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Judges Stand I By Charles Hatton Preakness Puts Sentiment vs a Statistic StatisticWifl Wifl Silkys Magic Outweigh Tim Tarns Record RecordHonorable Honorable Is Word for Derby Hero Jones JonesPIMLICO PIMLICO Baltimore Md May 12 Most of us who love adventure must live it vicariously by watching younger stronger men struggle in the war of sports or by steeping ourselves as the writer does in the printers ink that writes strange things across clean white paper Uncounted thousands now are finding their supreme stimulant in the turf sports Racings annual spectacu ¬ lar is the American Triple Crown An estimated 100000 attended the recent Kentucky Derby which was a dramatization of the sport at its vivid best with a blanket finish at the end of a roaring mile and a quarter It was rewarding also for some 2500000 who saw it on TV TVFrequently Frequently in the past the Derby has given the Preakness and Belmont all the cutanddried aspects of foregone conclusions But the Downs classic this spring did nothing to detract from the appeal of the Pimlico prize On the contrary it Is significant that eight of Tim Tarns beaten rivals have followed him here from the Derby Whether the venture proves more valorous than discreet these include the fabulous Silky Sullivan who is perhaps the greatest equine personality since the Civil War days of Lexington The Blind Hero of Woodburn Silky is in ef feet playing hookey from his native California In our view it is sporting of his owners the Messrs Ross and Klipstein to show the slashing son of Sullivan to turfgoers in the East If he runs a good race Saturday we will probably stay around for the Belmont the affable Reggie Cornell said this morning morningHero Hero Fever Spreads la Baltimore BaltimoreThis This generation of sports aficianados have never seen anything like the appeal Silky has for that large and indispensable substrata of racing interests which is represented by the 2 bettor the occasional racegoer and the maninthestreet They are really dedicated Back in Louisville they wore lapel buttons like huge sunflowers announcing Im for Silky People were halted by the more hysterical members of the Silky Sullivan sentimentalist society with demands to know Do you like Silky His loyal legions are fully as devoted if a bit less feverish and aggressive here in Baltimore BaltimoreIs Is is a contagious thing Silkys sorcery In the background heard but unseen like the zither player in The Third Man is Pimlicos Lou Pondfield For weeks now Easterners who wish to see the storied Californian have practically interred him with re ¬ quests for seats on Saturday The advance sale far exceeds that for 1953 which was Native Dancers year Pondfield says This suggests a crowd verging on 40 000 in clear weather And there will be a TV audience of about 15000000 Mutuels manager Bob Sloan makes Tim Tarn the early favorite at 7 to 5 That has the ring of pure logic But we do not know In a popularity contest Silky would be oddson Will the crowd be swayed bysentiment or a statistic statisticGranting Granting that Silky Sullivan whose name inci ¬ dentally sounds like one of Damon Runyons delectable lowbrows will have many supporters Saturday most of these will be the shortform taxpayers The in ¬ vestors and realists will be aligned with Tim Tarn and the Jones boys who comes from Missouri where realism is a traditional part of the state character immovable as mountains Good Fighter Overcomes Adversity AdversityPlain Plain Ben and Mayor Jimmy were reclining in a couple of old fire department armchairs watching Tim Tim walk beneath the shed this morning I will say one thing Jones fils declared He Tim Tarn is hon ¬ orable He is like a good fighter He will try them Mulling this over Jones pere agreed Yes he will He hasnt had the best of luck either When he was a yearling another colt jumped on him behind out in the field and the ankle got big as a pumpkin Laid him up for three months At two his fore ankles gave some concern Then in the Derby he didnt have the best post position for him It was the same in the Trial He was down on the inside where it was real deep Come to think of it it has been raining everywhere Ive been since last September SeptemberJust Just then Lincoln Road walked past Nodding in his direction the elder Jones said In the Florida Derby they said our horse wasnt doing his best to beat him I guess the race at Louisville showed that was a mistake Calling to Victor Sovinski of Tim Tarns shadow he asked waggishly How about let ¬ ting me ride that colt around Friday night The other chuckled in appreciation Jones was giving his age away It has been a long time since the days of the race track variety of night riders i e those who slip into unprotected horses stalls and ride them all night thus leaving them too bushed to do themselves justice in the next days race raceThe The talk turned to Tim Tarns pedigree which is classic as Greek key architecture It was agreed both Tom Fool and Two Lea had speed and the highest in ¬ tegrity We really need a sire too Plain Ben said Tim Tarn can relate his serenity and pluck to most any anyContinued Continued on Page Fifty JUDGES STAND STANDBy By CHARLES HATTON Continued from Page Five Fiveof of his forebears but none more than ma ¬ triarchal Old Alpoise Though she was her ¬ self one of the lowest common denomina ¬ tors in the eternal class struggle while in training this daughter of Equipoise is among the great living broodmares broodmaresReturning Returning to our original theme of the variations which public opinion may play on the tote board this Preakness day it is going to be an interesting study in senti ¬ ment and rationalization Silkys popular ¬ ity affords a penetrating insight into race goers psychologies It flatly refutes the shibboleth there are no fans who are not horse lovers first and handicappers later Was it not Tolstoy who said A wretched pitiable creature is man with his craving for positive solutions
