Evening star., 1939-03-01
Admiral Ai|inq,
Santa Anita Has
Last Laugh.
Illness May Mar
Widener as Rival
Of Coast Race
BY GAYLE TALBOT,
Associated Press Sports Writer


MIAMI, Fla. March If one
thing doesn't happen to our big
horse races, it's another. Now War
Admiral is running a fever, and
there's doubt whether the great son
of Man O War will run in the $50, 900
Widener Cup race Saturday at
HiaRah Park.
After having trained beautifully
for months and having shown his
old speed in his first effort of the
season on February 18. Samuel D.
Riddles long-striding thoroughbred
has picked this time to be poorly
just when the locals were beginning
to brag about how their big race
would make the Santa Anita 500, 900
Handicap appear like nothing at all.
War Admirals trainer, Silent"
George Conway. is supposed to say
today whether he will let the Ad-
miral run Saturday. He was gloomy
Of the prospects last night. His pet
had temperature of close to 102
degrees, against normal of about
100. Conway said fatty that he
wouldn't let the Admiral run for a
purse of 10 times $4,000 if he
thought the horse wasn't feeling
good.
Stagehand $3.50 Choice.
It's too bad. When news of the
Admiral's infirmity circulated Just
was in the act of writing down what
horse race there would be at
Hialeah on Saturday. A private poll
of the experts had shown that they
were about evenly divided between
War Admiral and Col. Maxwell
Howard's Stagehand in the IA 4-mile
classic.
This had been somewhat aston
ishing, because a similar canvass a
fortnight before had established the
Admiral an overwhelming favorite
to win the race a second straight
time and retire the Gold Challenge
Cup. I could recall only one of the
press box regulars who, on the first
go-round, had conceded Stagehand
chance of outstepping the Ad-
miral
But it seems that Stagehand, the
giant-killer of 1898, which defeated
Seabiscuit in the Santa Anita and
went on to win more money than
any horse during the year, made a
tremendous impression by his VIC
tory over Bull Lea and a nice field
in the McLennan Handicap here
February l8. He tied the world rec
ord for a mile and furlong in
doing it. and that convinced the
boys that Trainer Earl Sande had
brought his horse here prepared to
run the hind legs off War Admiral.
Great Duel Was Expected.
AS I say, this makes the illness of
the Admiral even more tragic. He
and Stagehand, from all ,indica tions,
might have put on as great a race
Saturday as that in which Seabis-
cult and the Admiral hooked up last
summer at Pimlico, when they ran
each other bow-legged from post to
wire and "the Biscuit finally won.
Everybody still agrees that was the
finest match race ever run.
BY painful coincidence, Seabiscuit
has broken down in California, and
will not be able to run in the big
Santa Anita race Saturday. That
was the heavy-money rival to the
Widener Cup, so the locals may be
forgiven if they chortled somewhat
at the news. But they know how it
feels, now that War Admiral is
dropping in his stall.
If the Admiral can't make it Sat-
urday, Stagehand looks to be
cinch
When Stagehand comes down that
stretch, his jockey clinging to his
hide, he looks as if he's taking in
about 40 feet every jump Maybe he
is. With War Admiral out of it, I
could be induced to bet that he
would trim Bull Lea, Pasteurized
and the three or four others due to
start the Widener.
If the Admiral RECEIVERS his health,
though, I'm strictly neutral The
Admiral is considerable race horse
himself.