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Judges Stand «- By Charles Hatton 1 Pop Corn Likeable Entrant in Old Dixie Pimlico Stake Has Dignity of Long Past Rash of Foul Claims Irritates the Patrons PIMLICO, Baltimore, Md., May 8. — Now comes the mellowed old Dixie Handicap out of the MJCs misty and romantic past. When it was first run, in 1870, it was won by a horse called Preak-ness, who would have been forgotten long ago except for the eminence achieved by the stake that was named for him in. the flush of his trafisigent success. The Dixie is not unlike so many other features of "Pymlico" in that it stimulates remembrances of things past. Here tradition is a sensitive and illusive actuality, an easy blend of the gracious past and the enterprising present, from the Old Clubhouse, with its chandeliered, Florentine elegance to the noiseless high speed escalators in the new clubhouse, which has been likened to a vast "supermarket of tote windows. Jaguars, Caddies and junk heaps have replaced the sleek black tally-hos in the parking lots. And the Dixie now is a mile and 3 furlongs grass race with_a modest 5,000 added. But it still is the Dixie, if. in reduced circumstances, and we refuse to allow such a dignified old stake to be just airily dismissed as if it could not matter less in the fuss that is being made over the race named for its first winner. Actually, it has all the elements of a good horse race, engaging as it does One-Eyed King, Langton Breeze and especially Green-trees 1958 winner Pop Corn. Ambassador Jock Whitney likes winning races of the .background and built in prestige of the Dixie and contumacious old Pop Corn was on his good behavior when last seen, breaking a track record here several days ago. In all probability he will be the tote favorite as well as a sentimental favorite. Need for Remedy Quite Evident A rash of foul claims has broken out here and elsewhere, defeating tracks in their efforts to complete their programs on schedule, irritating the fans and pointing up the fallacy of sparing the rod. It is almost as Willie the Shoe and his "participis Criminus" Willie Boland started a small crime wave in the Derby. The suspicion grows that in a number of instances the plantiffs in these cases only simulated fouls or arranged to get themselves fouled when they sense that their mounts cannot beat a rival in a stretch run. In some racing countries a rider is automatically fined when his objection is not upheld. That is pretty severe and could tend to discourage riders from making valid claims in some instances. But we think frivolous claims should be punished, to put an end to the theatrics and guile of those who hope to talk their way into a purse or out of being reproached for a bad ride. Turf ana: The dear old MJC, crushed by Tomy Lees itinery, finds solace in the statistic six of the last 10 Preakness winners "lived it down" to prove three-year-old champions. ... At least three riders, Steve Brooks, Chris Rogers and Willie Hartack, are scouting Preakness mounts as a consequence of the vicissitudes of the Derby, which occasioned the usual- wear and tear on the more fragile participants. . . . The Downs race is often said to be reminiscent of "the lay of the hospital race." But in most cases the damage was bound to occur somewhere anyhow. You cannot have a really searching test without exposing some weaknesses. Kalensky Arrives for Preakness Quotes from jockeys bailing themselves out to some of their more naive interviewers after the Derby suggest the Downs is missing a bet if it does hot submit its film to Bold Journey. . . . Elmer Kalensky, who trains Pat Lynchs namesake Master Palynch, is an arrival. We can tell because we are sitting by an open window. His arrival anywhere always recalls the oldie about Lord Northcliffe and the cub reporter, on assignment to America for the first time. "As /you approach New York harbor you will hear two deafening noises," Northcliffe said. "But do not be frightened. One is Niagara Falls. The other is Herbert Bayard Swope." . . . Royal Orbit broke from No. 17 post position last week end and made up 14 lengths. If he runs back to that race" next Saturday, the Californian could concern himself with that est. 91,800. And if he does that Reggie Cornell is-expected to take him on to Long Island for the Belmont. Sword Dancer appears to be shrinking under the intensive strain of the classic campaign, though his shadow grows longer, as the cliche goes. This phenomenon inclines one to think he will appreciate the month between the Preakness and the Belmont on June 13. . . . The upstage attitude toward "hundred granders" in some quarters indicates a reversion to the stoic philosophy. It is superinduced by the national abrasive of taxes. If it catches on generally the TRA will be in a fine fix. The most famous stoic was Seneca. Himself immensely wealthy, he went about declaiming against the vanity of worldly goods. Finally it was suggested to him that he should stop lending money at ruinous rates if he -felt that way about it. But he held that to give so much attention to so indifferent a subject would get him drummed out of the Stoics. This established him as a thinking man, several thousand years before Sir Walter Raleigh rolled the first cigaret, thoughtlessly neglecting a filter. Of course he was beheaded.
