WONDERFUL WORLD OF SPORT

SILKY RUNS LAST—AT FIRST

Dawdling along the backstretch at Santa Anita, some 35 desolate lengths behind the leader, is Silky Sullivan (above right). In the last fortnight his owners have turned down offers of $250,000 and $350,000 for him. From the evidence exhibited here these would seem to have been capricious refusals indeed. But shortly after this picture was taken Silky showed once more the folly of selling him short. At the half-mile pole Jockey Willie Shoemaker clucked to him and Silky perked up. At the three-eighths pole Willie "shook him up real good and he really moved." The 3-year-old colt charged overland down the stretch, overhauling horses to win by half a length. Silky covered the last quarter mile of the six-and-a-half-furlong race in an astonishing 22[2/5] seconds despite an off track. Win or lose, there is no more talked-about horse this year.

BAREBACK ON A MAN-EATER

The impulsive élan of Frenchmen does not always make sense to people who are not French. Pierre Pasquier, the French diver shown bareback on a shark on these pages, left his job as an engineer and sailed around the world exploring tropic waters. At the isle of Surprise in the Pacific, Pasquier captured a large turtle. While a comrade aimed an underwater camera, up swam a 14-foot shark and crunched the turtle, shell and all.

After pumping one shot into the shark as a tranquilizer, Pasquier jumped into the sea and astride the submerged monster and went for a short, rousing ride. Pasquier claims that the way to subdue a shark is to look it straight in the eye. Since sharks can't see very well, this makes no sense, but then, neither does shark riding.

PHOTO

ART ROGERS—LOS ANGELES TIMES

PHOTO

BERNARD GORSKY