Several fast two-year-olds will run in the seven-furlong Cowdin Stakes on October 1. One of them is a sure thing and should win by five lengths.

Last year at the Saratoga Yearling Sales, Sonny Werblin, former owner of the New York Jets, bid $39,000 for an attractive chestnut by Prince John out of Prayer Belle, Mrs. Werblin, long a fan of John Barrymore, named the colt Silent Screen.

In his first start-August 1 at Saratoga-the horse ran greenly and was beaten a length by Sun Cross. Silent Screen remedied the situation the next week, winning by 14 lengths "easily" and running only one second off the track record. Tuxedo-and-Champagne John L. Rotz, the horse's rider, said, "I have not let him run yet."

J. Bowes Bond trains Silent Screen Before the $306,075 Arlington-Washington Futurity, Bond persisted in talking about finishing last and mumbled something about an untested animal. Bond can be pardoned: it is only his way.

Silent Screen waltzed by the finish line eight lengths in front of Insubordination, the second horse. His performance may have cleared the foggy minds of the Arlington Park bettors, who had sent him off the third choice. He was $206,075 richer and "in oats" for a long time to come.

Silent Screen has that terrifying speed that distinguishes the great horses from the good ones. He will certainly be the winter book favorite for the Kentucky Derby. With a little bit of luck, he will be covered with roses in Louisville this coming May.