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I On the Trot By MORRIE KURLANSKY Lieut. Mike Scores Sixth Straight Astonishes Big Week-End Crowd Golden Miss Has Valid Excuse MAYWOOD PARK, Maywpod, 111., May 11. — Lieut. Mike, Copa Stables king-sized pacer, astonished a large week-end crowd when he scored his sixth consecutive vic tory at this meeting, defeating the classiest field that could be mustered against him. Glen K i d w e 1 1 again drove an excellent race, allowing W. E. Cash to set the early pace, but not without having sapped the William Cash geldings reserve in a terrificly fast first quarter of 29% sec onds. After that display of better than 2:00 speed, Kidwell tucked his nimble-footed pacer in on the rail to follow the pace-setting W. E. Cash like a shadow to make his deciding move on the final turn. Responding instantly to Kidwells prodding, Lieut. Mike unleashed a tremendous burst of speed in the homstretch to pull away from his rivals and win handily by two lengths in 2:04, a time which is a new record for the black stallion and equalled the meetings record set a week ago by Redwood Boy and also hung out by Plutocrat in the race preceding Lieut. Mikes race. Remaing undefeated, Lieut. Mike for the sixth time in a row still left observers of Saturdays race wondering how good he really is. His triumph this time was so clear-cut as to leave absolutely no doubt about his current superiority - over the local pacing elite. Cheri Adios, Ralph H. Kroenings splendid Adios daughter, and C. M. Saunders fast finisher, Irish Gallon, though able to pass the tiring W. E. Cash in the homestretch, actually lost ground to Lieut. Mike in the final eighth. Redwood Boy, Rips Boy and Lew MacPherson found this company a little bit too rough to be never dangerous at any stage of the race. Rips Boy and Lew MacPherson, however, might invoke a legitimate excuse in that both pacers made their first start of the season. With seven of the eight starters in Saturdays featured pacing event accounted for, where was and what happened to Golden Miss, considered the one most likely to succeed in this mile dash? Well, for once, and for the second time in more than two years, the excellent Ensign Hanover daughter finished dead last, but she was by no means disgraced. As anticipated in this space the day before the race, the first quarter of the race was the deciding one, although no could possibly predict Lieut. Mikes superior showing. Golden Miss starting from the outside post position, was away as fast as usual and actually out-sprinted the entire field for the first 20 yards, but was forced to race in the outer half of the track. Lieut. Mikekand W. E. Cash, favored by their inside post positions, pulled ahead going into the clubhouse turn and Rips Boy managed to forge ahead of Golden Miss rounding the first curve. While Lieut. Mike and W. E. Cash engaged in their speed duel separate themselves from the field, Golden Miss was delayed in her move by Rips Boy, who could not accelerate once they reached the backstretch. Thus, Golden Miss was forced to go around the Indiana pacer to, lose additional ground in the process. Once the chestnut mare had clear sailing, though, in the middle of the track, the embattled pacesetters were some 10 lengths in front. There was hardly any slackening of the pace in the second quarter as W. E. Cash reached the half-mile mark in 1:00%, with Golden Miss hopelessly parked out. The mare gamely tried to keep up until the last quarter pole when tjhe tremendous exertion took its inevitable toll. Where Golden Miss could hardly be blamed for getting defeated, her older brother. Plutocrat, favored by the rail position in the preceding mile dash for top-class pacers, made best use of this advantage and in an admirable exhibition of speed and courage outfinished Cotton Prince to win by a head in 2:04. The rest of the field, led by Gunfighter, crossed the finish line four and more lengths behind Cotton Prince, who showed an excellent effort in his seasonal debut. For Plutocrats trainer-driver, Del Insko, the victory of the Ensign Hanover stallion gave him his thirty-fifth sulky success at this meeting to lead his closest rival, Kidwell, by 13 wins. For students of pace in a race, which in many cases is a much more conclusive factor than the final time of the race, it should be interesting to compare fractional times of Saturdays feature paces, won in identical time of 2:04 by Pluto- crat and Lieut. Mike. In Plutocrats, the four quarters were raced in 31, 30%, 31% and 30% seconds; first half in 1:01%, last half in liOZVs. In Lieut. Mikes race, the four quarters were timed in 29%, 31%, 31% and 31% seconds, and the halves in 1:00% and 1:03%.
