Evening star., 1938-06-07
TWO ACE RACERS,
ROSS D|SAPPO|NT
Illness of Stagehand and
Seabiscuit, Armstrong;
Power Kill Thrills.
BY GRANTLAND RICE.

DENVER, June IA few weeks
ago your energetic correspondent
picked five sporting naturals looming
Just ahead. They were to be the
Pixies Peak of sport-each in its turn.
How could they miss?
Stagehand running in the Kentucky
Derby against the pick of the field
the great 3-year-old who had won
we'll over 100000 in less than two
months-the spectacular battle be-
tween the smart. crafty Barney Ross
and Henry Armstrong. the human
whirligig-the scalp-lifting and nerve
racking race between the gallant
Seabiscuit and the redoubtable War
Admiral-the open golf championship
at Denver-the international whirl-
wind between Joe Louis and Max
Schmeling
Travelling across this extremely
pleasant country-from New York en-
route to Denver-from the Hudson to
the Rockies-We began to look the
situation over.
First Three Go Wrong.
What had become of the first three
naturals-the cyclonic thrillers of
1898?
Stagehand got asthma and his ton
sils blew out.
The Ross-Armstrong fight was post
poned twice and turned into a one
sided operation, which consisted large
ly in removing Barney's frontispiece.
Seabiscuit developed housemaid's
knee and War Admiral's trainer de-
cided at the last moment that War
Admiral couldn't run with either
Shark or Pompoon.
So the first of the three naturals
had developed most of the exciting
elements of punctured tire
The fourth spot in the natural list
Is the open here. Could this be another
bust? We don't think so. Two men
and two or three horses might slip.
skid or blow up-but when you have
nearly 200 survivors from over 1900
starters-when you have the pick of a
game-ouality and quantity combined
they can't all take to the soapy chute
and wind up on the backs of their sun
baked necks.
All Golfers Can't Flop.
You can't have a flop when you
have such stars as Sammy Snead,
Ralph Guldahl. Harry Cooper. Byron
Nelson. Henry Picard, Horton Smith,
Jimmy Thomson, Lawson Little, Jimmy
Hines. Ky Laffoon, Johnny Revolta,
Vic Ghezzi, Gene Sarazen, Olin Dutra,
Tommy Armour, Paul Runyan, on and
on-shooting the works.
Many of these will fop-will come
upon a day when their timing is full
of kinks-when their puts will f1irt
with the rim of the cup-but won't
drop.
But, on Saturday, there will be the
same dramatic scene-the few sur
vivors who still have a chance-with
the strong possibility of tie. They
begin to fade in detected droves the
first two days.
BY Saturday, on the double round,
there should be 10 left at least. And
down the stretch late Saturday after
noon, you will have possibly three or
four with a chance to win. Who will
these be? Guldahl or Snead? Thom-
son or Picard? Harry Cooper or Mel
son? Or some outSider-such as Sam
Parks or Tony Manero? If l could tell
you, I could beat roulette wheel and
the races All that l can say is that.
over a period of the last six months or
the last year, the best golfers have been
Picard Nelson, Snead, Guldahl,
Cooper and Revolta. Look up that dol
lar sign after their names. But it isn't
an even money bet that one of these
will win. At least no better than even
money against the field
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