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_ 4 England Gilles de Retz Proves Big Surprise In 2,000 Guineas; Starts 866-1 Double 1 — By CLIVE GRAHAM — Our London Corrcsoondcnt LONDON, England. — The 866-to-l double on the first classics of our season — Gilles de Retz in the Two Thousand Guineas and Honeylight in the fillies equivalenWcame as a big surprise to most followers of racing. Gilles de Retz, 50-to-l winner of the colts race, had been out in public only once previously this season, when giving a most indif- ferent performance in the Greenham Stakes at Newbury. He worked so badly on the Saturday before the race that it was only to give themselves a run for the long-odds bets "made during the winter that- owner Tony Samuel and stable managers Charles Jer-dein and Helen Houghton elected to start the colt. If one could have ignored* the Green.-ham Stakes failure and the unimpressive workout, Gilles de Retz could have been given a favorable chance. As long ago as December 3, the writer commented in his column: "Among our colts the most promising is probably A. G. Samuels Gilles de Retz . . . more than any, he seems likely to make a big advance in abilitybetween now and next April." Jockey Barlow -formed the -impression that this Royal Charger colt was bone-lazy, when running so poorly at Newbury. At Newmarket last week, he administered three sharp cracks with the whip, as soon as the starting gate rose. He had to push him hard all the way. Drum Beat, promoted favorite at 6-to-l, jumped away very fast, and with Snaith making no attempt to restrain him, he soon had a lead of several lengths Passing that famous Newmarket landmark, the bushes, a quarter of a mile from the finish, Jack Gerbers Fair Trial" colt began to run out of gas, or maybe his ankles were experiencing the jar from the abnormally hard Rowley mile surface. Anyway, Snaith had to draw his whip, only to find Drum Beat veering sharply away to the right, diagonally across the broad Newmarket track,. AAA In the dip, the backers of the French colt, Philius, were cheering hopefully, but Boussacs horse could, produce no extra pace, and Gilles de Retz, running on strongly and with great courage, kept the northern hopQ, Chantelsey, at bay by a length. The French-trained Buisson Ardent who had been slightly impeded by | Drum Beats violent swerve nosed out his compatriot, King David H. by Devonian out of-third place, another one and one-half lengths away. Considering the fast track the electrically-recorded time of 1 :38.76 could not be considered exceptional, and it gave rise to the impression that the class of the. Guineas field this year was below its usual standard. This is an opinion in which the writer does not entirely concur. Gilles de Retz is a sturdy, whole bay, standing over 16 hands, with a good set of limbs on him, and a bold, courageous, masculine head. Royal Charger is regarded in England as a sprint sire, but the pedigree of the dam, French-bred Ma Soeur Anne, is replete with stamina. She won over the Ascot mile, but her half-sister Bagherra beat the colts of her year in the Grand Prix de Paris and was second as a, four-year-old, in the Ascot Gold Cup, two and one-half miles. AAA _ Capt. Elsey and Edgar Britt, trainer and jockey of Chantelsey, enjoyed better fortune in the 1,000 Guineas. Edgar sent his mount, Honeylight, owned by Sir Victor Sassoon, into the lead from the start and stayed there to the end, winning by two lengths from the big French gray filly, Midget n. The latters jockey, Roger celet, suffered the disadvantage of a high number draw, and was compelled to race* wide on the far side of the track, where the uphill finishing slope is slightly steeper. The French jockey mistimed his effort, and returned to the unsaddling enclosure convinced that he had won! "Jai Gagne, Jai Gagne," he exclaimed with Gallic fervor. "The judge doesnt think so, chum," remarked a stolid British bystander. Had Midget been drawn near Honeylight, it .would probably have been a very close thing. The winner, bred by her owner t is by Honeyaway a Fairway horse who won the Victorian Cup and Champion Stakes out of Crepuscule, by Mieuxce Grand Prix winner from Red Sunset, by Solario St. Leger and Ascot Gold Cup. Midget does not hold the Epsom Oaks engagement, for which Honeylight 16-1 when winning last week is now favorite at 8-1. AAA Victoria Cross, 7-4 in the Guineas, was unable to match the winners speed, and » : jcckey Harry Carr said afterward* that she was never stretching out freely. "She seemed to be changing her legs every other stride,"- he added. It could be that the best filly seen out last week was Major Holidays No Pretender. This full sister to the Oaks winner, Neasham Belle and the Coronation Cup winner, Narrator, galloped home by five lengths in the Hastings Stakes, her first race of the season, and the second of her career. Prepayment, the easily beaten runner-up, had finished a clcse second in its previous race to Queen Elizabeths .High Veldt. No Pretender is trained at Newmarket by Humphrey Cot-trill, who has hopes, too, of winning the Derby with Pirate King, who is due to run again next week in the Newmarket Stakes.
