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I OReilly I By Tom OReilly Johnson Holds Annual Pre-Preakness Teed McLennan Weighs Hopefuls for Big Event Pondfield Refutes Idea 0,000 More a Loss PIMLICO, Baltimore, Md., May 14. -It was a time for eager questions, brave answers and nervous wise cracks. This was Charley Johnsons annual pre- Preakness communion breakfast on the wide verandah of Pim-licos old clubhouse. The press was communing with the Preakness trainers Elliott Burch Sword Dancer , John Jacobs Our Dad , Reggie Cornell Royal Orbit , Eddie Cox Sundown n. , Bill Kuykendahl Festival King, Frank Martin Manassa Mauler, Casey Hayes First Landing and officials from handicapper Charley McLennan and steward Fred Colwill all the way down to Lou Pondfield, vice-president and executive director. Johnson, a neatly poised, young Kieran of the colt cult, rattled off information to please the most profound probers. Standing at the head of what is called "The Alibi Table," he played first bank for billiard shots bouncing in all directions. McLennan, asked to "weigh" the Preakness horses, all of which carry 126 in the race, put Sword Dancer on top, with 124 pounds. Then came Royal Orbit and Manassa Mauler at 120 and First Landing with 118. When Martin, trainer pf Manassa Mauler, was asked who he feared most, he named First Landing, RoyaJ Orbit and "Brookmeade," meaning Sword Dancer. Burch, asked if he was glad Tomy Lee had been kept out West said, "Yes. The less competition I have to face, the better." Asked if he had any preference as to post position, he replied, "Id rather not say. At Louisville, I said I would like to start from about post position four. So I wound up with 14." Young Mr. Burch is learning the hard way. He is also careful to make his answers clear to everyone, recalling the day his famed father, Preston Burch, told a reporter that he hadnt started Bold, the 1951 Preakness winner, very often because "he was constantly bucking his shins and suffered from splints. So the fellow wrote, Bold bucked his shins, but Burch fixed him up by putting splints on them. " Burch also pointed out that no rider has won on Sword Dancer more than once, ignoring the voice from a nearby table, calling, "Well, Shoemakers had his ride." Our Dad Made Quick Recovery Johnny Jacobs, who helped give his collection of trainers a prep school air CJacobs is only 25, while, Burch and Martin are in their 30s said, "I never thought wed get Our Dad down here. Hes had sore shins all his life, but he cooled out of the Derby real well and worked all right, so we shippd. I think his shins were sore the day of the Derby. He didnt run right Asked how he fixed them up, he said, "With Mud." Somebody wise - cracked, "Elizabeth Arden mud ?", but the subject was dropped lest a mental finger be nipped. Mention of mud naturally sent the boys probing into track conditions. Did anybody prefer mud? Eddie Kuykendahl said, "Id love it." His Festival King had an excellent workout here yesterday in sloppy going. Casey Hayes, asked if he thought the difference between the Pimlico and Churchill Downs tracks would affect his horse, replied, "He can handle any kind of track. He doesnt have to carry one with him. The tighter turns and change in distance shouldnt make any difference. The horse is in good shape, so I think Ill just let him talk for himself." At this point, Reggie Cornell was asked about Californias "tracks. "None of em out there are ever rolled as hard as that Derby track was," he said. "This track here is deep and sandy. My horse can handle it all right." When the track had about dried up as a subject, somebody asked Eddie Cox if he cared to discuss the details of Robert S. Lytles acqisition of Sundown H from Queen Elizabeth. Johnsons press release on this transaction had been painstakingly cautious, stating that the horse was "acquired. . . . November 22 by private treaty." Joe Kelly, the Washington Stars rebellious Celt, wanted to know if "culgar money" had changedjiands. Cox begged off, saying he knew nothing more than that the horse was in his stable and "should improve off his last race." Johnson intervened with a serious plea to respect the Queens wishes. No fluctuations were reported in the pound sterling. Stewards to Brief Riders Steward Colwill, the old Maryland cup rider, was asked if the Preakness jockeys would be apprised of the change in the finish line, which has been moved closer to the first turn, making the stretch run some 200 feet longer. Colwill replied, amid wise cracks about Willie Shoemaker and finish lines, that the stewards would "brief" all the riders and the clerk of scales would mention the matter to each one as he weighed in for the race. Every time Lou Pondfield was asked a question, a tractor hauling a harrow over the track rattled by the sleepy gathering. However, I did hear him refute the idea that raising the stake of the Preakness by 0,000 was a loss in view of Tomy Lees flight home after the Derby. "Raising the stake has brought us a fine race," said Pondfield, "and every three-year-old of any importance in California was nominated except, of course, the filly, Silver Spoon, who had not attained such good form until after we were out there. If I Continued on Page Forty-Six OReilly on Racing By TOM OREILLY Continued from Page Seven had it to do again, Id still raise the stake to its present 50,000 added." At this juncture, Johnson intervened to suggest that the decision to skip the Preak-ness had been made by Tomy Lee, himself, rather than his owner, Fred Turner. "After the Derby, that horse looked mighty beat," he opined. Elliott Burch said, "Sword Dancer has had two big races in a row, but he is eating well and seems all right. He is not a good work horse. He is one of the smallest three-year-olds around. He stands about 15.2 and weighs between 950 and 1,000 founds." After the breakfast Maryland eggs and bacon, Philadelphia scrapple and Virginia ham, the entire company was invited into .the clubs Jockey Hall of Fame, where hang portraits of Eddie Arcaro, Ted Atkinson, Laverne Fator, Snapper Garrison, John Longden, James McLaughlin, Walter Miller, Isaac Murphy, Earl Sande, Tod Sloan, George Woolf and Sonny Workman. Writers, asked to sign the guest book, found the last name listed belonging to an army colonel who had put down his address with the added notation, "Please send passes." The brass!
