YONKERS PACE

Press, Volume C, Issue 29504, 4 May 1961, Page 4

YONKERS PACE

Presentation Plans

(N-Z. Press Assn.—Copyright) NEW YORK, May 3. The former Australian naval officer who directed the rescue of President Kennedy from a Japanese-held island in World War 11 will make the presentation to the winner of the international pace at Yonkers Raceway, New York, tomorrow night. The former officer, a Sydney accountant, Mr Arthur Evans, met President Kennedy at the White House in Washington earlier this week. Mr Evans, an avid harness racing fan, said his choice for the international pace tomorrow night is the sole Aus. tralian entrant, Apmat. The New Zealand pacers False Step and Arania will be vying for first place along with another New Zealand horse. Caduceus, who is now leased to an American syndicate. The top American representative. Bye Bye Byrd is the 2/1 favourite. But according to the “New York Daily News,” False Step, which has drawn number five position, has moved from third choice at 9/2 up to second favourite at 3/1. Noble’s Comment Arania’s trainer, Mr George Noble, was quoted as saying: 'From what I know about the Yonkers track and what I know about our horses, I expect my mare. False Step, and Apmat to hit pretty close to 3min 4sec for the 12 furlongs.” This prediction was 2-ssec lower than the world record and 3 2-ssec off Bye Bye Byrd’s winning time set last November, the newspaper said. The owner of Apmat, Mr Morrie Anderson, was in complete agreement with Noble, the newspaper said. “I don’t see why our horses can’t go that fast,” he was quoted as saying. “The racing times at specific distances in our country and yours are not identical. “You measure the circumference of your track at a point three feet out from the guardrail. We measure our tracks from the inside edge of the rail. In addition, all our starts are flat footed. You have what we call flying starts. “Mind now. I’m not saying we can beat the American horses but we will be up there at the end,” he said. The International Pace tomorrow is the first of a series of three races in an international pacing series. The other races are the Good Time Pace over a mile and a-quarter on May 11 and the International Championship Pace over a mile and a-half on May 18. Tomorrow night’s race carries prize money of 50,500 dollars.