcaro asked him to make his move that day he just didnt have it and we believe one should look farther for the cause Due to the great respect held for Sunny Jim Fitzsim mons there was little mention made of the possibility that Nashua was knocked out by the terrible strain put on him to win the Widener after coming out of semiretirement in Kentucky and without the benefit of a prep race That was the opinion expressed by the majority of the horsemen in Florida Due to this same reluctance in making criticism there was little said about the possibility that Nashua did not like the Gulf stream Park racing strip That we believe was the case Sunny Jim has never said anything about the latter for quotation but we understand that to friends he has alluded the track was a little too deep and cuppy for Nashua to get the purchase he required for his long stride and that was the reason he did not fully ex ¬ tend himself Eastgate presumably failed to show better at Gulfstream for that reason and Swaps en ¬ countered the same trouble in some of his workouts although the track was tightened up for his race raceRiders Riders named in the Delaware Valley include Gene Martin the regular pilot for Decathlon Henry Mor ¬ eno on Eastgate Dave Gorman on Fabricator Walter Blum on Radio Rome Joe Regalbuto on Singer Joe Culmone on Mr Patrick Charlie Burr for Skeptical Kid Sammy Boulmetis on Flight History and Gail Smith has been named on Nans Mink and Beauridge It is quite possible that jtrainer Lyman Brusie intends to run only one of the latter pair track conditions to toContinued Continued on Page FortyOne NEW JERSEY JERSEYBy By WILLIAM PHILLIPS Continued from Page Fortyfight Fortyfightbe be the deciding factor While Eddie Kelly failed to name a rider on any of his trio at the time he made the entry it is presumed that apprentice Grogan will ride one of the starters Hello Pop and Fun Lover do not have riders named on them at the present time timeIf If Needles wins the Kentucky Derby we will be the first to pay him homage We have seen the son of Ponder run a majority of his races including his third in The Garden State and his victory in the Flor ¬ ida Derby The Louisville classic is no pantywaist affair and with all of the rival jockeys looking for the favorite Needles he probably will have to be much the best to win We pay no attention to his tiurliness in the morning his unorthodox style of training or his ability to mud Needles has shown himself capable ofhan dling all of these contingencies While still in Florida his barn was praying that the track might be muddy for the Derby because they feel he moves up several lengths in the slush Needles contrary to opinion does not have to come from so far back of the pace as he recently has and dont be surprised if Dave Erb tries to get him a position early in the running We imagine however that he will have to cir ¬ cle his field when he makes his move and we do not know if he is good enough to take this loss of ground and still win winNeedles Needles could not do it in The Garden State He hung and Prince John and Ca xeer Boy beat him honestly If Career Boy runs as he did last year we think he will be tough Fabius and Pintor Lea both look like contenders Count Chic above all is to us the solid choice We have seen most of the Derby horses in action and Ben A Jones is our surprise horse The blinkers added to his equipment for his final work ¬ out should be of great benefit and if he lives up to the potential that we have seen in him then he will vear the coveted gar ¬ land of roses
