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On ffie Trot By MORRIE KURLANSKY Mr Saunders Justifies High Hopes Riegle Gets Colt Off on His Toes Big Axe Takes Measure of Revenge RevengeMAYWOOD MAYWOOD PARK Maywood 111 May 10 Mr Saunders a Hambletonian candi ¬ date justified the high hopes his young trainerdriver Gene Riegle fostered for the son of former world champion Flbrican from the maternal family of the greatest trotter of all time Col E J Bakers Grey ¬ hound by annexing Fridays featured Ladys First Trot a stakes event for three yearold trotters worth 5000 The husky chestnut colt came out for his seasonal debut a thoroughly conditioned horse to set a meetings record for age and gait reducing Shell Bombs previous best mark by fourfifths of a second to 207 Mr Saunders therefore equalled the seasons record set by another Hambletonian as ¬ pirant Alec Hanover HanoverRiegle Riegle had the rangy colt on tip toes away from the gate but it took the Flor ican offspring a full quarter before he had worked his way between horses coming from the tenth post position in the second tier of the 11 horse field to get the lead which lie never relinquished thereafter Mr Saunders owned by Three Way Stable of Greenville Ohio was credited with fractions of 32 104 and JL36 and unleashed an extremely fast final quarter of 30 seconds to win handily by two lengths from the surpris ¬ ingly good Roxburgh Edwina Edward Moodys promising maiden Black Lite the only other Hambleto ¬ nian eligible finished a good third another two lengths behind Roxburgh Edwina but had a valid excuse for his belated stretch drive as the Darnley colt lacked racing room at the crucial stage of the race Both Carol Rodney a 21 favorite on account of three fine victories both here and at Santa Anita and Del Inskos Barney Boy the Iowa youngster unbeaten in his two starts here spoiled their chances by breaks to finish far back backHandicap Handicap trotters were featured in the supporting attraction and in this mile dash Big Axe took revenge for his re ¬ cent defeat by Lady losola Miller al ¬ though he did not approach the mares 203 clocking Driven by Paul Norris who scored his eighth victory at this meeting and fourth triumph with Big Axe the fiveyearold Axomite gelding as expected outsprinted his seven rivals from the gate However on the back stretch the Ohio speedster was chal ¬ lenged by Rexall Boy and Elby Hanover and Norris allowed these two to take command until they reached the half mile Although Rexall Boy was timed in 101 for the first half mile Nor ¬ ris pulled Big Axe out from the rail and was on top entering the backstretch From there on it was strictly Big Axes race Reaching the threequarters in 133 Big Axe had enough reserve to post a final panel in 31 which was good enough to frustrate Abbeyup and Lady losola Millers late speed The mare came from eighth position at the final quarter pole and while showing great finishing power could not do the impos ¬ sible namely trotting the last quarter in better than 29 seconds Threeyearold pacers annexed the last two races on Fridays 10race card each sophomore defeating older horses in im ¬ pressive style Fleet Bird a Poplar Byrd colt owned by C M Saunders won his event a Bclass pace in 206 the fast ¬ est clocking for age and gait at this meet ¬ ing With Harry Fitzpatrick as the reins Fleet Bird came from far back to down his seven rivals with a sensational burst of speed to win easily as a heavily backed oddson favorite In the following race a Cclass pace Edward Moddys roan Brother Harmony colt Roxburgh G O with trainer Glen Kidwell in the sulky also bade his time for the first threequarters to close with an irresistible rush to down Edith Grattan and Richard D Abbe in 308VS for his second straight victory and his third success in six starts startsMaywood Maywood Park can boast of the fastest x older trotters in all three categories as well as of the fastest fouryearold pacers in all three sex groups Lady losola Miller Colbirish and Big Axe lead the aged diagonally gaitcd performers while Golden Miss Sea Rover and B oomtown head the fouryearold side wheelers The first twoyearold race of the season brought out six baby trotters on Friday night before the regular pro ¬ gram Hoot N Toot a filly by Hoot Moil Yvonne Hanover driven by Dana Irving led all the Way to win in 222 222The The Michigan harness season opens Monday at Hazel Park Although poor eco ¬ nomic conditions in the Detroit area do not permit expectations for a recordbreaking meeting it is hoped that the session at the fiveeighths of a mile track will be as suc ¬ cessful as last year With almost every stall on the grounds occupied a number of top stables will race at Hazel Park In addition to the Transamerica stars lead ¬ ing Grand Circuit performers will race at Hazel during Grand Circuit Week June 712
