Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1949-04-29

- 1Hey nave Blue
Grantland Rice Peter at to in the
Derby, and I'm not
sure you can't do better on Derby
Day.
Col. Ed Bradley, the departed
horseman and gambler, whose ad-
vice was highly valued, used to
say it was 4 to or maybe to l
against any certain nominee even
starting in the Derby. Out of more
than 100 early entries, only 10 or
IL go to the post. Who can say what
fine horse will or will not be pres
ent on the big day?
Sun Briar never went to the
Derby post. Stagehand didn't,
when he apparently had the
big race sewed up on the Tues
day before the race. Ocean
Wave didn't, after wrecking the
Derby Trial.
Getting back to baseball's Winter
Book, I would say the Braves,
Cardinals and Dodgers are ex-
| tremely close-that the Pirates
have good chance-that the
Giants are not clearly out of it,
| but not too threatening either.
The Braves, Dodgers and Cardi-
nails are all ranked well over the
Giants by Florida-trained ball
| players who remember the Giants
from last year-and can see little
or no Improvement.
cfiIl ft,;,,I, tLo N,.1:,
the best ball club in the Nation
al League by six or seven
games. But no one can say
how many Cardinals will be on
the ball field, and how many
in the hospital, after mid June
or early July. They are an
eight-year-old club, dating
back to 1910, 1941 and 1912.
They have many more good ball
players on their roster than either
Braves, Dodgers, Pirates or Giants.
l mean such stars as Musial,
Slaughter, Marion, Brecheen, Pol
let, acknowledgements Kurowski
and Munger. But they have too
many bad backs and sore arms to
consider.
The Winter Book figures on Cleve-
land in the American League are
clearly out of line. The Indians
were liz games ahead of the Red
Sox last June and had this big lead
shot away. The Indians and the
Red Sox should each be 2 to or 21a
to l.
The Yankees can have the
best pitching staff in baseball.
Their infield and catching is
still their big problem. They
need more infield power.
Connie Mack is quite sincere in
believing his Athletics can win. And
they might. 1t is the first time in
10 years that 86-year-old Mr.. Mack
is extremely optimistic.
The Racing Side
Racing is now ready to break
out in a wild rash from Maryland
to New England - not overlooking
New York.
A number of questions will soon
be answered.: How good is Blue
Peter? How good is Capot? Mr..
Busher? Old Rockport? How will
Citation look on his return to ac-
ton? What horse will beat Coal
town? What overlooked racer will
suddenly pop up as Assault did in
1916? Who will take over the
Triple Crown? How will the Triple
Crown look without Calumet ctlal-
lenger of class? Will there be one?
Blue Peter, owned by Joseph
ROebling, trained by Andy
Schuttinger, is at least partly
a mystery horse. Andy Schut-
finger ranks Blue Peter, at this
stage, over Citation at the same
spot on the calendar last year.
There are many who believe Blue
Peter is well ahead of the other
three-year-olds. There are other
horsemen who don't think Blue
Peter has the ruggedness to be
great three-year-old. They keep
darkly limiting at uncertain legs
over a distance. There has been no
proof that anything is wrong with
Blue Peters legs - except their
winning speed.
Blue Peter won six stakes in a
row, including most of the big ones,
as a two-year-old. But there can
be swift and decisive change from
a two-year-old to a three-year-old.
Also there will be other horses
running in the Derby, Preakness
and acknowledgements Capot.
certain threatener-Mr. Busher, if
in shape-Old .Rockport, with the
blood of Equipoise and Man O. War
in his veins-Ben Whitaker's Prince
Quest - one or two John Hertz's
possibilities - and Fred Hooper's
Olympia and Ocean Drive.