THE TWO THOUSAND

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 141, 18 June 1927, Page 23

THE TWO THOUSAND

COMMENT OX THE FIRST OF

THE CLASSICS

Following is some comment from "Sporting Life" on the race for the Two Thousand Guineas last month, in which Adam's Apple narrowly defeated the -eventual Derby -winner; Call Boy. ■ Interest in the Two Thousand wag such that the paddock Was aS thronged as on a CesareWitch day, when the . high-water mark of a Newmarket atttendanco is usually reached, while the top tier of the new and Spacious sta£d Was on immensely popular 'vantage point. . The day, too; developed favourably from a threatening-morning, while if Call Boy had scored the all-important notch at the end of an exciting race success of the celebration would have been complete. For it is a favourite's Victory which imparts ihe finishing touch to such an auspicious occasion as this, and Mr. Curzbn's colt was the < choice of the majority. Sentiment may have been closely nßSOciated with this mark of esteem which the public thus conferred upon him, but there i would also .be a vivid recollection on the part of many present of the stormiug man-, ncr in which he .had rescued a one-time seemingly hopeless positiott 'here last October. : IN THICK Of FIGHT. Once more he was in the thick of the fighting, this time from the' first, stride, and until just about the last, one his was a winning fight,'but Adam's Apple, who had been near him. throughout, made a gradual but distinct impression on him up the final hill. Elliott thought Call Boy had just lust' ed home, and had the courageous colt had a lace of even any kind it is possible thut he would have dona bo, for an idea gain-"1 ed when the! leading division returned to the paddock is that he moi'o so thlln the winner stood in need of the afternoon's experience. It has to be remembered, of course, in this Connection that Adam's Apple had not had colours on since his, ill-starred visit to Newmarket in Cambridgeshire week,, when isoine mysterious ailment reduced him almost to a state of collapse. He was now only hopefully regarded, well though he looked, yet he was not wanting either in respect of initial speed or courage, and on the latter score he may have agreeably surprised his connections.

LIKE HIS SIRE. In make and shape he and Call Boy ai'e strikingly dissimilar, the latter being the stockier and more powerfully-built, yet Adam's Apple recalls his sire, l'ommem, in contour, and I remember that at the corresponding age Pommern was voted too epiry to be a really good one. As events fell out, however, he was in a light year, and none of his contemporaries Was able to blunt his speed, no matter What tho distance. - . - I fancy, however,, that his son, Adams' Apple, will ifind his lines cast in less pleasant places when tackling his next classic test. Sicklo Will be a stiff obstacle for h;in to get over at Epsom. (Both Adam's A*pple and Sickle wei'e unplaced in tho Derby) Lord Derby's cheery plug cams strongly into the limelight, but just too late to secui'6 tho applause Of the house. Yet in the paddock the owner looked as delifrhted as though the prize bad gohe to ■ Stanley House.. There was fio suspicion of excitability attached to him now in the preliminaries. He was just Iresh and on his toes during parade time, aud went to the post in jaunty faehion. Such Bprightllne&j la, after all, only chuilacteristie of his line. After the race ho was as cheery na ever, sweating a little, but otherwise showing'little evidence of having had Va hard bout. Sicklo had to work for his'corn. This third encounter between him and Call Boy discovered tho pair to be at close grips, as oh the two previous occasions, with this difference, that it.was now Sickle's turn to have to make up leeway. UNDER PRESSURE. Call Boy had the foot of him quite early, and before reaching the top of Bushes Hill, or between two and three furlongs from the fiii'sh, Sickle was being put under top pressure. At that point nothing was showing qtiite bo much of a win-" ninp; flag as wag Call Boj-, nnrl lie had already silenced Damon, who had been ridden hard fully v furldng before. Applecross was also labouring tint! beeten. Of the prominent candidates, indeed, Applecross was the first to be showing distress signals. The breeze being astern, the

conditions were cased to his supposed infirmity, but he never really flattered. On the way to the start he gave a lead to Sickle, who, while his stride was appreciably the shorter, showed still a smoother one, and I expect it was the same during the early stages of the return journey, on which, however, the longer reach of Call Bay, Hot Night, and Adam's Apple had for close on six furlongs enabled them to draw well ahead of Weston's mount. ,

But at the end of the seventh the little 'un had taken closer order, and he became challenger to: Call Boy and Adam's Apple as these were in the midst of their head-to-head struggle. A magnificent efiort\ came a second too late.