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Field for Delaware Handicap Grows Eighteen Now Wait 50,000 Stakes Gay Life Joins List; Arcaro, Shoemaker, Hartack to Ride; Calumets Pre-Race Favorites By CHARLES HATTON DELAWARE PARK, Stanton, Del., June 26. — The battle lines are being drawn, . literally beside George Washingtons earthworks, for what gives every promise of being one of the outstanding races of the 1957 campaign. The lure of the 50,000 Delaware Handicap is such that the size of the probable starting field for Saturdays thundering mile and a quarter continues to grow even at this comparatively late date. Whereas there were 17 yesterday, there are -18 today, with word from New York that Morty Freedmans Gay Life will join the lists. She is one of the lightweights, with an assessment of 112 pounds, and may possibly be one of the mutuel field. Meanwhile, "the Calumets," top-weighted Amoret with 125 pounds, and the New Castle winner; Princess Turia, hold steady as the probable favorites. Most guessers foresee, optimistically perhaps, they .will be 7-to-2 in the early line. K Eddie Arcaro is expected to -ride Amoret, •with Master Willie Hartack on "The Princess." Clearly, the Calumet logicians are impressed by the worlds richest filly and mare race, and they are marshaling their forces as strategically as for a Kentucky Derby. — Arrayed against the capable, if somewhat unpredictable, Amoret and her stablemate, Princess Turia, who has "nothing but class," will be the most brilliant array of thoroughbred femininity that can be assembled from coast to coast. Bayou Second Highweight on Scale These are the Delaware Oaks winner, Bayou, at 111 pounds second highweight on the scale; her sister, Levee, with 122; little Pache, 119; Rare Treat, 119fMano-tick, 118; the California invaders, Kings Mistake and Pucker Up, 117 each; the improving Nasrina, 116; the hangup New Castle second, Attica; the Bellerose winner, Floral Park; the 56 Alabama winner, Toumure, and the 56 Delaware Oaks winner, Dotted Line, each at 115 pounds; the French stake winner, Lagides, and Gay Life, 112; the ambitious White Orchid, 110, and the feather-weighted Pardala with 108. | They are highly representative, a cham- ■ pionship field. The newly risen star; Attica, is expected to be the second choice at about 5-to-l in the probable odds, with Bayou, Nasrina and Manotick next in demand. Riders have been contracted for most of the group. Willie Shoemaker is engaged for Pucker Up, who is expected to plane into Newark from Hollypark momentarily. Negotiations are under way to have Eldon Nelson ride Bayou, only three-year-old in the field; Paul Bailey will handle Nasrina, with Angel Valenzuela on Manotick, Sammy Boulmetis on Floral Park, Bennie Sorenson astride Rare Treat and Conn McCreary riding Little Pache. / The familiar Hedley Woodhouse has the leg up on Levee, S. Armstrong on Tour-nure, Bill Boland on Dotted Line, Steve Brooks astride White Orchid andWilliam McKinley Cook rides Pardala. No riders have been named for Attica, Lagides, Kings Mistake and Gay Life. The -fact that the race brings together Arcaro, Shoemaker and Hartack gives it an added fillip of interest for turf devotees everywhere. And the sidelights include two "sister acts," with Bayou versus Levee and Floral Park endeavoring to emulate her sister, Flower Bowl, surprise winner of the 1956 renewal. The DSRA is expected to be host to a throng of about 30,000 on Saturday. Additionally, arrangements- have been made for a nationwide NBC radio broadcast of the Delaware, along with the special, every Saturday, 13-station network "In the Public Interest." The race will be televised over WPFH Channel 12, which has a sufficiently powerful signal to blanket a full 50 miles radius of the Stanton course. It is picked up on sets in Atlantic City, Trenton, Philadelphia, Lancaster and in sections of Baltimore to the south. Bryan Field, veepee of the host organization, will describe the running on both TV and radio. Harvey Smith, Jackson Lee and Robert Kelley assist him with the color on radio. Preceding Pucked Up here today was Levee, coming from Gotham. The morning hours were sparked up also by several workouts for Delawarians. Dotted Line was called on for a handy mile and ripped off the distance in :24, :36M , :48, 1:01%, 1:13%, 1:27 and 1:39%, with impressive speed to spare. The going was Eighteen Await Running of 50,000 Delaware Handicap Continued from Page Ten fast, though there was some welcome rain in the area, vitiating the oppressive heat of recent days. Mrs. John R. H. Thourons White Orchid also was sent along a mile in handy fashion. She was timed in 1:41%, finishing out very strongly. Atticas breeze v/as deferred until tomorrow, when trainer "Red" Dudley will be down from Belmont to supervise the move. She has grown notably in favor since her excellent second to Princess Turia in the New Castle. A possibility existed today that the race may draw still another starter or two. Fortunately for all concerned, Delaware Park boasts "the biggest mile track in America," for it is 100 feet wide on both the front and back stretches. A record field of 20 started in the 1954 renewal of the Delaware, There is a long run to the first turn, which also tends toward minimizing the possibility of traffic jams in large fields.
