Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-04-19

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day q Laurel railbird spotting a
thick. blond gentleman hurrying
from the clubhouse to the pad
deck. hawled.
Hey. Chick, don't count it.
bale it."
Other students of turf form.
obviously acquaintance of Chick
Lang, took UP the good-natured
banter and found Lang no un-
willing target. Chick could afford
more than a smile. Himself the
son of the jockey who won the
Kentucky Derby on Reign Count
tn5 1928 he is q Jockeys agent
and at that moment was en- route
to- the paddock for a word with
his most valuable account. VIII
lie Hartack. who had Just
climbed down from his fifth
straight winner.
Not everybody shared the Joy
OF Hartack's success. however.
One bystander, who seemed to
have backed the wrong horse.
muttered. Put i'm on a billy
goat and see if he can win on
that"
1t was something like Califor-
MIA where Willie Shoemaker is
damned if he wins, and damned
II he doesn't. Bet on Willie's
mounts. they tell you. and you
don't win enough for a shoe
shine. Bet against him in hopes
of getting a good price and he
beats you every time.
Hartack had everybody guess
ing, mostly wrong, with one of
the most sensational riding feats
ever witnessed on a Maryland
track. Even Joe Kelly, The Stars
Handicapped who picked rs win
ners at Bowie, didn't figure Har-
tack for five straight, OF Joe
would have been off to a flying
start for selector honors at
Laurel.
Ray Haight, who calls the
races. over the public address
system, also was in something
of a quandry before Hartack
finally lost. Fearful of putting
a hex on Willie. Ray was as quiet
as a baseball announcer watch
ing a pitcher spin a no-hitter
before the spell was broken.
Then he called for a mice hand"
for Hartack.
The crowd booed Justify. but
good-naturedly. putting Willie in
q class with Eddie Arcaro, who is
razzed regularly and Loyalty by
his followers. Then came round
of richly deserved applause for
the rider.
Hartack couldn't have staged
his one-nan show at more
opportune time. A national
sports magazine has an article
about him in its current issue,
which contained little or nothing
that Maryland fans, at least.
didn't already know about the
22-year-old saddle ace. But it
did go to great length to give
due credit to a youngster who
must be rated as one of the best
riders in the country.
A tWo-dollar parlay on Har-
tack's first five mounts yester-
day would have paid more than
$500 and but for the 124-pound
weight assigned Brcokeld Farms
Impromptu in the sixth race the
tendency would have been strong
to pour it all back on that colt.
AS it was, Impromptu. the IT.
toto choice, faded in the back
stretch and finished second.
Willie won the curtain-raiser
on Mrs. Bowes P. Bonds Driving.
who had a good chance on form
although the crowd made Nat
chez Blues the favorite. His
triumph on Mrs. Ada L. Rice's
American Pluck in the second
was unlocked for. as the 120
pay-off indicates. The daily
double payoff on the 2-8 COM
bination was $500.
Thereafter it was funny lis
tening to the crowd trying to
decide whether Willie could take
another or bow to the inevitable
law of averages. He won another
for Mrs. Rice. for whom Hartack
is the contract rider. on Top
Mark in the third. and took the
fourth on Cedar Farms Our
Dance as the crowd looked on
In disbelief. Top Mark returned
$3.50 and Our Dance $500.
Willie's mount in the fifth, Har-
old Folks Zuyder Zee. was the
6-tc-5 favorite and ran that way
for a $40 pay eff.
BY that time the crowd was