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Connors Corner By Chuck Connors Trace Withers History Back to Jerome Park Big Starting Band Verifies Early Estimate Foul Claiming Has Become Touchy Business BusinessJAMAICA JAMAICA L L N Y May 10 Belmont Park moves into thespotlight and will for the next 48 racing days cater to the epicurean tastes of New York racing minded The meeting opens with a program headed by the eight furlong Withers This mile of ¬ fering is older than Belmont ParJ for it was contested for the fifcst time at Jerome Park in 1874 Jerome Park if you are interested was once a reservoir for the supply of water to New Yorkers but today is classified as a reserve or better still is a trout hatchery for the Empire State The boys in that area claim that trout which ducked the nets of the fisher ¬ men for year after year are as big as the big husky that got away Furthermore old Jerome Park or parts of it is devoted to higher education However it 4s not devoted to the study of past performances or handicap figures but of education such as that two and two make four The Dewitt Clinton high school and Hunter College sprawl over the northern and southern parts of the racing gVound that was back in the days of Winston Churchills ancestors the Jeromes the gathering place for the social world No cocktail parties were tossed for the haute monde was small and introductions were made shortly after birth Any ¬ way the Withers moved over to Morris Park vhich is now occupied by packing house buildings and then at the opening of the Belmont Park to the Nassau County course The Withers is named for a sportsman and racing enthusiast of the Civil War area He sold the idea of a series of three stakes The Withers at one mile the Belmont at l1 miles and the Lawrence Realization at 1 miles These three events were to become the climactic peak of a threeyearold cham ¬ pionship career and the winner was to be so acclaimed acclaimedChanging Changing Picture Through the Years YearsWell Well times have changed the Withers is just an ¬ other stake on the program and as far as the Lawrence Realization is concerned the vast majority of three yearolds are burned out from efforts in a flock of derbies with rich prizes that are launched shortly after the new year and continue until response from owners and trainers is below expectations and the con ¬ ditions are changed to something else Anyway the Withers for Monday has 15 starters The number is a surprise to the paddock gang but apparently describes Eddie Arcaros estimate of the three year olds They are just mediocre a belief that was expressed by the paddock gang many months ago agoThirtyone Thirtyone claims of foul have been lodged at this meeting as of this morning and 13 were allowed by the stewards The other 18 failed to rate any orchids stars or what have you on the projection screen There are many frivolous claims of foul lodged day after day on tracks across the nation and it is a matter that should be taken up with the state commissioners at their annual convention The waste of time and the physical effect on the oldsters are two matters that should be taken into consideration A claim of foul in the first or secfind race means a half hour delay or more getting home Anyway while on the subject of claiming foul the late Laverne Fator when riding for Rancocas claimed foul at Aqueduct one afternoon The complaint was legitimate to many observers Fator duly climbed the stairs to the stewards pagoda and was asked his business He declared he wanted to claim foul The veteran steward Morris inquired where it happened Fator looked at the stewards in a quizzical manner cried out where did it happen He then turned on his heel and walked out The moral Fator was fined 200 for disrespect to the stewards which he paid and no action was taken on the complaint So the matter of fouls frivolous and otherwise has taken up hours of argument pro and con and the only thing that ever happened was that the argument was re ¬ sumed at a later date However not all the blame for foul should be placed on the jockey riding in a race On numerous occasions a trainer or owner for that matter has been seen making a bee line or threading his way through a crowd of people making like a broken field runner with a football footballRecall Recall George Woolfs Sound Judgment JudgmentThe The rush is to tell the jock to claim foul because he was bothered at the fivefurlong pole Probably the trainer or owner got his colors mixed up for at the fiveeighths pole since his starter was free and clear on the outside and the only trouble he encountered was an attack of the slows George Woolf was an out ¬ spoken example of race rider who knew what he was doing at all stages of a race On one occasion he re ¬ called that an owner rushed down to the finish line and ordered him to claim foul Needless to state Woolf laughed at the order weighed out and went back to the jockey room Woolf and his mount were as good as left at the post and had a wonderful rear end view of the 11 other starters in front of him himMr Mr and Mrs Lou Little he recently retired as foot ¬ ball coach at Columbia University were among the clubhouse visitors during the afternoon They were surrounded by such turf informants as Mr and Mrs Joe Straus of Woodley Lane Farm Leo Dekorn alias aliasContinued Continued on Page Fourteen CONNORS CORNER CORNERBy By CBTJCK CONNORS Continued from Page Six SixChalky Chalky Leo Ben Socolow and a few other regulars seeking his system Little selected the Daily Double on an end around play and a quarterback sneak Art Rooney another footballer He is the impressario of the Pittsburgh Steelers dropped in for a few races The racing surface dried out too fast for his handicap figures f Mrs Elizabeth Graham of Maine Chance Farm motored out to lend encouragement to her starter Jets Reward in the second race Jets Reward raced as if jetpropelled Maurice Bernstein the ambassador from Seventh Av returned from a trip to the southwest Oklahoma and Texas follow ¬ ing a stop off for the Derby at Louisville He pronounced Silky Sullivan a good looker but not in the first line of merchan ¬ dise diseMrs Mrs Katherine Nicholson a sister of Joe and Phil Donohue died at her New York home Friday The body is at the Plaza Chapel on 56th St between 5th and 6th Avenue Requiem mass will be at ten oclock on Monday at the Holy Name Church to be followed by interment in Calvary Cemetary Astoria L I Due to the opening of the Belmont Park meeting on Monday horsemen who were stabled in the receiving barn were called upon to move Trainers W Terrill J Mulatto Jack Carrera R P Marrone Pat Devirie D H Carroll and E F Schoenbom were trans ¬ ferred to Jamaica The survey crews of the Long Island railroad laying out the temporary track for that railroad inside the Jamaica enclosure answered a million questions today The majority wanted to know if the railroad track would intrude on the racing strip The answer was an emphatic No NoMr Mr and Mrs Ashley T Cole he is chair ¬ man of the New York State Racing Com ¬ mission were among the early arrivals during the afternoon They were present for the opening back in March and stated that barring unforeseen happenings would be on hand for the opening at Belmont on Monday George p Widener came up from Philadelphia for the opening of Bel ¬ mont Park He was accompanied by Mrs Widener Mr and Mrs John OShea of Los Angeles Cal who race under the nom de course of the Gazelle Stable were among the final days visitors Mrs Edythe Hutchinson Jimmy Kilroes ever smiling and accomplished secretary re ¬ layed word that she will be back on the job at Belmont Park The lady went out a week or so ago and contracted a case of the measles Trainer Eddie Yowell reported that he may sHTp Lindas Dream and Mamselle here for the Distaff Hand ¬ icap The fillies are owned by H H Pope of Alexandria Va Happy Princess who finished unplaced in the Suwannee River Handicap is here for her engagement in the Distaff Trainer Eugene Jacobs will saddle the miss for owner George Lewis the transplanted Californian
