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New York By Bob Horwood Pair of Stakes Remain on Jamaica Agenda Run Comely Wednesday, Grey Lag Saturday Bally Ache, Vertex Head Respective Fields JAMAICA, L. I., N. Y., May 2.— Jamaicas 40-day meeting, at which attendance is definitely off and wagering approximately the same as last year, possibly because of the ninth race and possibly because of inflation, comes to a close next week. There will be a brief stand here in July after which Jamaica will become a part of racing history, though not precisely one with Nineveh and Tyre. Two stakes, which promise keen competition, are on the agenda for this week preceding the opening of the Belmont Park spring meeting on Monday, May 11. These are Wednesdays 5,000 Comely, for two-year-olds at 5 furlongs, and Saturdays 5,000 Grey Lag Handicap at a mile and a furlong. The first established champion to be seen by Long Island fans this year, Brunetti and Piarullis Vertex, is expected to head the Grey Lag, while Leonard D. Fruchtmans Bally Ache, who set a 5 furlongs track record here Wednesday, is the likely choice in the Comely. Weights for the Grey Lag are due on Monday and are awaited with more than usual interest. The strapping son of The Rhymer won the 00,000 Gulfstream Park Handicap with 125 pounds and dropped a pound to win the 00,000 Campbell Memorial with 124 pounds eight days later. It is not expected that racing secretary Jimmy Kilroe will continue this pattern and let Vertex in the Grey Lag with 123, but neither is he expected to give him the 132 pounds that some horsemen have audibly declared he should have. In his only previous appearance at Jamaica in the fall of 1957, the then three-year-old Vertex carried 123 pounds to 115 on Promised Land and finished second to that capable colt, despite splitting a hoof in the race. Field of Nine in Prospect Assuming that Kilroes weights are satisfactory, a field of nine is in prospect for the Grey Lag, which is named for the Rancocas Handicap star of more than a generation ago. Vertex rivals are expected to be Brookmeade Stables Oligarchy, Walter M. Jeffords Piano Jim, C. Mahlon Klines Mystic II., Krestwood Farms Bing Bang, either Talent Show or Air Pilot from the Mrs. Ada L. Rice stable, Fred J. Thompsons Sabotage and Windfields Farms Grey Monarch. Mrs. Mabel C. Scholtz Warhead, who recently made an auspicious return to action at 6 furlongs, is passing up the Grey Lag in favor of shorter stakes at Belmont Park, with the 00,000 Suburban at iy4 miles as his ultimate summer objective. Happy Hill Farms Kingmaker, winner of the 1957 Grey Lag, is also passing up the stake this year, while Mrs. Wallace Gilroys Oh Johnny, who won it last year, is being freshened. Oligarchy, who won the rich Widener last year and was an impressive winner at Gulfstream Park in March, has been training steadily. However, Oligarchy passed up a 6-furlong prep race on Monday that seemed suitable and may not be ready for so severe a test. Piano Jim narrowly defeated Air Pilot in the Laurel Handicap recently and has been training well at Belmont Park since that race. Talent Show defeated Piano Jim in an earlier Maryland stake. Whichever one of trainer Clyde Troutts horses comes up for the race, and he has stated his intention of sending one, should give a good account of himself, though both appear to like a faster track than Jamaica is when it is dry. Mystic ll.s Recent Efforts Good Mystic II., a French horse by the American sire, Relic, won the Westchester Handicap here, then finished second to Whitley in the Excelsior after being forced to race wide in the late stages. Sabotage was making a powerful move in the Excelsior when he was hit in the eye by a clod approaching the quarter pole. Owner-trainer Thompson reports the optic healed, but said, in the presence of Kilroe, "Ill start if Vertex gets 132 and Sabotage gets 108." This remark was accepted as being offered in the spirit of good, clean fun. Grey Monarch, who was carried out of contention early in the Westchester, again had to race wide in the Excelsior, but finished fast to be third. He should be able to get part of the purse. The Comely is the first two-year-old stakes of the season in New York and replaces the Youthful Stakes. The likely favorite, Bally Ache, who had not started since winning a division of the Hialeah Juvenile early in March, came in from Sportsmans Park to burn up a sloppy strip in :57% here on Wednesday. Bally Aches chief rivals are expected to be Wheatley Stables Progressing, Pebblebrook Farms double Jamaica winner, Tufanhai; Mrs. Wallace Gilroys Greek Page, who will be coupled with Tufanhai; Mrs. Walter M. Jeffords Vineyard, Robert Lehmans Hallursan, Mrs. Tom Wallers Succabone and Midas Farms Ira Eaker. The latter succumbed by less than a length behind Bally Ache after setting all the pace on Wednesday. Johnny Ruane will go to Pimlico next Saturday to ride Greentree Stables Pop Corn in the Dixie Handicap. Ruane won last years Dixie on the same horse. While agreeing that the starting gate contributes to the wear and tear on horses underpinning, "Yorkie" Mc-Leod recalls that the extremely fast-breaking Alviso won at Mexico City on his 16th birthday. A birthday cake, complete with carrots, was prepared for Alviso.
