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Show SPORTLIGHT On the Record, Coaltown's Best I By GRANTLAND RICE . There's something moving and ifs still a blur I saw it start with a dizzy spin. I saw it start and I saw it stir, Then the race was done in the deadly din. A flash and a Whirr I saw it then It was Coaltown cracking the mark again. Yes, Man o'War was a likely steed. Big Red could move with a zip and zing. Citation struck with the winning breed, He raced last year its the uncrowned king. But now there's a new theme for our pen Ifs Coaltown cracking the mark again. Coaltown vs. Citation It is something out of the ordinary ordi-nary when one stable has a horse to be entered witn the best of all time. Now Calumet has two. Last winter win-ter the debate rested with Citation Cita-tion and Man o' War. Now Warren Wright, Jimmy and Ben Jones have another an-other starter known tional as Coaltown has been as a four-year-old.' This also goes for Man o' War, who never ran distances from six furlongs to a mile and a quarter in the time that Coaltown has handled. Coaltown is undoubtedly a faster horse than Citation or Man o' War up through a mile and a quarter. It might be that he couldn't quite take care of the mile-and-a-half or the two-mile test. But he has greater great-er speed than the two racing's greats mentioned above. It has been ' over seven months since Citation ran his last race in California. His injury, in-jury, a bopping of osselets, or at least a popping of the same, was pronounced slight at the time. But he has been out a long time for a horse with a minor injury. Coaltown started with an injury and an illness. But he was sound as a three-year-old and he is even sounder as a four-year-old. The Closest Scrap A few days ago, we mentioned the closeness of the race for the most valuable player, the M.V.P., of the American league. At this stage of the conflict it was a casual reference, with some five or six weeks left. But it had a serious side to a number of bystanders who have definite ideas on the subject. Those listed by various readers read-ers include Page, Henrich and Rizzuto of the Yankees; Dom DiMaggio, Williams, Stephens and Parnell of the Red Sox and George Kell of the Tigers. In opening two successive letters, we find these two viewpoints "You can't leave off Tommy Henrich. Remember the games he won when Joe DiMaggio was out, when the Yankees needed this uplift." "The weakest spot in the Yankee line-up is their pitching. Where would this pitching have been without Joe Page? He won the pennant for them in 1947 and if the Yankees win in 1949 it will be Page again." "I've checked back and have found that Verne Stephens has won more games for the Red Sox than any one else," another writes. "He has been their best home-run hitter. He has driven in more runs. And a shortstop is far more valuable than an outfielder. Dom DiMaggio Di-Maggio and Ted Williams are about on a par. Williams has driven in more runs but Dom Is a lead-off man. The odd part is that nobody seems able to locate an M.V.P. on the Cleveland squad. Grantiand Rice . . . . . town is . the fastest horse that ever ran up to a mile and even longer. This isn't a matter mat-ter of opinion. This is a matter of record. His mile in 1.34 in Chicago recently is the fastest mile by 15 of a' second that any thoroughbred thor-oughbred has traveled they eight furlongs. He ran every section of the mile faster than any horse ever did before who was running the mile distance. Coaltown's 1.08 15 for the six furlongs is a big part of the answer, when 1.10 is considered exceptionally fast. i Ben and Jimmy Jones have always rated Citation over Coaltown. Coal-town. Do Ben and Jimmy Jones believe be-lieve that Citation could run a mile and a quarter faster than 1.59 45? Or run a mile faster than 1.34? I doubt it very much. It must be admitted that Citation Ci-tation had the better of the argument ar-gument at the end of his three-year-old career. But there are other years beyond the 3-year-old mark. It is quite certain that Citation as a three-year-old was never as fast or sensa- |