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ThistleDown By Fred Galiani Good Cards, Weather Help Set Marks Flintstone Is Easy for Will Mearns Paul Keiper Visits Charmed Circle THISTLEDOWN, North Randall, Ohio., June 3. "Weve got this meeting rolling off to a good start," commented racing secretary Pat Farrell after the final race Saturday, which might very well qualify for the understatement of the season. Not only is the ThistleDown soiree off to a flying start, but the first four days have shown the highest attendance and handle in the history, which is by no means, a recent one, of the Ohio track. Apparently the two main factors are the good weather, and most important of all, the higher type of racing being presented to the fans. Much has been mouthed in various sections of better racing year after year, but here at Thistle it has become an actuality. Farrell, one of the top men of the business when it comes to welding tailored fields together, has been doing just that. There has been no splitting of very cheap races two and three ways, just for the sake of obtaining large fields. Well-matched horses have been pitted against one another and the public has shown its response to such offerings with increased support at the windows. Thirteen of Original Seventeen Entered Start Saturdays feature started off with 17 entered in the Flintstone Stakes, of which 13 finally accepted the issue. The Flintstone developed into a three-horse race with J .Ross Will Mearns, J. L. Coles Admiral George and Charley Brown Jr.s War Marshal taking the money positions. Will Mearns, a hard-hitting horse all year, winning three out of 11 starts and getting a check for every other occasion but one, was made a solid choice with the crowd of 10,635, and left them little to worry about as he strode home by three and a half lengths. Jockey Clarence Meaux let Admiral George and War Mashal battle it out in the early part of the sprint, while he was just biding him time back in third place. Midway of the turn, he let his horse "run and the favorite had an easy . time passing his opposition and going on to draw away to an open victory. The added fillip in the race was the appearance of Arthur Godfreys Lord Winnin, winner of two races at Waterford Park. He didnt figure to much and was coupled in the mutuel field, but at least he distinguished himself to the point where he finished seventh, the hest of the four entries in the coupled form of betting. The Flintstone is the iirst of many features which ThistleDown will offer, and those, along with the good supporting cards, may put ThistleDown in front as the top track in the Cleveland area, a position long held by Randall Park. The track across the way is in the hands of new managers, Edwin Moon and company buying the plant from-Saul Silberman. Thistles rousing start will offer something for Randall to shoot at. Keiper Regular Rider of Seven Hearts Saturdays racing also showed" that Paul Keiper, one of the veterans of the riding profession in the finest sense of the word, still has the old form "and style that made him one of the top riders of the nation. Paul put the finishing touches to a 95 Daily Double with a front-riding ride on J. R. Dwyers Dancing Marjie. Keiper is just swinging back into action after being out with a broken arm incurred in Nebraska last July. He has had only five mounts on the comeback road here, but has one winner, a third and two fourths., and thats a pretty good percentage any way you figure it. Keiper will be remembered as the regular rider of Seven Hearts, when J. Graham Browns horse was one of the top handicap stars a decade or so back, and also as the pilot of such never-to-be-forgotten horses as Challedon, Bolingbroke and Pictor. Having married a local girl, Paul has made his home in nearby Bedford and has plied his trade though the Middle West in recent years. One of" his top exploits was at Centennial Race Track, not so long ago, when he rode 56 races in 12 days and won 20 of them. Apparently back in top form, Keiper should be bobbing down in front, on not infrequent occasions this season. Bits of Thistle r A trio of highly disgusted gentlemen Sunday were Pat Fan-ell, Jimmy Picarillo and Johnny Daniel. Slated to attend the SNARO meeting in Chicago, the boys got up at the ungodly hour of 5:00 a. m. to catch the only flight available to the Windy City, but misdirection on the part of some locals got the boys to the airport just in time to lose a photo finish to the timetable. Daniel, who had the chauffer assignment, was hardly in a mood to be talked to- for some hours. ... It was a long time between visits,-two year to be exact, until Ronnie Kranger, former chart -caller for this paper, came out Saturday for the races. Now with TV Guide, his appearances at the local race tracks are far and few between. Jimmy Choina, 17-year-old from Bay St. Louis, Miss., earned the big thrill of a riding career when he won his first race on Yea Bama opening day. And he hasnt let up, coming right back on Dont Fail Me the other day. Choina is under contract to Newt Shelton, with whom he worked at E. J. Cues farm breaking yearlings back in 1951. The association broke up when Newt went in service and the pair didnt team up again until this winter at New Orleans. It seems to be a good partnership.
