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EASTERN TUKF TOPIC8. "Racing at Saratoga enters upon its second week with another splendid array of stake events. Saturdays fine sport and the great crowd that looked on went far to convince the critics that William C. Whitney and his associates have not labored in vain in their attempt to make the track a,t the Spa an American Newmarket. Several turfmen came down from the Springs Saturday night to spend Sunday with their families, and naturally they had plenty of gossip to hand out." says the New York-Sun of Monday. " The rate of admission hae caused "a wide difference of opinion, said one of them. Advocates of the plan say that it would not makA a bit of difference to those who are patronizing the track now if the tariff had been raised to per head. Opponents of the plan reason that with a lower rate in; vogue there would be largercrowds and conse-quentlgreater receipts in the long run. Mr. Whitney and his friends, however, express much satisfaction over the attendance and receipts during the past week and feel that their new policy of exclu-siveness has been emphatically indorsed. " The racing, itself, is of a higher quality than seen at the Spa in years. The western owners are there in force and they have been pulling off some very clever tricks. J. W. Schorr has a high-class two-year-old filly in Judith Campbell, but she does not seem to possess the same sterling qualities that made Endurance by Right the champion filly last year. While it is true that there has been a groat deal of heavy bettin? by such men as J. A. Drake and John W. Gates, the sums wagered have been vastly exaggerated. Why, yesterday, for instance, it was rumored that Drake bet 0,000 on Irish Lad at 3 to 1, and then parleyed the whole ,0CO on Hermis to win the Travers Stakes. L. V. Bell alone bet 5,000 on Hermis, who was backed down to 9 to 10 and carried the wise money to a great extent, so that if Drake had dumped 0,000 into the ring on this colt the price would soon have been 1 to 5. The layers have been complaining of a lack of money so that this fact alone tends to prove that stories of immense plunges must be taken with a grain of salt. " In the Saratoga Special, won by Irish Lad, there was enough rough riding to make Buffalo Bills warriors turn green with envy. T. Burns, riding Girdle, started it by carrying both Astarita and Dazzling wide at the stretch turn. Then Turner, on Irish Lad, rushed through with abandon and threw Blue Ribbon against the rails. Sir Voorhies was not only cut down, but so badly bumped that two of his ribs were broken. " Hyphens defeat in the Travers Stakes was due wholly to the weight. He ran with great pluck, but he could not give eighteen pounds to Hermis, who is one of the best three-year-olds of the year. It seemed a shame to see Hyphen lose under such circumstances, for ho"is a" grand colt and at even weights he would probably have won in a canter just as he did in the Brighton Derby? "While the racing is going on so successfully at the Spa thousands of enthusiasts herein New York must rest for a month without enjoying the sport to which they have devoted both time and money for years. Numerous owners, too, whose horses are in the stables at Sheepshead Bay and Gravesend tracks, are waitiDg for the out-of-town meeting to end. Incidentally it may be said on pretty good authority that pressure is being brought to bear on the men who are building the new Metropolitan Jockey Clubs track at Jamaica to make a formal request of the Jockey Club for permission to hold a meeting next August while the sport at Saratoga is in progress. The promoters of the new track say that there are enough owners and horses who do not go to Saratoga anyway to make a meeting here successful, even if overnight races were the only feature. The promoters feel, it is said, that they could draw a daily attendance of 6,000 persons to Jamaica with 12,000 or 15,CO0 on Saturdays, all through the month of August and that Saratoga would not be injured in theleast, especially as racing there is evidently intended for the rich owners and society in general. "Butjwhen the Metropolitan Jockev Club people come to place such a request before the stewards of the Jockey Club they are almost sure to meetf with opposition. It is the policy of the stewards to avoid complicating dates of any kind. The Saratoga Racing Association has been most liberal in its outlay and is sure to oppose any such plan. As the Jockey Club is supreme and has the power to allot whatever dates it sees fit, the Jamaica people will have to be satisfied with what they receive. Just the same racing in the metropolitan district during the month of August would be productive of financial profit for whatever track that might conduct a meeting. "Work on the new track at Jamaica! has progressed so far that racing could be conducted there next month, if necessary. The immensity of the place, with the vastness of the stands, betting ring and paddock, shows conclusively that the promoters expect to draw some great crowds from the metropolis when they get things under way. As far as expense is concerned,. that has cat a very small item with the men behind the scheme. They have been determined to build a race track to equal in its accommodations any on the metropolitan circuit, and they feel confident that that will be the verdict of the public when the gatesare thrown open. There may bo a few days of racing at Jamaica next fall, after the close of Aqueduct, but this has not yet been determined upon."
