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GOSSIP Of THE TDBF, While in the main tho.Fort Erie meeting has been eminently satisfactory, certain horses belonging to certain owners have by their con" tradictory performances furnished food for scandal, one case calling for the following tatt comments from the Canadian Sportsman: "The reversal of form shown by Jndge War-dell at Fort Erie on Saturday laBt was of such an extraordinary character that it demanded prompt attention from the judges stand. The owner, trainer and jockey were brought on the carpet and after the interview the officials knew as little about the cause of the sudden change as they did before. The bottle of sherry that Mr. Graydon admitted giving the horse might or might not have influenced bis running, but our advice to his owner is this, that if he is desirous of starting well in the racing world, the sooner he gets rid of such a rank in and outer as the Judge the better for his own I reputation. The statement by the judges that Graydon could be ruled off for giving his horte the sherry wine Bounds eminently foolish toone who has any knowledge of Ecglish racing. I have seen ale, sherry and port wine administered a hundred times to faint hearted horses over there and not the slightest concealment was practiced about the giving of it, and if such a clause as declared by the Fort Erie judges is in the Western Turf Congress rules it is an eminently stupid one. The use of electric appliances and the hypo are vary properly punishablo, yet, though the Highland Park Club employs a paddock judge to watch operations, we havent heard of anybody so far baing punished, though we do know that the hop was used at Montreal and has been used at the i present Fort Erie meeting as well. With three i judges in the stand, and a paddock judge, one would think there are watchmen enough on ; duty to detect wrong doing, but commencing : with the Montreal meeting up to the present time, whilo there has been a good deal of official warning and a good many official threats, , neither one nor the other has been crystalized i i ; : , into action, and the result is that a certain class of owners, in dealing with whom eternal vigilance is the price that must be paid to insure the public, safety, naturally conclude that it is all talk and no cider. " The Haggin yearlings sold in New York last month brought low prices because they were considered the refuso of the years crop, it being known that what were deemed the pick of the big lot had been shipped to England for sale in the expectation that they would bring better prices there than could ba obtained in this country. The move hp.s proved a mistake all around. Those sent to England were sold at Newmarket last Tuesday for an average of only 05. As the choicest of the Rancho del Paso yearlings it is almost ,a certainty that they would have brought a much higher average in New York. An Associated Press dispatch from London gives the following paiticulars of the sale, and also the surprising information that Pierre Lorillard "has the finest stud in America." "The sale of Haggins yearlings at Newmarket Tuesday attracted much attention and realized 10,789, averaging 121. In only one instance was a really good price reached namely, 1,850 guineas for a Goldfinch Fleu-rette. colt. The late Bruce Seatons American yearlings averaged 127 guineas, Thursday. A numbar of yearlings were bought by Purcell Gillpin, who will train and race them here for William C. Whitney. Truth says; "There has bsen a great deal of cracked-brained trumpeting about .American-bred yearlings. A mighty fuss was raised about a largo consignment of yearlings from the United 3tates, sold at Newmarket last au-tum, when high prices were realized, but not one of the animals which then changed hands has won a race so far, and they appear to be practically worthless for racing purposes. When asinine enthusiasts indulge in laudatory rants about American horses because Lord Beresford won a number of important races with animals from the United States, they forget his horses were all bred by Mr. Lorillard, who has the finest Btud in America." Fausturo defeated Our Gertie and Verify in a fa3t six farloDgs at St, Louis Thursday. Though known to bo very speedy when at his best the colts running of late had not been of a character to suggest that he was likely to defeat two such fast sprinters a3 Our Gertie and Verify, but he did, and thereby caused trouble. He belongs to J. C. Cahn.- ,Trify belongs to Aba Cahn. As tho aftermath the race the judges have ordered that Fausturos entry shall not hereafter be received at St. Louis, and have also announced that the Cahu brothers will not be allowed to run their horses in the same races from this time on. In an official statement of their investigation of the batting side of the race the judges say: "We have looked into the Fausturo race and can find no evidence of fraud. We examamined the sheets and found only a scattering play, moat of it place and thow where tho horse figured to have a chance to land. There seemed plenty of Verify money in the ring, while Oar Gertie, too, was well backoa. The ring won and lost on the race, about equally divided, The winnings figured up ,336, and the losses ,002. There was no unusual play iu the pool-i rooms. In our official knowledge we have known where Fausturos stable has backed the colt heavily, and ho has run most disappoint-; ingly. Fausturo was little used in the false breakaways. However, as he comes within tho range of inconsistent horses no furthor entries will be received from him." . i s
