view raw text
safe ■■ £ jEssg New Jersey | By William Phillips Tellarians World Record True Barometer Swaps Old Mark Still Vivid as Masterpiece Fabius Simply Not Up to Valley Forge Test GARDEN STATE PARK. Camden. N. J.. May 6.— We. like the poets and philosophers, are of the opinion that time is an illusion, but nobody can that easily dismiss the time-shattering per-, formance of George D. Wideners Tellarian in setting a new world and track record in handily breezing to triumph in Saturdays mile and 70-yard Valley Forge Handicap. This cannot be dismissed, either, as just one of those things, despite the fact that the public overlooked Tellarian to the tune of a 6.40 mutuel. No horse runs to a worlds record without doing some plain and fancy running. and that is what Tellarian did. His final time ol 1:39--. shaved one-fifth of a second from the worlds record established by Swaps in the Broward Handicap at Gulf-stream Park on April 14 last spring, and eclipsed by four-fifths of a second the track record for the distance established by Goforward in an overnight purse here on May 23 of 1955. And. although stretching out in . rythmically full strides jockey Benny Sorrenson hand rode him the entire distance and he canceivably could have run faster had he been forced to. This in no-way suggests that Tellarian measures up to Swaps. At least, not as yet. We would judge that the racing surface at Garden State Park yesterday and at Gulfstream Park the afternoon of Swaps record-breaking triumph were very similar; that is. lightning fast. Swaps, however, carried 130 pounds while Tellarian shouldered but 110 pounds. The California champion also set all of his own pace and we have seldom seen a horse win easier than did the son of Khaled that afternoon. He merely loped through the stretch under restraint from Willie Shoemaker, and our guess at the time was that Swaps could have run as much as a second faster had any semblance of pressure been applied. Tellarian profited Saturday by the pace fashioned first by Chit Chat, and then by Impromptu, before he took over to draw away through the final furlong to win by three lengths. Not Up to Top Handicap Class Yet The time of Tellarian in winning the Valley Forge does not suggest to us that he is any world-beater yet. and that he will immediately be able to take on high weights and successfully compete with sucli established handicap stars as Bardstown or Dedicate, or even Fabius. when the latter shows his true effort. Calumet Farms Fabius gave I pardon the expression a disgraceful performance in the Valley Forge, particularly ill view of the fact that he was a 6-to-5 choice of the crowd. It would be best to simply disregard the effort entirely, assuming that he was not trained fit enough to give a creditable showing under his exacting impost of 124 pounds. His preparation coming up to the Valley Forge consisted of two six-furlong workouts in 1:14%, and a half-mile breeze in :49 three days before the race. In view of how fast the track has been for the training periods, it would seem that all of these moves were very much on the slow side, and that Fabius would have been better prepared had he been worked a serious seven furlongs, or a mile. Messrs. Mori and Donovan were extremely well pleased with the opening day attendance of 37,799 and the eagerness with which they wagered, especially considering that the Kentucky Derby always has a debiting influence on the crowds here, despite the mileage between the two tracks, and that the program was replete with long-shot winners. The weather was sunny and beautiful early in the day, but became overcast and chilly just about the time of the first race. Had the crowd been permitted to witness the Excelsior Handicap at Jamaica the Saturday before, perhaps they would not have been quite 90 astounded by Tellarians victory. The four-year-old. gelded son of Eight Thirty and Tellaris. by Pilaris, was restricted to turf racing last winter at Hialeah and although he won two races and campaigned well, he showed little "on paper" to suggest Saturdays victory. His first race this year over the flat was in the Excelsoir. and hea ctually turned in a big effort in that stake, despite the fact that he finished a well-beaten ninth. Change in Riding Tactics Helps Jockey Ray Mikkonen, instead of Sorrenson. handled the big chestnut in the Excelsior. The horse broke rather slowly and Mikkonen elected to bang away, hustle and scuffle, sending him out to challenge the fast pace being set by Pylades II. He prompted that swift rival to the head of the stretch, effectively nullifying any chance either of them had of withstanding the rivals who had been waiting in reserve behind. The comment after the Excelsior was that Tellarian might have been surprisingly tough to beat that afternoon had he been given- a chance, which the tactics of his rider took away from him. In the Valley Forge, he proved this under the adept handling of Sorrenson, who took him in hand at the start, and let him spread his speed over the entire distance with a smooth run that eventually ground his rivals to a pulp. Television sets throughout the country will be tuned in on Garden State Park for the two big events of the coming meeting. Arrangements have been made with the National Broadcasting Company to cover the 0,- 000 added Jersey Stakes on Saturday. May 25. and the 0,000 added Camden Handicap en Saturday. June 1. . . . Bolero U.. John L. McKnights flashy two-year-old, made his first appearance on the Garden State strip over the week end. The winner of the Gulfstream Park Juvenile and Jamaicas Youthful was given a limbering-up gallop around the oval and will be set into some serious training soon to prepare for the Cherry Hill Stakes here on May 22. . . . B. A. Dario, president of Lincoln Downs race track in Rhode Island, is represented with a useful stable here under the direction of Bill LaRue. In the Dario string are Dandy Blitzen, a two-year-old nominated for the Rancocas Stakes, and Venomous, who is slated for the Colonial Handicap. . . . Coming in from way down South in Point Clear, Ala., were a half-dozen thoroughbreds who wintered at the Clearwater Stable farm. Trainer Al Pupino is in charge, and also has a draft of the stable quartered at Jamaica.
