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it it a a conviction. conviction. It It a of of the the tense tense expect expectancy Delaware By Charles Hatton ; Turia Shines When Youve Gotta Have Heart Seen as Class of Delaware Handicap Prospects Some Notes on Question of Track Conditions DELAWARE - PARK, Stanton, Del., June 26.— To win a -renewal of the Delaware Handicap carries with it it a a conviction. conviction. It It a also lso assures assures a a certain certain solvency, solvency, more more also lso assures assures a a certain certain solvency, solvency, more more indeed than a victory in any of. the Triple Crown events. Just contemplating 00,000 plus has the denieens of shed row thinking wistful thoughts of the stakes which grooms, exercise boys,, hot walkers and others of "the big horses" retinue customarily receive — a scattering of white chips among the blue. So it is not surprising that Jthe atmosphere in Delawares stable area is beginning to be charged with something ;ancy that that pervades pervades the the Downs Downs or or of of the the tense tense expect expectancy ;ancy that that pervades pervades the the Downs Downs or or Pimlico before the, Derby and Preakness. A veteran of-these things, always perfectly calm, even blase in the midst of racings excitements, is "Old Slow" Martin, . in whose capable hands Mayor Jimmy Jones has entrusted the probable favorites, Princess Turia and the topweighted Amoret. The fact that Amoret should be rated over racings glorious cripple is a paradox to their attendants. "Amoret is a good, old mare, but she is an in-and-outer," Slow says-as he makes the Princess bed. "She is not like her brother Mark-Ye-Well. He would run every inch of the way "when he was right. Princess Tuiia has always been unsound. She was born that way. But she has a heart big as a Jackson County watermelon. She makes you like her." Let us face it. While everybody is writhing about, afflicted with indecision, vacillating between one and another of her rivals, Princess Turia is "the class" of this Delaware. Some ridiculous lightweightTmay beat her. But not without a fight, of that you may be sure. Her tendons bandaged, often short of condition, be cause- she -can only train when it rains, she must run on her heart. But in "the moment of truth," when it comes to a head-swimming stretch duel, nobody has ever_seen any chicken feathers on her delicate legs. She-is "quality folks," as William Faulkner would say. Ugly Filly With a Beautiful Run They telUusMrs. Markeys mare is plain, -even ugly. t In truth, her ears do look as if theywere whittled out of a pair of old shoes. She is flat-footed, and so . pigeon-toed she walks as if she is doing the Charleston. But it is with Princess Turia as with the great French songstress . Mistinguette. Nobody ever said she was a ravishing beauty, either. But when she filled the theatres with her sad, throbbing songs of the Seine and "My Man," she somehow became beautiful. And j her performance was beautiful, not exquisite. So the Princess is transformed when she performs. Her action has almost the quality of poetry of motion. In the stress of* a drive, she lowers her head and flexes her forelegs with a stroke vaguely recalling Johnny Weiss-mullers Australian crawl, achieving- the maximum speed at the minimum lost motion. It is extraordinary. These and kindred thoughts occurred as we stood under- a tree, watching her graze contentedly beside the barn, oblivious of Saturdays rushing mile and a quarter. Then our car drove up. Sentiment makes one feel foolish. But we did give her a confidential pat on the neck, to wish her luck, as we left. Jack Cooper, executive secretary of the NSHA, has some interesting thoughts on the recent Spring Maiden , Steeplechase. He says that "possibly, because of the contrast with excellent steeplechases which had preceded it, notably the TonrTRoby and the Georgetown, during the first week, some of the people to whom you j talked placed undue emphasis on the smallness of the | Spring Maiden field. . . . When unusual weather dries out and hardens the turf, as has been the case during the past six weeks, something has to give, and brush racing more than any other type of racing is affected most. Infield Course Presents a Problem "Despite the efforts of_ Delaware Park to keep its infield in good shape, artificial watering can do just so much, and most private steeplechase training tracks have no facilities at all. • "In flat racing small and uninteresting races crop up from time to time. In other sports, much heralded events sometimes prove less than a contest. These occurrences are unfortunate, but after some grumbling the fans, the promoters, the participants carry on like good sportsmen, and hope for better luck next time. . . . With reasonable weather in the weeks and months ahead jumping races will.continue to provide the thrills that have made it part of our racing scene." The. DSRA states that "science to the fullest degree has entered into thoroughbred racing as applied at Delaware Park to the control of footing, barring sudden rain, for grass races. Delaware Park track superintendent Clarke Pardee, through long study and the establishment of verifiable facts storming from his background as an engineer, has under his care what are perhaps the only grass courses — flat and jumping — in America where the actual condition of the track is scientifically controlled, based strictly on acquired knowledge. Using the same basic principles that engi- ContlnueJ aa Page Forty -Tw» jf DELAWARE - By CHARLES HATTON Continued from Page Nine neers use in heavy road construction work, . Pardee now controls the infield courses to * the point where they are never hard, and at the same time not soft, keeping them i at a firm level. Only a heavy downpour i of rain upsets his calculations." J To a man up a tree, it appears, some little * misunderstanding has grown out of the * Spring Maiden and the descriptions of the j grass surfaces. The Spring Maiden was a I fiasco as. a race. It was disturbing in chase 5 circles and to various of the "non-profit" : management. It is to he hoped the con- * ditions will be revised, or the resumption ; of .Belmont chasing will remedy the situa-: tion in 58. I As for the condition of the infield courses, the term "hard" was until recently the j I grass course equivalent of "fast," while "firm" described a "good" course. This has been revised so that "firm" now is : grass course terminology for "fast," in ac-] cordance with the definition across the - Atlantic. Turf ana: Godfrey Preece attributes the good form of Louie Haggins Ohio Derby winner, Manteau, to careful plating. Seems the son of Citation was foaled deformed in the near hind and off fore. The plate on the hind foot was raised a half inch, to enable him to hit on all four evenly. ..... Yearling sales catalogues have made their appearance. ... Mrs. George Krehbiel is summering in Miami. . . . Gough Thompson calls attention to an oddity in the Delaware news. Go Lightly, winner of the Blue Delight Purse last Saturday, is a grandson of the mare Blue Delight, dam of Real Delight, Princess Turia and Bubbley. . . . Three times now, Frank Lovato has won the Daily Double at this meet. Getting in a rut. . . . Ambehaving is to reappear soon. . ,. . Mrs. Dodge Sloane is coming here for the Delaware Handicap, hoping Floral Park enables her to .retain the gold trophy another year. . . . The horsewise "brother," who is "trainer Dudleys aide-de-camp, was born on Beaumont Farm. His father rubbed Menow. . . . Lithes first born, the stakes filly Supple, died before she could extend her family. "Making weights for the Delaware is not easy, with horses coming at you from all directions," Gil Haus says, leaving u£ in our ragged shawl out in the snow nursing his predicament. . . . Young Eugene Mori is at Hialeah daily, supervising the improvements in progress. . . . The Argentine liorse Nino Louis had to .have 253 stitches in his near hind leg when he kicked through the fusilage of a plane for a flight from Hialeah to California. Shipment was delayed to the end of April. He won four of seven Latin American" classics, always carrying from 132 to 137 pounds. . . . The duel Belmont Park winner Georgian Prinz, by Princequillo, was named for Prince DimitriDjordjatze, former owner of Princequillo. . . i. First American performer by Crepellos sire Donatello n. was Doule Ire, who developed a knee, was culled and won five claimers at three. . . Bayou, Levee and Delta have a two-year-old half sister, Poetic License, who is by Count Fleet and will race for Mrs. John Hanes. . . . Colt by Zucchero is among the yearlings consigned to the Spa sales.
