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GOSSIP OF THE TURF Probably on no race track in America was there ever before so great an array of jockey talent than at present at the Oakland track The list embraces such boys as Bullman Spencer OConnor Burns Redfern Mouuce Buchanan Eddie Jones L Jack ¬ son Ranch Birkenruth J Woods ONeil McGinn Hoar and a number of lesser lights like Vititoe J Ma thews J Daly Conley Fauntleroy J McCarthy and others Bullman is under contract to Belmont Buchanjin rides for Vanderbilt Burns for Whitney Bedfern for Pepper Mounce for Belmont Spencer for Keene and J Woods for Schorr Several of the others are under contract to ride in France Eng land and Austria Boston Jock McDonald has written to Mr J R Keene to announce tho safe arrival in England of Conroy and his companions who left on December 7 Not an English newspaper appears to know any ¬ thing of the shipment or arrival of those horses or its probable bearing upon the English racing sea ¬ son No one as yet can name the best fouryearold upon the English turf and no one here actually jHtnowsfithatCgijrpi wasnot tho bestof the same age in this country At any fat c he has done some thing that no other of his age has ever yet done in winning the Brooklyn Handicap and if he is as good in England as he was here during the Morris Park and Gravesend spring meetings the Derby and St Leger winners will know a worthy foe when he tackles them Daily America This should be a grand year on the turf said C J Enright some days ago to a Cincinnati press representative There will be plenty of occupa ¬ tion for horses of all classes east and west and an unprecedented amount of money will be hung up to race for Mr Enright said that the crop of year ¬ lings at Elmendorf is the best ever produced at the great farm There are about 100 of them and they are by various sires Order Hamburg Juvenal Salvator Shapfel and others out of as grand a band of mares as are to be found in any collection in the country They will be sent to the sale ring in New York in June However Mr Haggin may keep some of them for racing purposes This has not been definitely decided decidedThe The New York Sun of January 6 speaking about the prospects of this years Brooklyn Handicap has this to say The publication of the Brooklyn Handicap entries yesterday provided much food for discussion among turfmen who usually spend Sun ¬ days in the Broadway hotels The consensus of opinion seemed to be that a finer lot of thorough ¬ breds could not have been slated to take part in this classic event and that unless something unfore ¬ seen should occur an illustrious field of a higher quality than usual would go to the post There was some regret expressed that Mr J B Haggin was riot represented at all his crack colt Watercolor having been all along regarded as a sure starter especially in view of his meritorious performances as a threeyearold Then again turfmen showed much disappointment over theitfact that the Messrs Keeno had seen fit to send last years sensational Brooklyn winner Conroy to England instead of retaining him here for another try at the big stake in question5 question5The The fact that theLKeenes have sent in only one entry Port Royal which as a twoyearold was a good deal of a failure is further proof that they have decided to let down a bit in their turf cam ¬ paign here in order to be able to devote more time tothe exploitation of their decidedly strong stable over in England Had Commando remained sound he would probably now be the Keenes representa ¬ tive in the Brooklyn Handicap with a royal chance to win but his breakdown together with the lame ¬ ness of Conroy which has made the latter a doubt inl proposition so undermined the Keene stable here that its apparent weakness is not hard to understand Last season the Keenes had no good twoyearolds while in the previous campaign they were surfeited with victorious material including Cap and Bells Tommy Atkins Commando and Olympia Just what the Keene twoyearolds will amount to this year remains to be seen but nobody expects them to reach the standard set by the string of 1900 An epidemic of grip has been raging through W C Whitneys stables at Wheatley Hills L I King Hanover Metalbert fourteen yearlings and a couple of twoyearolds are at present suffering from the attack Dr Shepherd the well known veterin ¬ ary of Sheepshead Bay is in charge of the animals several of which are in danger Blue Girl the noted Sir Dixon filly has just recovered from the grip while Yankee and Goldsmith which were turned out to rough it some time ago have so far escaped The grip brought with it pneumonia and spread with such rapidity that it was impossible to chock it The change in the management of the Latonia Jockey Club and the return to it of the people and the spirit that originally made it a standard of high class racing has determined Mr Julius J Fieiscuinann to race sgain at ihe Cincinnati trnok andto give it his support in every way says tho Turf Field and Farm The election of Mr Valla Reyburn of St Louis as a member of the Western Jockey Club is a step distinctly in tho right direc ¬ tion That such men as Mr Fleischmann and Mr Reyburn are allying themselves with the sport is an evidence of its advancement and portends that other equally prominent and equally useful men will also lend it their support With the complete and peaceful reign of the Western Jockey Club in its territory under the new influence operating it there should begin to be talk again about renewing full reciprocal relations once more between the east and the west including in its scope even California and reaching as far in tho future possibly as a National Jockey Club Wishard got a good horse when he got Runnels said Bob McMillan recently to a Cincinnati report ¬ er but I would rather have McChesnoy at 15000 than Runnels at 13000 I have always believed that McChesney is the better of the two and I will never change that opinion until I see him defeated by Runnels I expect that the pair will hook up often enough this year to settle any argument on that score If McChcsney had been the property of Sam Hildreth at the time Tom Hayes made his challenge for a match last summer the chances are that ho would have got a bet There is no sort of a route that McChesney cant travel over and travel fast He is a weight carrier as well and he will give any threeyearold that stacks up against him a hard game gameLucien Lucien Lync tho clever lightweight jockey may be with one of the most powerful stables in the west next season John W Schorr who is in quest of a promising lightweight has made overtures it is reported to little Lyne to ride for him the coming season Mr Schorr says he will have at tho begin ¬ ning of this season thirtyeight horses twentytwo of which are twoyearolds and that he feels it is imperative that ho get at least one bright honest boy who has at least a fair knowledge of tho riding art to help out J Woods Ho believes that little Lyne will como more nearly filling the bill than any one else in sight and has laid the matter before him August Belmont accompanied by his three sons and Mr and Mrs Kennedy of Hempstead L I stopped off at Lexington several days ago on his way from Florida Tho party went straight out to Mr Belmonts Nursery Stud about three miles from this city on the Georgetown pike While there Mr Belmont made a thorough inspection of his young thoroughbreds and expressed satisfaction at their 1 condition and appearance
