Harvard Gambler Attacks Belmont Stakes

Lawrence All-unit Darby of Poolesvilie, Md., announced last night when cor??acted by the CRIMSON, "Canonero II will have great difficulty winning the Triple Crown, if he wins at all." His opinion is of some interest.

Mr. Darby, formerly of Eliot House and a member of the Class of 1968, is currently enrolled in his last year at Harvard Business School. He will n??t, however, be looking forward to a conventional business career. His business will be betting on horse races, a pursuit that has become increasingly more profitable for him over the last several years.

Wheelbarrows

In an article last week in Turf World, Antony Parisella, director of mutuels at Belmont Park. said, "The difference between the ordinary bettor and a top gambler like Jules Fink or Larry Darby or S?m Lewin is that when they (Darby et. al.) lose they lose in small handfuls, but when they win they take the money away in wheelbarrows. The ordinary bettor just does not know how to win big."

Darby admits that his Business School courses have been "very useful" but not entirely to the point in preparing him for a gambling career. "Actually the biggest help of all was cousin Utie giving me his wind figures. He's really one of the few people in the country who understands the wind, and although not many people on the New York racing circuit know of him, he is highly respected at the Maryland tracks where he does most of his betting. And of course Uncle Jack was a big help, too."

'Paper Me Green'

Uncle Jack is John A. Hersberger, the owner of stake horse Juvenile John, who pulled off a big betting coup in New Jersey two years ago in a Monmouth Park allowance race when Juvenile John defeated Iron Ruler by half a length. Darby recalls the incident with a smile. "You could sure paper me green that day. It was champagne for everyone."

Unfortunately Laurence Darby will not reveal his pick in the Belmont- "It's against my policy, I can't have a track variant until the morning of the race, and who knows. It might rain."- but he does at least admit that there will be a lot of money involved- "I'm talking about five figures."

Insiders

These will be a lot of people at Belmont Park this Saturday afternoon betting that Canonero If will become the first Triple Crown winner since Citation in 1918, but the majority does not have to be right. A lot of insiders feel that whoever the winner. Darby will have him. As one exjockey put it. "The thing is, he's a professional."