Hopeful End To A Socko Spa Season

Dearly Precious may be the best of the three weekend winners. She was picked out of the Saratoga sales a year ago by Dick Bailey, former Hughes Sports Network television producer, for $22,000. "My trainer, Steve DiMauro, thought she was a bit on the small side," said Bailey after the Spinaway, "but I was crazy about her sire, Dr. Fager, and to me she was a miniature Dr. Fager. Even now she's only 15 hands 2" and weighs about 900 pounds. She's won six stakes in a row and will only get two more races this year before going to Florida for the winter. And no matter how good she may be, she won't ever go up against colts—now, next year, or ever." Ex-jock DiMauro, who should have it so good with both Wajima and Dearly Precious, adds, "Sure, I told Dick she looked awfully small, but to me she's looking bigger every day!"

The colts seen in the Hopeful are going to have some good, solid company before fall is over. Calumet Farm's Turn To Turia, a son of Best Turn and Princess Turia, won the Sanford at Saratoga and is undefeated in five races, but Trainer Reggie Cornell kept him out of the Hopeful to await the Belmont Futurity. "There's nothing wrong with him," says Cornell of this great big (16 hands), good-looking colt, "but Mrs. [Gene] Markey told me if I thought we had a good one, give him more time between his races. We've got plenty of time."

Another undefeated colt is Zen, a gray son of Damascus trained by David Whiteley for Tommy and Billy Bancroft's Pen-Y-Bryn Farm. He has raced only twice and thus lacks the experience that comes with running in stakes company. A minor temperature kept him out of the Sanford and forced him to skip the Hopeful, too.

Seven for seven is the record of Bold Forbes, a grandson of Bold Ruler. Inasmuch as his first five victories were achieved in Puerto Rico, it was something of a surprise when this refugee from the island of shortstops came up and whomped Iron Bit by five lengths in the Tremont at Belmont. Next time out he beat his field by eight in the Saratoga Special but bucked his shin.

Full Out, the Never Bend colt out of the Round Table mare Running Juliet, has now won three of four starts and beat a good field (including Eustace) in the Sapling at Monmouth Park in early August. He may be seen next in the Arlington Futurity, where one of his rivals could be Llangollen Farm's Restless Restless, the speedy son of Restless Wind who won the Hollywood Park Juvenile championship a month ago.

Saratoga can't claim a lock on introducing the season's 2-year-old champion, nor do Hopeful winners always become household names. But Secretariat won it in 1972 and Foolish Pleasure won half of it last August. In between those victories you will, of course, remember the triumphs of Gusty O'Shay and The Bagel Prince. Part of the fun of Saratoga is recalling the 2-year-olds seen there—and speculating about their future.