Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1938-05-22
ADMIRAL FIGURES
TOLEAD AT START
Epic Finish in Santa Anita
Handicap Proves Great
Heart of Rival.
Bv GRANTLAND RICE.

By GRANTLAND RICE.
NEW YORK, May 2l.-The general
racing opinion in the East Is about
this-that War Admiral will get the
Jump, open up two or three length
lead. and hold the greater part OF this
down the stretch.
The general racing opinion in the
East is that War Admiral. rarely
crowded on his way to the wire, also
can run a faster final quarter than
he ever has shown-if he has to
move in this much of hurry.
War Admiral is great horse, be-
yond any argument. But Seabiscuit
is no cart horse-no wheelbarrow. He
can't get away quite as quickly as
War Admiral can, but I doubt if Red
Pollard is going to give his rival any
three-length lead Seabiscuit can
stick closer than that And when the
time comes later on in the race Sea-
biscuit can run as fast quarter or
as fast half mile as War Admiral
or any horse I've ever seen.
Which Will Crack?
It is the opinion of Sunny Jim
Fitzsimmons, one OF the best OF the
veteran trainers. that. in a match race.
one entry usually cracks around the
start of the final furlong.
why should that happen" I asked
when you have two thoroughly game
horses that have proved their game
ness more than once?"
ut just does" Fitz said. "A horse
can come from behind and pick up
one horse at a time But it seems to
be different when there is only one
other horse. Which will crack this
time? I don't know. But I think
there is a good chance one of them
will when he finds he is beaten. Most
match races between great horses
have been won easily. when you
looked for one of those head-and-
head finishes
Another Angle.
Our guess is that neither horse will
crack in this race. I've seen Sea-
biscuit. carrying 1870 pounds. knocked
around, crowded out, bumped, and
still wing down the stretch to win
or move into photo finish.
War Admiral may be faster horse
but he isn't any gamer than the
Biscuit
In the last 100000 Santa Anita
Handicap, Seabiscuit was bumped at
the start. Later on. Adams on Count
Atlas crowded Woolf so badly that
Woolf was using his whip on Adams
mount in place of his own horse.
Seabiscuit came from 18th place
with one OF the fastest half miles
ever run to make up this lost ground.
And he still had enough left against
Stagehand to make it photo finish
and beat the track record for a mile
and a quarter in 2,0ls5.
I can't figure a horse like this quit
ting to any rival The two-horse race
may make the difference that Fitz-
simmons talked about-but, if there
is any quitting or cracking, I don't
think it will be Seabiscuit. He has
had too many chances to quit before,
without using any of them.
An Exception.
This next 100000 race at Belmont
should be an exception. War Admiral
is almost certain to take the lead,
but I don't think Pollard will let
Kurtsinger open up any big gap.
The time will come before the mile
is reached when Seabiscuit will close
In. From that point, down the
stretch on to the wire. it should be
q thriller. I can't figure how either
can win by full length.
In the first place, there will be little
Of the racing luck involved which you
get in a big field And Seabiscuit has
had more than his share OF roWdy
luck. He is an easy-going animal,
friendly. gentle-differen from most
high-strung thoroughbreds. But ne
is horse that likes to run and race.
Speed for Speed.
ran across Charley Strub. the able
director and general manager OF
Santa Anita, day or two ago. We
were talking about rival speed.
There is little question" he said.
"that War Admiral has the edge in
early speed. But not too much. Sea-
biscuit can stick with him. And I
don't believe that even War Admiral
can run as fast a stretch as Seablscult
did in recovering lost ground in our
last 100000 handicap. 1 don't be-
lieve any horse ever ran that fast
before. Yet Seabiscuit had enough
left to match Stagehand's challenge
and both broke the track record.
i've seen Seabiscuit run too many
times and fight off too many bad
breaks" Strub continued, Ito figure
that he will be the one to crack-if
there is any cracking to take place.
I know War Admirals supporters be-
lieve he can run a miracle final
quarter if he has to-and, if he wins,
I think he will have to. If War Adj
miral sets fast early pace on a fast
track, it would not surprise me to see
Seabiscuit do 20l or better. Who can
run away from that time? Seabiscuit
has been running in handicap races,
carrying the heavier weight. This
won't happen when they meet at Bel
month under the same weight"
No one can figure race horse to
anything like a certainty. But, as
far as one can see, this should be one
of the fastest and one of the closest
match races In the history of the
track.
(Coryrisht, 1888, by the North American
Newspaper Alliance, 1ncD