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GOSSIP OF THE TURF. Discussing matters in connection with the approaching meeting at Little Rock, the St. Louis Sporting News says: "It is the almost general opinion that Bill McGnigan has a conple of the fastest colts at the track and some believe one of them is the best colt he ever owned. McGnigan has a way of developing two-year-olds and getting them fit early in the season that is a wonder to many other trainers. He invariably shows ud in the early part of the spring with a bunch of two-year-olds that for a short space of time win against everything they meet, and sometimes it turns out that he has a really good colt. But the secret of McGuigans success undoubtedly lies in his method of training. There is not another trainer on the turf who handles two-year-olds like Bill McGnigan. "The manner in which he works them is nothing less than heartless. From the time they are strong enough to carry a boy they have a task to perform. Over at his farm near Lawrence Station, McGnigan has a track and there he takes a few yearlings every fall and goes to work with them. Nor does it make much difference about what kind of yearlings he buys. Any good healthy thoroughbred will do. He works them to make muscle and works them to develop speed. And they have got to develop both muscle and speed if they want to carry the Colonels colors, for without muscle they can never survive his hard training, and if they do not quickly develop speed he casts them off. "Edinburg is believed by most trainers and good judges to be the pick of the McGnigan lot. He is a magnificent looking colt, large and muscular, and is undoubtedly fast.- He likes his work and carries weight like an old handicapper. He is credited in quarters of J 24 and halves in :51 and better. He has very likely gone halves in faster time, but McGnigan is jealous of the public gaze and has a horror for stop watches when Edinburg is taking j his work. The next best is perhaps the Pursebearer colt, but in a bunch with so many good ones it is difficult to siDgle out the best at this stage of their training." The horse3 that are to form the eastern fields of 1899 are in the main of the reliable type. There may be no Hanovers or Hamburgs in the multitude. There are certainly none in the developed class, but the crop of youngsters augurs well. Gideon and Daly boast three at their New Jersey farm whose work is in keeping with that shown last season by Jean Beraud; Mr. Keene has a number of Dominos and Tournaments get pronounced as fleet as the wind ; the Coppar King is already contemplating a second triumph in the Futurity Stakes; and the Whitney, Belmont and Clark two-year-olds are undoubtedly good. When Wyndham Walden left his Maryland winter home for a brief southern visit, three weeks ago, his string of baby racers was well advanced, and this veteran trainer hazarded the prediction that the Messrs. Morris would not find it necessary to purchase two-year-olds by way of adding strength to their stable the coming autumn. The west and south are reported alive with record smashing two-year-olds. The selected ones will, of course, find their way east and try conclusions with the flower of this region. Of the three-year-olds Martimas, Jean Beraud, Manuel, Autumn, Filon dOr, Lackland formerly Frohsinn, Ethelbert, Kingdon, The Ken-tuckian and Tamor have wintered especially well. Jean Beraud, while deficient in stature, has broadened and let down in satisfactory manner, and Martimas, up in the Canadian snows, is said to be as hard aa nails, Autumn is well advanced, and many persons think he will be found, despite his years, a factor in the spring handicaps. Tamor is presumably the bst of the Marcus Daly colts. He is a compactly built chestnut, by Tammany, out of Oriole,an English mare. New York Herald. It has apparently become a rooted belief among the racing press and public that the Jockey Club does little or nothing toward the aid of disabled or poverty-stricken jockeys out of the fund which is. supposed to accrue for that purpose from fines, etc. It is therefore interesting to find that this supposition is a long way from being a fact. Much has been done in the past and the progress of time finds the claim steadily increasing, while no reasonable demands are ever refused. Actual figures show a disbursement of over ,000 since 1895 for this purpose, and much the greater part of this made within the last twelve months or so. When the poor lad Barrett was killed by a fall at Sheopshead Bay the incident cost the Jockey Club 542.70, made up as follows: Doctors bill, 0: funeral expenses, 37.70; expenses of valet who took the body west, 15 ; contribution to the fund for the lads family, 50. "Mike" Bergen, after being in-jured at Gravescend, drew C0, while Marty Bergen benefited to the extent of 87. Besides Barrett, several ex-jockeys have been buried at the clubs expense, viz.: Fred Day, 59: Casey Winchell, 32, and Joseph Conroy, 51. What a blessing a help from the fund may be at times is well shown in the case of Thomas Leavy, the old-time jockey who used to ride for John S. Campbell, B. J. Johnston, G. V. Hankins and Walter Gratz. Leavy was suffering from consumption, but the doctors said that if he could get to California his life might be saved. An appropriation of 50, made by the Jockey Club, enabled him to go. The system is fairly under way now, and professional racing men with a rightful claim are beginning to appreciate the scheme and its benefits, so that the reproaches which are constantly hurled at the Jockey Club on this score are really undeserved. New York Journal. - In looking over the list of subscribers to the Saratoga Stakes it soon becomes apparent thac very few owners of prominence have been able to resist the fascinations of "The Springs." Here is a list of owners such as few tracks can match: E J Baldwin, George W Baldwin, A J Stemler, E W Purser. P Lorillard, Sydney Paget, Perry Belmont, Charles L Fair, P J Dwyer, M F Dwyer, Craig W Wadsworth, L O Appleby, F B Alexandre, W H Clark, B T Wilson, Jr., Richard Croker, Oneck Stable, S Sanford and Sons, F R Hitchcock, F R and T Hitchcock, M Clancy, W H McCorkle, H P Headley, Headloy and Norton, Mackay and McCue, C W Penniston, J W Colt, Robert Nevills, J M Quinlan, Lewis Elmore, J E Laxton, M F Stephenson, John Daly, J R and F P Keene, Foxhall Keene, James Galway, A H and D H Morris, Oden Bowie, Marcus Daly, S 8 Brown, Eastin and Larabie, E S Gardner, Jr, Fred Gebhard, Bromley and Co, J E Madden, G Anderson and Co, W H Laude-man, R Tucker, P Wimmer, James S Wads-worth, L V Bell, Robinson and Moore, F R Hamlin, Edward Peters, William Oliver, Fleisch-mann Sons, George Hendrie, William Hendrie, Charles Van Studdiford, M J Maloney, Woodford and Everman, Harry W. Smith, H Eugene Leigh, George W Headley, E F Clay, Edward Frazier, H T Griffn, Frank Reagan, E O Pepper, Howard Hay, G D Smith, William C Hayes, R C Hall, John Boden, Hynes and Co, J E Seagram, G W Belknap, Robert Tucker, G J Long, Robinson and Leech, J P Robinson, Milltown Stable, W H Karrick, A F Ashmead. James McLaughlin. J J McCaffer-ty, C T Patterson, J H Maffert, Henry Stull, E F Simms, E P Sutton, P M Civill. J W Schorr and Sons, E M McGnigan, W M Hayes, W C Smith, Frank D Beard, E McGnigan, Goughacre Stable, B F Clyde, Ralph Black, H L Frank, W C Eustis, Frank Davidson, J McLeod Murphy, P Dunne, T J and D W OBrien, D R Harness, C T Hayman and Campbe, Fred E Burnell, Turney Bros, W M Barrick, A J Joyner, Middleton and Jungbluth, E W Heffner, George H Moore, H B Balcom and Co, J D Smith, Mrs B McClelland, McClelland and Smith, Wood Hoffman, Col ritrathy, Fred Burlew, James G Smith, Arthur White, Mr Chamblett, P Lewinski and Co. Hardy Durham has sixteen horses in hand for the coming season. Their names are: Bon Jour, br. g, 4, by King Galop Bon Soir. Pan Charm, b. c, 4, by Panique Silver Charm. Romanoff, ch. c, 3, by Sleipner Heatherbelle. Joe Grady, b. c, 3, by Leonatns December. Paca, ch. c, 3, by Pardee Cora Belle. Mayme M. M., b. f, 3, by Falsetto Macola. Peleus, b. c.,3, by Hindoo Peru. Martin Duke, br. c, 2, by Sleipner Thanks. Choppen, ch. c, 2, by Sleipner December. Slip, blk. c, 2, by Sleipner Ada D. Sure, ch. c, 2, by Sleipner Sea View. Wild, ch. c, 2, by Sleipner Mamie O. Captain Gaines, b. c, 2, by Deceiver Eugenie. Slippy Girl, ch. f, 2, by Sleipner Castopia. Shuffle Wing, ch. f , 2, by Knight of Ellerslie Shuffle. Zazel, b. f, 2, by Order Nyleptha. J. D. Smiths string, including the much lauded failure, His Lordship, has been shipped to Louisville for training. The list is as follows : His Lordship, ch. c, 3, by Rayon dOr Sallie McClelland. Ways and Means, b. c, 3, by Bermuda Lisric. Full Dress, b. f, 3, by Bermuda Natalie. Mac Flecknoe, br. c, 2, by Bermuda Laura Stone. Mog Megone, br. c, 2, by Iroquois Toplight. Barney F., b. c, 2, by Isaac Murphy Lagu-nitas. Estill, ch. c, 2, by Onondaga Annona. Olinda, ch. f, 2, by Order Miss Saxon. Bay colt, 2, by Great Tom Evenom. Secretary Chilton reports the receipt of 1,260 entries to the Saratoga stakes up to Wednesday evening, they being divided as follows: Grand Union Hotel Stakes 126 G. H. Mumm and Co. Handicap 108 Fleischmann Stakes 101 Pepper Stakes 98 Congress Hall Stakes 90 McGrathiana Stakes 88 Citizens and Merchants Handicap 82 Lemp Brewing Co. Handicap 80 Worden House Stakes 80 Madden Stakes 66 Saratoga Grand Prize 64 Kearney 8takes 58 Spencer Handicap 5S United Statos Hotel Stakos 53 Hendrie Stakes 33 Beverwyck Stoeplochaso 45 Kensington Hurdle Handicap 31 Ruinart has been sent back to Porter Ashes ranch in Sonoma sounty for permanent retirement. At the beginning of the season he was taken up with the hope that he would stand training. He was walked and galloped, and apparently was coming to himself again, when a tendon started to bow. Work was suspended at once, and back to the ranch he waa sent. Mr. Ashe had no desire to take chancoa of breaking him completely down. He will be used for breeding purposes by Mr. Ashe, who has great hopes of his proving a successful sire. There will be about a dozen of his produce foaled this year,
