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New England = By Eli Chiat Ralph Lentini Having Splendid Season Has Won Ten Races With 12Horse Unit Wintered Charges at His Nemasket Farm FarmLINCOLN LINCOLN DOWNS Lincoln R I May 13 Ralph Twinkletoes Lentini who is as nimble on the dance floor as he is around shedrow definitely is on his way to enjoying one of his banner years as a trainer The hard ¬ working and some times rough talking Lentini is presently con ¬ ditioning 12 racers in his public stable here So far he has seen his charges in the winners circle on 10 occasions which is not a bad accomplishment since they spent the winter on his Nemasket farm in nearby Middleboro Mass and shipped here without any additional preparations It was there that they went through their training cnores during the cold months and it is praise indeed to Ralphs training ability that his handicap star Flying Bird won a 5 furlongs allowance event on the second day of this session sessionAt At the moment Ralph conditions horses for the Red Head Stable of which Flying Bird is the top member and the Victoria Stable Harry Gibby Jr of Brighton Mass owns the Red Head Stable and as you can guess Gibby is endowed with a crop of bright red hair And understandably so the silks his thorough ¬ breds carry in the afternoon are also bright red Defi ¬ nitely the only thing not red in this association is the color of the ink they use Flying Bird and the plater Dr Hab have seen to this Dr Hab a former handi ¬ cap star who is now relegated to the 2000 claiming division has started four times and owns a record of two victories and two seconds Flying Bird in addition to his triumph on the second day of the meeting was third after that then deadheated with Hare Raising in the New H ren Handicap HandicapPlans Plans to Increase Breeding Activity ActivityEdward Edward and Armond Houle of Fall River Mass are the coowners of the Victoria Stable and they have seen their Diving Boots Maxs Reward and Hack Saw in the winners circle during this stand These horses too spent the winter at Ralphs farm The farm consists of 46 acres of green lush grass area and since Lentini bought the land in 1955 he has made numerous improvements so that today it is one of the most modern and wellappointed farms in Yankeeland He also has gone hi for breeding on a small scale and he hopes in time to rival some of the other leading breeding establishments in this area areaLentini Lentini who has been training racers for 25 years and remembers Fred Wyses Air Rate as the best horse he ever trained finally decided to pass up winter campaigning and with an eye to future security se ¬ cured Nemasket Farm three years ago and now plans on living the life of a country squire during the winter months As Ralph puts it It keeps getting harder and harder to make ends meet when winter racing Its getting too tough If you can break even then youve had a successful meeting but how many do break even nowadays Now I can sit back during the off months board horses and raise a few of my own and when the tracks open here in the spring Ive got some fresh horses to work with You know they need a rest occasionally and this way they can get it without being too much of a burden on the pocketbook Besides taking care of those that I train myself I have facili ¬ ties to take care of others There is 18 large boxsized stall fully insulated and screened I have a small training track all under cover and I think its the ideal place for freshening up So despite the severity of the past winter the winning efforts of his charges indicate that not too many days were lost to the weatherman weathermanConsiders Considers Air Rate The Fastest Horse HorseNo No conversation with Ralph is complete until he extols the virtues of Air Rate who is now the leading sire at Fred Wyses farm in Texas There was a jace horse boasts Lentini he won races from coast to coast and he was one of the fastest horses I ever saw He could win from a half mile to a mile and onesix ¬ teenth and I think he could have won up to a mile and oneeighth In fact I believe he would have won the Santa Anita Derby in 1946 if he hadnt rapped himself and caught a quarter leaving the gate You know he won the prep race for the Derby the San Vicente when he galloped the mile distance in 137 Off that race he was in top shape for the Derby and despite his mishap leaving the gate he was only beaten seventh lengths by Knockdown Ralph concluded I hope I can raise one just about half as good as Air Rate was ChitChat Trainer Jess Byrd who made his New England debut at this meeting will ship the 15 racers belonging to John Kel Houssels to Washington Park to campaign at the Balmoral session opening there Accompanying the Byrd contingent will be jockey Wayne Chambers and his agent Leo Krasnow Vet ¬ eran trainer Augie Hutchins who was discharged from the South County Hospital last week end was a visitor at the course yesterday Trainer Bill Savage is han ¬ dling the racers who were under Hutchins care before his illness The national trainers guild held their first meeting of the year yesterday at Freds tavern A representative group of trainers from that associa ¬ tion was on hand It had gone unnoticed but until Circle K Farms On the Job finished second in the sixth race Saturday trainer Angel Barrera had sad ¬ dled six straight winners for his NeM Orleans owner
