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NEW ENGLAND By FRED GALIANI Close Finishes in Morrows Handicaps Parent Seeking Apprentice Extension Graffagninos Beauguerre Repeater LINCOLN DOWNS, Lincoln, R. I., May 7. — Since vaudeville died, the art of juggling has been passe, not even television is capa ble of reviving that form of what was once known as art in the entertainment b u s i-ness. But in sports the most popular field of entertainment is racing, and the big star of any show is the-handicap race. The handicapper is todays juggler. His weights on horses are theoretically supposed to bring them all together, and when said feat is accomplished, repeatedly, applause is deserved. So it is time for Gordon Morrow to come out for an encore. Working with the same crop of horses every week he has produced close finishes in all of his handicaps, this past Saturdays New London Handicap running to foi*m. In that seven-fuilong race, J. and P. Venutis Pipe of Peace scored by the small margin of a head over Peter Fullers Oclirock. The winner carried 111 pounds, two overweight, to the runner-ups 121. In the Bridgeport Handicap, Opera Light defeated Double Bid a neck, the winner giving1 the second horse four pounds. The prior New Haven Handicap was equally as close, this time Oclirock handing Burnt Child 10 pounds and eking out a nose victory. Morrows masterpiece though was the Newport Cap, in which he got four horses to the wire noses apart, Deep Thought, Arts Boy, Into Glory and Oclirock all hitting the wire only inches away. You dont come closer than pulling out dead-heats. Pipe of Peaces second consecutive score points up Morrows agility with the pencil. When Pipe of Peace won the Hartford, a distance affair at which he is proficient, he carried 114. Dropped back to the shorter distance, Morrow took weight off the horse and, as he lias been doing all meeting, came up with another finish that had the fans bellowing their lungs out. Good job, Gordon. Lucien Parent is still awaiting word from the Florida Racing Commission concerning the extension of his apprentice allowance. Parent, who was injured in a workout at Tropical Park on January 13, was sidelined until the opening of the Lincoln Downs session and is seeking that amount of time added to his allowance privilege. Lucien rode his first winner on June 17 last year on Ducat at Narragansett Park. He made his request some time ago, but the Florida solons requested medical reports from his doctor before acting . . . Senator William Davis, of Lincoln, R. I., was a turf club spectator on the week end. . . . Eileen Harrison is filling in as secretary to Gordon Morrow in the absence of Grace Foley, who left today to resume similar chores at Suffolk Downs. Grace will be in charge of the secretarys office until Morrows arrival at the end of the week. Following his practice of the past 15 years, Tom T. Trullis, caterer at Lincoln Downs, held open house at his Providence home with over 200 friends helping celebrate Greek Easter. No less than eight lambs were barbecued as his guests indulged in the traditional festivities of the holiday as celebrated according to the Greek calendar. . . . When Bofranc was disqualified from the second race Saturday, it was the 16th claim of foul lodged in 43 days of racing. I The crowd reacted with even more intensive yells of "foul" after each succeeding race. It appears obvious that Peter Graffag-nino, the retired New Orleans surgeon, has applied the same keen diagnosis to horse racing as he has to his medical profession. When he retired from the field of scalpels and sutures, he inadvertently wound up in the sport of racing. A chance visit to the sales with a friend led him to buying a horse. Theres nothing new in that. But since he has become an owner, he has devoted himself to intense study of breeding and bloodlines and selects his own horses for his Cataula Farm. Friday his well bred juvenile bay colt by Mr. Busher — Model Beauty named Beauguerre took a head decision in a five-furlong race to . make his record two for two. This is just another vindication of how well he has applied his short but exhaustive knowledge of breeding. There is an old story about a retired major of the British Army and a devoted horse fan, who was never seen without a stud book. "Stout chap," would be the comments of him. "Theres nothing in thoroughbred breeding he doesnt know. But he cant pick a winner." No matter what happens in his later transactions, the remark cannot be made about Graffagnino. All of his yearling purchases have been profitable. Last year he bought six yearlings., Four of them have started, with Beauguerre, a ,000 purchase, a double winner, and Gemaway and Oricnne also hitting the winners circle. The other starter, Booteve, finished second. Its hard to fault such past performances. Graffagnino and trainer Johnny Dupuy work as a team. The doctor picks out a horse then Dupuy applies his practical experience of horsemanship to the choice. If he meets the apparent standards, the yearling, or as may be the case, the claim is purchased. This is strictly a two-man team and nothing is done unless both agree. So far they have yet to come a cropper. Merely proving again that two heads are better than one. Paternal praise is often hard to get. A jockey here the- other day rode two long-shots to victory and was met by his father a few days later. "Hi ya, son," greeted the pater, "I see a couple of horses ran off with you the other day." . . . Joe Ayotte, owner of Queen Ranch, is recovering from a heart attack in Pawtucket Memorial Hospital. The other day one of his men went up to visit him and was told that Mr. Ayotte was convalescing. "Thats all right," he replied, "Ill wait until hes finished." . . . Billy Ames, goodwill ambassador for Narragansett Park, turned out for the sport on Saturday.
