Debut at Three

At New York's Jamaica race track one day last week, more than 38,000 people turned out in a cold, windy drizzle to see a big grey run a mile and a sixteenth. The question before the grandstand: Is Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt's Native Dancer the same spectacular horse at three that he was at two, when he won nine races out of nine? Jamaica fans did not expect the full answer in one day, but, looking over the so-so field of horses running with the Dancer, they wagered that he would win his 1953 debut with ease. By the time the horses left the post in the first division of the Gotham Stakes, the Dancer was a heavy favorite: a $2 bet on him stood to win the bettor only 30-c-. He saw to it that his backers collected their dimes.

Jockey Eric Guerin got the Dancer off to a good start from an outside post position, then let others set the pace. Running outside, the Dancer was a smoothly moving fourth for most of the way. Coming into the stretch, Guerin gave him his head. There was no need to use the whip, though a furlong from the wire, Guerin waved it for a reminder. The Dancer drove home to win by two easy lengths in the fairly good time of 1:44 1/5.* Long a heavy favorite for next month's Kentucky Derby, the undefeated Dancer is scheduled to stretch his legs at a mile and an eighth this week in the $100,000 Wood Memorial. The Wood should give a much fuller answer to the question before the grandstand.

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