The Washington herald., 1922-05-11
CRITICS DECLARE
BENJAMIN BLOCKS
ENTRY SET TO GO
Workout Convinces Ken
lucky Horsemen of
His Glass.
CONCEDED VICTORY
big Brown Colt Simply Romps
Classic Route-Johnson
To Pilot Him.
By w. ]. MACBETH.

LOUISVILLE. KY. May 1o.-Until
shortly after o'clock this morn
ing CALI Curci was the big noise
IN Louisville. The famous soprano
IL to give a concert here tomorrow
evening. and Louisville is a city of
culture. Cali Curci tonight is lia-
bic TO be her high Cs'' on her
own. save for the feminine fair Of
this bustling town. that boasts more
good-lookins women to the square
foot than any other city south of
the Mason and Dixon line. or north
OF il. for that matter.
The male element has 'hawked"
the concert pasteboards. with over
= coats and felt hats, in order TO get
right on the Derby. to be raced Sat-
ksaught short on the Norwich market.
rh y didn't believe Ben Blocks un-
eaten colt would ever attempt the
Rmiie and a quarter route. The hard
boot men. the westerners, had been
ed to believe or had led themselves
to believe, that the son of Runny-
mede was an exceptional sprinter,
and nothing more. Until the horse
and trainer. Fred Burley. actually got
here. nobody thought IT could pos
sibly be true. Now they are here,
Kentucky is convinced it has been
barking up the wrong tree.
Winter wagerers' Lucky.
OU-. good men Of New York and
Washington who played the king Of
the 1921 2-year-olds in the winter
books are in luck. At one time as
good a price as Is to 1 was laid
against this brown son of Runny-
mede-Hymir. Late dabblers who. as
late as last Friday. took 3 to
against the chances of Norwich are
rolling high. The mutuels Saturday
afternoon are not likely to pay as
much as to if Norwich wins the
Derby.
That Norwich will win, the most
skeptical here and the most preju-
diced Of the Bluegrass Is willing to
concede tonight The horse convinced
them shortly after o'clock this
morning in his first trial over the
Derby route OF mile and a quar-
ter. That is Why CALI Curci is like
y to play to a set of her own sex.
The men are hawking the family
1jewels and family plate in order to
hedge.
Norwich showed this morning that
he can go on at his best pace for
a mile and a quarter. at least He
might be able to go four miles, as
far as that goes. He Is the nearest
approach to a Man o'war that horse
men here eve: saw work Even the
most rabid Kentuckian figures it next
thing to a valk-over for the brown
1Olf M l. l..
tonight to get to cover. The hand
book men who loaded up at prices
from 10 to 1 down will offer no bet
ter than 1 to 2, and they will bet the
machine prices will be even lower
than this. A Galli-Curci doesn't
mean so much, after all, to the hard
boot men, She can be heard In
phonograph at SO cents, cut rate.
But a Norwich comes to Kentucky
once in a lifetime. The Bluegrass
has never forgiven itself that IL al
lowed Canada to steal Man O. War
for his great match race against
Sir Barton.
Romps the Distance.
1t wasn't so much what Norwich
did in this, his first test over the
Derby route. as the way he did It,
The big brown colt. with the colored
approximately 100 pounds, simply
cantered the mile and a quarter in
2:0s is. Norwich was under wraps
From start to finish: under wraps
at times. and under triple wraps to-
yard the end. Time after time he
"fought sAe cosored boy for his head,
Toy ss Nas fnE % running He reeled
on ese nrsf eighth mile in 1875
seconds, whne bis head see-sawed
fnon side to side BurIew had told
tAe boy 5ot TO sstter 2:10 for the
DeST distance, aad the kids judg-
ment Of 4sos told him Norwich was
overambitious.
Unless he loses a leg or buns
some hootch from onn of the bell
boys, Norwich cannot fail to land
the Deroy- AT least. this is the opin-
ion OF ho-semeu who watched his
morning WORK in the hope that the
Runnymede colt might not be n
slayer and a distasee horse. Train
ers Of hi= most formidable rivals
are now calculating second money
only.
johnson to Ride Him,
the bump OF civic pride in the
mead Of the Kentuckian is nro-
nounced. To the mind of the hard
SUotmen all is ras in horse racing
as IN love and wsr. No one win
deny that IL the Opportunity nre-
sehted itself some Blue Grass en-
Ty might hang Norwich up on the
nce 10 dry. But now the most
satriotic Of Kentucky sons admits
there isnt chance for a sharn
RFactice. Norwich breaks too ouick-
lyy and Starter Dade does NOT al
low his assistants to take horses
oT the heads while at the most
Morvich has the speed and tenn
pframent to break and race clear
inside the first sixteenth no matter
now many may be in the field. Un-
less he should go wrong meantime
his wonderful chances can be af-
fected only through accident at the
post
Albert Johnson. who rode Nor
wen throughout his brilliant 2-year-
old campaign. will have the leg up
op, the favorite in Saturdays big
race Johnson Is expected to ar
rive from the East tomorrow.
Norwich is through with serious
activity until the day OF the race
~ his life. but Johnson will breezs
him once OF twice meantime to re.
new acquaintances.
Norwich. heavily bandared on all