Evening star., 1938-10-31
Downpour After That
Won't Delay Duel
Of Ace Steeds
Momentous Verdict Up
To Maryland Turf
Commissioner
BY DALE CLARK,
Associated Press Sports Writer.

HsooSintSu Z 1850 CpOl 70 WillCi.
BALTIMORE, Oct. 81. - The
weatherman was the fair haired boy
today as the match race Of the
mighty, the showdown tomorrow be-
tween Seabiscuit and War Admiral,
neared the zero hour of starting
time on Pimlico's manicured mile
and 3-16th of cushioned turf.
Barring a forfeiture, only one
thing can postpone this oft-sched-
uled but never run race and that is
rain between now and $50 tomorrow
morning, when one Jervis Spencer,
jr., Maryland's Racing Commission
chairman, walks On the track for
final look-see and a momentous de-
cision.
If he rules its fast" the Biscuit
and the Admiral will 60 postward
about $3.50 pm. (E. S. Tl. even
though it should rain proverbial cats
and dogs after the official ruling
That's in the agreement. If he rules
it isn't fast, the race will be post
poned until Thursday and a lot of
people, about $4,000 of them, tempo
rarily will be disappointed.
Conditions Now Promising.
A forecast of partly cloudy and
warmer" for tomorrow plus excellent
condition of the track today gave a
near perfect setting for the event
from which will emerge the king of
American turf
The approach of the zero hour
has brought increased tension to
Pimlico that has been tense for
days over the impending clash of
champions. Only the principals
were calm; the Biscuit and Admiral
ate their oats with neither an aye
nor a neigh and waited the start
of another race.
War Admiral. now a 4-year-old
will take the track tomorrow for
his oath race in three years of COM
petition. He can afford to be calm
From his % starts he has garnered
19 victories. and only once has he
finished out of the money. The
little brown son of Man O. War
has earned S257,05 for Owner Sam
Riddle.
The Biscuit, a year older than
War Admiral, hardly could be ex-
pected to get excited about a race
either He has run SO of them in
a busy four years, and on the
credit side of his ledger are 81
victories, II seconds. 13 thirds.
He has put 1881 ,405 in the pockets
of Owner Charles s. Howard. Vic
tory tomorrow would add $4,000
to the pot.
Scratch Would Cost $1,000.
Despite their victories in the best
known stake races. the paths of
these two never have crossed on
the track. Thrice have they met
almost-at Laurel, at Belmont Park,
at Suffolk Downs. But each time
one or the other was scratched be-
fore the event in which they both
had been entered.
Tomorrow there will be no scratch
ing, unless the owner wants to for
felt IS 900 guarantee and the re-
CARDS of the thousands who have
waited months for the meeting.
Jockeys who know every whim o.
the thoroughbreds will be aboard
when they ease to the barrier for
Walk-up start.
Veteran Charley Kurtsineer will
be astride the Admiral. and quiet
little George W'oolf will ride the
Biscuit.
Kurtsinger has figured in many
of the Admirals notable victories,
and Woolf has been around the
circuits plenty with the son of
Hard Tack, and that means he
travels.
Pullman-trained Seabiscuit COW
cred some 10000 miles a year in
the business of racing. In the last
five months he has moved from
his home in California to New
York, back to California on to
Massachusetts,, to Chicago, to New
York, to Havre de Grace, to Laurel,
to Pimlico.
So Seabiscuit really gets around.
Whether he can get around War
Admiral, of course, is the question
And tomorrow brings the answer.