Christopher T. Chenery's Virginia-bred and -sired Hill Prince, a 3-year-old son of distance-loving *Princequillo, became the first Thoroughbred racehorse to officially wear the crown of "American Champion" through a poll conducted by the nation's top racing secretaries. Headed by "the dean of all major racing secretaries and track handicappers, John B. Campbell" the selection board sent out 36 ballots, one for each track operating under the banner of the Thoroughbred Racing Associations. They named seven divisional champions of 1950, with Hill Prince voted the best of them all. Also taking honors was Alfred G. Vanderbilt's 3-year-old filly Next Move; the only other filly in her division to receive votes was stablemate Bed o' Roses.

Wrote turf writer Joe H. Palmer: "It is the time [of year] when we look back at the completed season and begin to make a few estimates. One of the estimates here is that we have too many polls."

While the TRA poll results and that of the Daily Racing Form "coincided completely," he added that "the more expert the opinion, the more likely it is to be right, and for this reason the new poll has a special standing.

"Too often, in national polls, a vote cast by a sports writer whose only connection with racing is that he was in a more or less inebriate condition during the running of the Kentucky Derby, balances that of a professional racing reporter who has been watching horses all year."
n Don Reed wrote in "The Racing Scene" column: "One of highlights of the fall season in Maryland was the bringing of Willie Shoemaker from California to ride one day against Joe Culmone at Bowie. The two boys are fighting it out for the national championship and Culmone had much the best of it on this particular day, winning six of the nine races, while Shoemaker could score only once. However, the riding duel created a great deal of interest and was generally looked upon as a smart piece of showmanship which helped the sport all over the country."

Born in Sicily, Italy, Culmone immigrated to the U.S. as a teenager with his father in 1946. They settled in New Jersey, and he picked up track work at Atlantic City. A top apprentice rider in 1949, the 19-year-old finished the 1950 season in a tie with Shoemaker for most wins with 388, equaling a 44-year world record.

n Training laurels on Maryland's minor circuit went to a woman by a decisive margin. Mrs. G.A. "Babe" Saportas Jr. proved a consistent winner at all five of the state's minor ovals as she sent out no less than 33 winners in 50 days.

The new management took over at Laurel, with track owner Morris Schapiro's son John named president. The younger Schapiro said the new organization would strive, with the other three major tracks in the state, to bring Maryland racing back to its former high standing in the country.

In other track news in the state, Maryland Jockey Club's rebuilding plan to make Pimlico a modern and attractive racing center was thwarted by federal building restrictions on new buildings of all sorts, racetracks included, due to war conditions. Once restrictions were lifted, a building fund from the state, in "the sum of $717,488.88" would be applied to the project. The money had "been earned by Pimlico through pari-mutuel wagering in previous years. . ."

Improvements would include the replacement of the small clubhouse, grandstand and administration facilities in one structure, as well as a covered, sunken paddock in the rear, available to both grandstand and clubhouse patrons.